US reaches 100,000 deaths and Trump doesn’t say anything initially

“We have just reached a very sad milestone with the coronavirus pandemic deaths reaching 100,000. To all of the families & friends of those who have passed, I want to extend my heartfelt sympathy & love for everything that these great people stood for & represent. God be with you!” Donald Trump tweeted about 15 hours after the country hit a grim milestone of 100,000 deaths. But Trump — on his 25th tweet or retweet of the morning — didn’t acknowledge it until around 9:30 AM ET.

Trump again claimed without evidence that coronavirus is “going away” and said that there may even be a cure on the horizon. Yet it will still be months before any vaccine can be tested thoroughly and approved.

“I love the Great State of North Carolina, so much so that I insisted on having the Republican National Convention in Charlotte at the end of August,” Trump said in a series of tweets. “Unfortunately, Democrat Governor, @RoyCooperNC is still in Shutdown mood & unable to guarantee that by August we will be allowed full attendance in the Arena. In other words, we would be spending millions of dollars building the Arena to a very high standard without even knowing if the Democrat Governor would allow the Republican Party to fully occupy the space.”

“… building the Arena…”? Right away Trump think it is another plot to destroy his ego…. ummm…. party’s image. And this is only the end of May. Almost 3 months away from the convention. Plenty of time for the state to open up fully. Of course right after the state opens up, they will get a wave of new cases and Trump will blame the governor.

The tweets completely blindsided party officials and those involved in planning the convention, who have repeatedly argued that health and safety will come first. The officials have insisted planning for the convention is on track.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump has considered establishing a White House commission to study allegations of conservative bias.

Trump tweeted another attack on vote-by-mail, which included several claims for which he provided no evidence. “The United States cannot have all Mail In Ballots,” Trump tweeted. “It will be the greatest Rigged Election in history. “People grab them from mailboxes, print thousands of forgeries and ‘force’ people to sign. Also, forge names. Some absentee OK, when necessary. Trying to use Covid for this Scam!” he added.

There is no evidence to support Trump’s claim that “thousands” of forgeries are linked to vote-by-mail or that there is widespread evidence of people being coerced to sign absentee ballots. Of course he is whining about mail-in ballots in Democratic or Democratic leaning states. If Oklahoma did it, he wouldn’t have an issue.

The RNC filed a lawsuit against California that seeks to halt Governor Gavin Newsom’s order to have mail-in ballots, arguing that it “violates eligible citizens’ right to vote.” Aren’t the RNC doing the same? The RNC argue that Newsom’s order will lead to fraud because the state plans to mail ballots to inactive voters automatically, which “invites fraud, coercion, theft, and otherwise illegitimate voting.”

“There is tremendous controversy of mail in ballots,” Trump said. According to him. In a news conference related to his executive order related to the Communication Decency Act, Trump claims on how mail in ballots have been stolen, how people voted multiple times, how people were coerced to vote, etc. Yet, where is the proof?

White House press secretary Kayleigh “The Parrot II” McEnany is defending her record of mail-in voting – 11 times in the last 10 years by saying “Absentee voting has the word absent in it for a reason. It means you’re absent from the jurisdiction or unable to vote in person.” She says the Democrats want to “expand mass mail-in voting without a reason…” How about waiting in lines while voting during the middle of a pandemic and where voters aren’t wearing masks [or gloves] and keeping 6 ft away from each other.

McEnany lives in Florida – a state that has “No Excuse Mail-In Voting”. You don’t need any excuse to vote there by absentee ballot. Trump has previously also used absentee voting while living in New York State.

The husband of a woman who died accidentally in an office of then-GOP Rep. Joe Scarborough [now a host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” show] almost two decades ago is demanding that Twitter remove Trump’s tweets suggesting Scarborough, now a major Trump critic, murdered her. The wife had an undiagnosed heart condition, fell and hit her head on her desk at work.

When taking questions from real journalists, McEnany defended Trump by claiming Scarborough said worse things than what Trump said. I don’t anything can beat accusing someone of murder even when the official autopsy said she died from heart related issues. How childish is this? Tit-for-tat?

