Tag: how Trump botched COVID-19-response

Trump returns to campaign trail after COVID-19 diagnosis

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President Trump returns to the campaign trail on Monday to kick off four straight days of rallies in battleground states despite lingering questions about his health after being hospitalized with COVID-19 10 days ago.

Trump will hold four airport rallies in the same number of days beginning with an appearance in Sanford, Fla., Monday evening, followed by trips to Johnstown, Pa., Des Moines, Iowa, and Greenville, N.C., later in the week. 

Trump has dwindling time to turn his reelection campaign around just more than three weeks from Election Day, as polls show him trailing Democratic nominee Joe Biden by a decisive margin nationally and in several swing states. Early voting is already underway across the country. Continue reading.

Mnuchin, Pelosi reach informal deal to avoid government shutdown

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Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) have informally agreed to pursue a clean, short-term stopgap measure to avert a government shutdown at the end of the month, sources in both parties confirmed Thursday.

That means the continuing resolution (CR) needed to keep the government open past Sept. 30 would be free of controversial policy riders that have bogged down previous funding bills, significantly lowering the odds of a shutdown leading up to the crucial Nov. 3 elections.

The tentative deal also means the government funding bill and a new coronavirus relief package being negotiated between Pelosi and Mnuchin would not be part of the same talks. Continue reading.

Trump’s testing czar is running a ‘coverup’ for president’s ‘abysmal failure’: CNN’s Sanjay Gupta

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CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is accusing President Donald Trump’s testing czar of running a “cover up” of the president’s incompetent response to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

During an interview Friday, Gupta reacted to defensive statements made by Brett Giroir, the federal official tapped by Trump to oversee efforts to increase COVID-19 testing capacity, who has been insisting that there is nothing wrong with the United States’ ability to quickly test for the disease.

“I think on this he’s wrong, he is just wrong,” Gupta said. “I’m surprised by this. I think this is trying to cover up what is unquestionably an abysmal failure when it comes to testing in this country.” Continue reading.

Trump downplays COVID-19’s mortality rate in US

The Hill logoPresident Trump has repeatedly claimed that the U.S. has one of the lowest COVID-19 mortality rates anywhere in the world, even though the nation has recorded more deaths from the coronavirus than any other country.

The U.S. also has a mortality rate per 100,000 about twice that of Canada. While the U.S. rate is lower than Spain, the United Kingdom and Italy per 100,000 people, it is higher than such nations as Germany, France and the Netherlands.

But Trump is not focused on those numbers. Continue reading.

Trump’s week of retreat: The president reverses course as the coronavirus surges out of control

Washington Post logoPresident Trump was adamant that Congress cut payroll taxes — until, suddenly, he backed down.

He demanded that all of the nation’s schools reopen for the fall semester — until, suddenly, he allowed for some wiggle room.

He insisted upon filling every seat at the Republican National Convention celebration — until, suddenly, he canceled the event. And he refused to wear a mask in public — until, suddenly, he did, and morphed into a mask evangelist. Continue reading.