The Trump team welcomed Russian disinformation, the Trump administration further confirms

Washington Post logo

President Trump, in August, promoted information that the U.S. government has increasingly connected to a Russian disinformation campaign in the 2020 election — after his personal attorney, Rudolph W. Giuliani, worked with the man promoting it. Now the U.S. government says explicitly that the man behind it is a Russian agent.

The Treasury Department on Thursday identified Ukrainian politician Andrii Derkach as an “active Russian agent for over a decade” — a label that could lead to more direct penalties. It added that Derkach has “directly or indirectly engaged in, sponsored, concealed or otherwise been complicit in foreign interference in an attempt to undermine the upcoming 2020 U.S. presidential election.”

“This action is a clear signal to Moscow and its proxies that this activity will not be tolerated,” the Treasury Department said. Continue reading.

Trump Is Trying To Panic White Voters — About Black People

On Wednesday, Donald Trump confessed that he had lied to the American public—over, and over, and over, and … you get the idea—about the danger posed by COVID-19. By doing so, and by purposely refusing to provide coordinated testing, or a national strategy, Trump deliberately condemned 200,000 Americans to die and 6 million others to suffer through the disease. 

But, says Trump, there was a reason: He had to keep the country “calm.” He had to “avoid panic.” Except, in the case of COVID-19, telling people the truth would have allowed them to understand that this was far worse than the flu, that it wasn’t going to go away, that it would be months before the situation improved, and that reopening schools and businesses was not safe. Telling people the truth would have kept tens of thousands more Americans alive.

With that in mind, what does the Great Calmer have to say on the morning after he’s confessed to the greatest lie in American history? Well, he’s put out a warning that the suburbs will be “overrun with anarchists, agitators, looters, protesters” and the dreaded “low income projects” (i.e. Black people). Another tweet filled with lies about how voting by mail will lead to massive fraud. Multiple tweets about the attempted “coup” by the Deep State conspiracy. And, of course, a tweet demanding that Democrats open schools—in spite of just confessing that he knows COVID-19 is deadly and affects young people. Continue reading.

The Trump campaign goes all in on conflating ‘protesters’ and ‘criminals’

Washington Post logo

In a summer where movie trailers are otherwise in limited supply thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, President Trump’s reelection campaign is filling the void.

A pair of videos shared by the campaign and the president on Thursday offer a preview of coming attractions: rampant violence and danger under a prospective Joe Biden presidency. And each leans heavily on an increasingly common conflation, blending the former vice president’s stated support for peaceful protests with scenes of turmoil, violence and vandalism.

Even simply considered on their own merits, each of the ads is a bit odd. Continue reading.

Senate Republicans scramble to contain fallout from Woodward bombshell

The Hill logo

Senate Republicans hoping to go on offense this week found themselves instead playing defense once again because of controversial remarks by President Trump — this time to Watergate reporter Bob Woodward.

It was a familiar dilemma for GOP senators used to being chased by reporters over their thoughts on Trump’s latest furor, but in this case it came with terrible timing — eight weeks before an election in which the Senate is on the line and as they hoped to call attention to Democrats blocking a coronavirus relief bill Thursday on a procedural motion.

Privately, Senate Republicans expressed bewilderment over why Trump agreed to 18 interviews with Woodward, some of then happening as late as 10 o’clock in the evening. Continue reading.

Trump’s fusillade of falsehoods on mail voting

“Mail-In Ballots will lead to massive electoral fraud and a rigged 2020 Election.” 

— President Trump, in a tweet, July 2, 2020

Washington Post logo

More than 100 times this year, President Trump has peddled false claims or imaginary threats about voting by mail.

The president may believe this disinformation campaign helps his chances of being reelected. But he is sowing confusion as states prepare for the Nov. 3 general election and is falsely accusing state officials of trying to rig the outcome. Trump also has encouraged people to vote twice, which is illegal.

A mountain of evidence shows that mail voting has been almost entirely free of fraud through the decades, but Trump insists that it’s a recipe for disaster. Continue reading.

Trump folly steps on Senate GOP message again

Questions over Woodward revelations overshadow Republican effort to show unity on coronavirus relief

Senate Republicans spent a month developing a coronavirus relief bill that their conference could unify around and go on record as supporting to show voters they were trying to help families and businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

But as the messaging vote arrived Thursday, Republicans couldn’t talk to reporters about Democrats blocking their bill — which fell short on a 52-47 procedural votewith only one GOP senator in opposition — without also having to dodge or defend President Donald Trump’s latest folly.

Washington’s press corps was still consumed with news that broke the day before about Trump admitting to journalist Bob Woodward back in February that COVID-19 “is deadly stuff” and then in March that he was intentionally understating the danger of the novel coronavirus in his public comments. Continue reading.

Nothing Is Normal: The Final Push to Election Day

The presidential campaign is full of drama, but it might not matter to voters already hardened in their beliefs.

TIME ZONE-DEFYING, cross-country travel that leaves little time for sleep. Big rallies of sweaty crowds interspersed with tony, high-dollar fundraisers at celebrity homes. Obsessive poll-tracking, September scares and October surprises.

That’s the typical post-Labor Day path for presidential candidates as they embark on what is traditionally the final, frenetic sprint to Election Day, all with the presumption that one of the contenders would declare victory under a cascade of balloons, while the other affects a gracious demeanor in conceding. The loser heads home to contemplate a post-campaign career, and the winner moves to Cabinet-making or preparation of a second-term agenda.

Not this year. A confluence of factors, including the coronavirus, an escalation of early balloting and an unusually firmly decided electorate have made this presidential election like no other in modern history. Continue reading.

Minnesota health officials look to avoid ‘twindemic’ of COVID and flu

Severe flu and COVID-19 surges could tax hospitals but COVID-19 safety precautions might reduce flu cases. 

The start of flu season this fall comes with a heightened concern about a “twindemic” — a surge of COVID-19 cases amid a severe flu season.

The fear is that emergency rooms and intensive care units would be stretched to capacity, as both diseases can cause respiratory complications such as pneumonia.

A twindemic is not inevitable, given COVID-19 safety measures and a mild flu season in the southern half of the globe. Continue reading.

As Clock Ticks, Trump Engulfs Himself in Chaotic News Cycles

New York Times logo

With early voting about to begin in some states, the days President Trump can afford to be consumed by crises of his own making are dwindling. But he has spent the last week in reaction mode.

President Trump is running out the clock on his own re-election campaign.

For much of the Trump presidency, days and controversies have run together until they’ve become an indistinguishable blur: a bombshell revelation from a former aide, or a self-sabotaging news conference, canceling out the last one. Time has seemed to pass quickly or not at all, as the constant churn of scandals, resignations, tell-all books and racist or sexist tweets has created its own political ecosystem.

At times, the constant noise has helped Mr. Trump, who thrives on chaos and wants the spotlight always on himself, and he believes he has faced few consequences for it. Continue reading.

New poll confirms Republicans’ wariness of voting by mail

Washington Post logo

Why that should concern Republicans hoping to get out the vote.

Republican officials have been worried for weeks that President Trump is scaring his supporters (and theirs) away from voting by mail with his near-constant, baseless warnings that it will lead to widespread fraud.

Now we have solid evidence that Republicans are way less likely than Democrats to vote by mail in the fall. They would much rather vote in person.

A new Washington Post-University of Maryland poll finds that while Democrats are split on whether they prefer to vote in person or by mail, 71 percent of Republicans say they prefer to vote in person, with 21 percent preferring to vote by mail and 9 percent preferring to drop off their ballot. Continue reading.