Tag: Trump ego
Trump becomes immediately defensive when a nurse reveals to him that medical supplies have been ‘sporadic’
When President Donald Trump met with some health care professionals in the White House on Wednesday, a nurse pointed out that supplies of PPE (personal protective equipment) had been “sporadic” — inspiring Trump to become defensive and make some false claims about Barack Obama’s administration.
Sophia Thomas, the president of the National Association of Nurse Practitioners, told Trump and others, “PPE has been sporadic, but it’s been manageable. And we do what we have to do. We’re nurses, and we learn to adapt…. And that’s what we’re going to continue to do as COVID-19 continues.”
A defensive Trump told Thomas, “Sporadic for you, but not sporadic for a lot of other people.” Continue reading.
Trump and some top aides question accuracy of virus death toll
President Trump has complained to advisers about the way coronavirus deaths are being calculated, suggesting the real numbers are actually lower — and a number of his senior aides share this view, according to sources with direct knowledge.
What’s next: A senior administration official said he expects the president to begin publicly questioning the death toll as it closes in on his predictions for the final death count and damages him politically.
- The U.S. death toll has surpassed 71,000, with more than 1.2 million confirmed cases, according to the latest figures.
- Trump’s engagement could amplify a partisan gulf we saw in this week’s Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index over believing the death statistics.
Reality check: There is no evidence the death rate has been exaggerated, and experts believe coronavirus deaths in the U.S. are being undercounted — not overcounted. Continue reading.
Ousted vaccine official alleges he was demoted for prioritizing ‘science and safety’
Rick Bright says in a whistleblower complaint that he resisted pressure from HHS leaders to make ‘potentially harmful’ antimalarial drugs more widely available
A former top vaccine official removed from his post last month alleged in a whistleblower complaint on Tuesday that he was reassigned to a less prestigious role because he tried to “prioritize science and safety over political expediency” and raised health concerns over a drug repeatedly pushed by President Trump as a possible cure for coronavirus.
Rick Bright, former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, was removed April 20 after having served as BARDA director for nearly four years. He was reassigned to a narrower role at the National Institutes of Health that the Department of Health and Human Services touted as part of a “bold new plan” to improve testing to defeat covid-19, the disease caused by coronavirus.
Bright portrays himself in the 89-page complaint as an administration health official trying to sound the alarm about the virus beginning in early January. He said he called for the rapid development of treatments and vaccines, as well as the stockpiling of additional N95 face masks and ventilators, at a time when HHS political leadership, including Secretary Alex Azar, appeared to him to be underestimating the threat. Continue reading.
White House prohibits coronavirus task force members from testifying before Congress in May
White House coronavirus task force members are prohibited from testifying before Congress this month under new guidance issued by the Trump administration Monday.
Task force members and key deputies have been instructed not to accept invitations to participate in congressional hearings in May, while other agencies responding to the pandemic are being advised to limit the number of hearings they attend.
Top administration officials argue the coronavirus task force and the primary agencies responding to the pandemic need to focus their attention and resources on response efforts, and that having them testify could use up critical hours. Continue reading.
Trump sparks fight over IRS relief payments
President Trump has sparked concerns about politicizing the IRS by putting his name on the coronavirus relief checks and letters sent to Americans informing them of their payments.
The moves are seen as a way for Trump to take credit for the pandemic aid that households are receiving just months before an election where his handling of the outbreak and the economic damage it has caused will play a prominent role.
While presidents regularly tout their economic policies, critics say Trump’s actions unnecessarily inject partisanship into a government agency that should be viewed as nonpartisan. And they argue his move could backfire politically.
Was the new coronavirus accidentally released from a Wuhan lab? It’s doubtful.
“I will tell you, more and more, we’re hearing the story [that the new coronavirus emerged from a Wuhan lab].”
— President Trump, in a news conference, April 15, 2020
President Trump isn’t the only one hearing this tale. The political world, Internet theorists, intelligence analysts and global public health officials are abuzz with a big question: Is it possible that the new coronavirus — which causes covid-19 — leaked from a lab?
For months, Chinese authorities have pointed to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan as the virus’s likely origin. A cluster of early cases had contact with the market. It sold a wide variety of wildlife which, officials hypothesized, was critical to the virus’s formation and spread. Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), which cause similar symptoms, were formed after a coronavirus from a bat transformed in another animal and then jumped to humans.
The logic seems straightforward. But a more complete analysis of early cases suggests that locating the origin of the virus may not be so simple. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that of the first 425 patients, only 45 percent had connections to the market. A separate Jan. 24 analysis published in the Lancet found that three of the first four cases — including the first known case — did not have market links. Continue reading.
Trump erupts at campaign manager as reelection stress overflows
(CNN) — As he huddled with advisers on Friday evening, President Donald Trump was still fuming over his sliding poll numbers and the onslaught of criticism he was facing for suggesting a day earlier that ingesting disinfectant might prove effective against coronavirus.
Within moments, the President was shouting — not at the aides in the room, but into the phone — at his campaign manager Brad Parscale, three people familiar with the matter told CNN. Shifting the blame away from himself, Trump berated Parscale for a recent spate of damaging poll numbers, even at one point threatening to sue Parscale. It’s not clear how serious the President’s threat of a lawsuit was.
Trump defended Parscale in a tweet on Thursday, writing, “Actually, he is doing a great job. I never shouted at him (been with me for years, including the 2016 win), & have no intention to do so.” Continue reading.
Trump says he plans to resume travel next week with trip to Arizona
President Trump on Wednesday said he plans to resume traveling next week with a trip to Arizona after spending the past month largely cloistered in the White House due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I think I’m going to Arizona next week, and we look forward to that,” he told reporters during a roundtable with business leaders.
“And I’m going to, I hope, Ohio very soon,” he continued. “And we’re going to start to move around, and hopefully in the not too distant future we’ll have some massive rallies and people will be sitting next to each other.” Continue reading.
His name on stimulus checks, Trump sends a gushing letter to 90 million people
President Trump pushed to have his name printed on the economic stimulus payments the IRS is sending to tens of millions of Americans. Now he’s written a gushing letter to almost 90 million people, with his jagged signature in thick black pen.
The one-page letter, with one side printed in English and the other in Spanish, was required by the coronaviruseconomic package approved by Congress as a record of a deposit from the Treasury Department. The law does not say who should mail the letter.
If the money went to the wrong person, came in the wrong amount or didn’t arrive at all — all scenarios that have befallen taxpayers in recent weeks — the government is giving them proof of its intent. Continue reading.