[The husband sent a letter to Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey, claiming that Trump violated Twitter’s community rules and terms of service and wanted the posts related to his wife removed. Dorsey refused.]

Trump said that he’s spoken to the family of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis earlier this week. Of course, this is Trump. Did he? Trump was to address the violence during an earlier appearance in the Rose Garden, which was originally billed as a news conference. But after announcing actions against China and the World Health Organization, he walked away without answering questions.

Earlier on Twitter Trump said “Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” However, he can do little federally that has not already been done on the state level which controls the Minnesota National Guard.

Trump called out China for “espionage to steal our industrial secrets, of which there are many,” announced steps to protect American investors from Chinese financial practices, accused China of “unlawfully claiming territory in the Pacific Ocean” and threatening freedom of navigation. The US will no longer grant Hong Kong special status on trade or in other areas and instead will apply the same restrictions to the territory it has in place with China.

Trump announced the US will pull out of the World Health Organization even as the global coronavirus pandemic continues to claim lives, claiming that China has “total control” over the organization of 194 member states. He said China had pressured the WHO to “mislead the world” over the origins of the pandemic.

Trump is barring “certain foreign nationals from China” from entering the US and sanctioning officials in China and Hong Kong for their direct or indirect role in “smothering” Hong Kong’s freedoms. All those deals in the past year that Trump was so happy to announce have probably gone out the window. Of course Trump will say they are still in place.

Trump has gone after former Attorney General Jeff Sessions saying Sessions should not seek a seat in congress. And like usually, he called Sessions a bunch of nasty names like incompetent and unfit. Trump says he shouldn’t of been Attorney General. Well who made the final decision to do so?

Trump has long gone after President Barack Obama for golfing when he should have been working. He has claimed that he would be working for the people. Yet he has golfed at least 265 times in the 3.5 years in office. Trump said Obama did nothing about the Ebola epidemic of 2014 except play golf. There were 4 deaths in the US. How many now from COVID-19?

Jeez. Trump promoted a video from some [lame] band called Cowboys for Trump [you read it right] which began with the line “I’ve come to the conclusion that the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat.”

Even with the battles going on with Michigan, recently Trump claimed that he was given Michigan’s Man of the Year award. What’s wrong there? The award doesn’t exist.

Trump spent the long holiday weekend bemoaning everything but the tragic roll call of death [just under 100,000 on the weekend] — while also finding time to claim he got “great reviews” for handling the crisis. He went after Obama, Jeff Sessions, Russian investigation, Joe Biden, mail-in voting, conspiracy theories, false COVID-19 therapies…. Really anything but COVID-19 deaths.

So on Memorial Day, Trump attacked a Democratic congressman Conor Lamb who is a Marine veteran [JAG officer] and a former prosecutor, as an “American fraud.” Trump tweeted and misspelled Lamb as “Connor Lamm” and is a “puppet” for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and said “He said he would NOT vote for her for Speaker, and did.” Except he voted for Rep. Joe Kennedy III of Massachusetts. Trump said this while trying to support a Republican that is competing against Lamb.

In a poll, “Bill Gates wants to use a mass vaccination campaign against COVID-19 to implant microchips in people that would be used to track people with a digital ID” were those that watched Fox News for their TV news at 50%, followed by Republicans and those who voted for Trump on 44%. Only 26% of Fox News watchers and Republicans said the question was false, with Trump voters stating it was false 27% of the time. Surprisingly, depending on which cohort, up to 19% of Democrats found it true.

In another poll, 60% of voting Republicans believe the seasonal flu kills more than COVID-19. Trump played a part in it, insisting early on in the pandemic’s surge in the US that it was no worse than the flu. “This is a flu. This is like a flu,” Trump said at a coronavirus press briefing in late February.

More on Trump’s hydroxychloroquine

Donald Trump claimed he is taking daily doses of hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug he’s long touted as a potential coronavirus cure even as medical experts and the US Food and Drug Administration question its efficacy and warn of potentially harmful side effects. He started to take it over a week and a half ago after consulting the White House doctor, though stopped short of saying his physician had actually recommended the drug.

At least one study has shown the drug does not work against COVID-19 and could cause heart problems. Coincidentally or not, a week and a half ago would be just after the time one of his personal valet contracted the virus.

Trump started taking the drug because he had heard from front-line responders who sent him letters saying they were taking it as preventative medicine. “Here’s my evidence: I get a lot of positive calls about it,” Trump said. Raise your hands if you’d like to see those letters or proof that some regular citizen was able to get through the White Shack switchboard to speak to him.

But later Trump later says he later decided to take the drug on the recommendation of a doctor he never heard of [or met]. So what doctor prescribes a drug based on a recommendation from another doctor who may or may not even exists?

Every real medical expert [so excluding any of the so-called medical experts/hacks on FOX News] has said taking the drug is dangerous. I’m wondering if he has stock in the companies that make the drug.

The FDA has warned against the use of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine to treat the novel coronavirus and said they should only be used in hospitals or clinical trials because they can kill or cause serious side effects. These include serious heart rhythm problems in COVID-19 patients treated with the drugs. Trump has a common form of heart disease, based on the results of his physical.

While there were some “journalists” at FOX News who are against Trump taking the drug, they did bring up an “expert” in to say that the drug is OK for Trump to use. No not a CDC expert, a WHO expert or a scientist but a doctor that owns a clinic. The doctor wants that 15 seconds of fame.

“I view it as a badge of honor. Really, it’s a badge of honor,” Trump said. “It’s a great tribute to the testing and all of the work that a lot of professionals have done.” Trump was referring that the US has a higher number of cases because of more testing.

Trump told reporters at an impromptu White House Briefing that he will override state governors if they didn’t open places of worship this weekend. However, Trump does not have the legal authority to override governors. Did he read or get advise on this? He is just playing to his dwindling base. Oh ya. He can’t read… There is a song called “Johnny Can’t Read” from Don Henley in 1982. Fits.

As if the fighting between Trump and Michigan can’t get any worse, the Michigan attorney general has stated that if Trump visits the state without wearing a mask, Trump may be barred from future visits – this right before a federal election. He didn’t wear a mask and she responded with “incredibly disrespectful”. Companies who Trump visits may be fined. Michigan is a battle ground but with a highly popular governor.

An official portrait unveiling for former President Barack Obama at the White House isn’t expected to occur anytime soon as Trump accuses him of unsubstantiated and unspecified crimes. It is the end of a long tradition of first-term presidents hosting their immediate predecessor at the White House to unveil an official portrait.

Attorney General William Barr said Obama and Joe Biden are unlikely to be under criminal investigation in a review of the Russia probe that began in 2016 — addressing simmering accusations by Trump against his predecessor and his 2020 opponent. Barr said he was attempting to curtail the politicization of Justice Department investigations.

Barr has been slammed by former Justice Department attorneys and others across the legal community in recent months for interfering in cases involving Trump’s former political advisers, Roger Stone and Michael Flynn, and softening prosecutors’ stances toward them for political reasons.

“Just what I need is a lawyer in the family.” From Tiffany Trump’s father after she graduated from law school from Georgetown. She wants to work at the Trump organization – which may need the extra lawyers soon.

Audrey Pence, the youngest child of Vice President Mike Pence and Karen Pence, graduated Monday from Yale Law School.

The Trump administration is preparing to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty that was designed to reduce the risk of military miscalculations that could lead to war. The Trump administration has already pulled out of an Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and has set out conditions to renew the last remaining nuclear arms pact with Russia — the NEW Start Treaty. The US has accused Russia of not complying with the treaty. Their usual excuse.

European nations, including Ukraine, have pushed to preserve the treaty, seeing it as an integral to their national security. European nations say any disputes over Russian compliance should be addressed through negotiations.

Trump’s team is claiming: Over 130 million N95 masks, half a billion surgical masks, nearly 18 million face shields, 12 billion gloves. Medical officials are asking where are they?

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that he had recommended that State Department Inspector General Steve Linick be fired because the independent watchdog was “undermining” the department and wasn’t performing in a way that the top US diplomat wanted him to. Pompeo, in his first public comments on the matter, claimed he was not aware that Linick was investigating him at the time he recommended that the inspector general be removed. He denies any retaliation.

Linick, had nearly completed an investigation into Pompeo’s controversial decision to fast-track the same arms sale. The inspector general had also been probing whether Pompeo made a staffer perform a variety of personal errands, including walking his dog, picking up dry cleaning and making a dinner reservation for him and his wife. Pompeo denied even these ever happened.

Pompeo also refused to sit for an interview with the State Department inspector general’s office as part of its probe into the administration’s move to bypass Congress and expedite last year’s $8 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia by declaring an emergency. An emergency because the arms would be used to protect against a supposedly Iranian aggression.

Trump said Linick should have been fired because he was an Obama appointee – and not because Linick did something really wrong. Trump has also said he doesn’t know Linick and never met him. Uh huh.

Various politicians including a few Republicans like GOP Senators Mitt Romney, Chuck Grassley, Susan Collins, and Michael McCaul were unhappy with the firing and want explanations.

No surprise here: The US and Canada have agreed to extend the closing the border until June 21st. Then later on Trump said it could be open sooner. Of course Canada doesn’t have to let anyone come in and unsure how many Canadians would want to go to the US at this point or even in a month from now.

A federal judge allowed a federal lawsuit accusing Trump, his three eldest children and his company of collaborating with a fraudulent marketing scheme to prey on investors to proceed. The lawsuit alleges that in exchange for “secret” payments, Trump and three of his adult children used his former reality TV show “The Celebrity Apprentice” and other promotional events as vehicles to boost ACN Opportunity, a telecommunications marketing company linked to a nonprofit that used Trump’s brand to appeal to teens.

The lawsuit also accuses the Trumps of having profited off the poor and vulnerable, as people looking “to enrich themselves by systematically defrauding economically marginalized people looking to invest in their educations, start their own small business, and pursue the American dream.”

Talking about bullying: “Crazy Bernie Sanders is not a fighter. He gives up too easy! The Dem establishment gets Alfred E. Newman (Mayor Pete) & @amyklobuchar to quit & endorse Sleepy Joe BEFORE Super Tuesday, & gets Pocahontas to stay in the race, taking thousands of votes from Bernie. He would have beaten Sleepy Joe in a LANDSLIDE, every State, if these events didn’t happen. Even if Warren just dropped out, he would have easily won. Dems did it to him with Crooked Hillary and now, even more so…and Bernie doesn’t even complain. VOTE for Trump on TRADE, better than BS!”

Does Melania know that her husband is a bully? Maybe he should attend an anti-bullying class. Trump wanted Sanders because for most Sanders would probably lose because he may be too left for some on the left while Biden is considered left of center. What is Trump? Depending on the time of the day – changes by the minute.

Trump is already complaining about voter fraud by mail when Nevada and Michigan sent out ballots. In fact Michigan is sending out applications for absentee ballots. Just another way to keep his base happy. He also claims he can withhold funding for states he believes there are issues with the way a state handles voting. In fact, Trump has no authority to withhold any funding.

He tweeted “Michigan sends absentee ballot applications to 7.7 million people ahead of Primaries and the General Election. This was done illegally and without authorization by a rogue Secretary of State. I will ask to hold up funding to Michigan if they want to go down this Voter Fraud path!”

“This pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what they’re doing. A lot of them aren’t even pretending to be in charge,” Obama said during a virtual commencement address for historically black colleges and universities. He criticized the handling of the coronavirus pandemic without mentioning Trump by name, just a week after privately critiquing the administration’s response to the COVID-19 crisis.

So much for democracy: Trump blamed various media anchors and reports of breaking the law by – you’ll like this – reporting on him.

Unsure what he was trying to get across? Presidential? Doubt it. Heroic? Nope. Idiot? Yes. Trump retweeted a video of his face imposed over the head of Bill Pullman’s character in the original movie Independence Day – as if the US and the world were going to war against aliens. Maybe COVID-19 though. See here for the real/original footage. I think even President Thomas J. Whitmore was a better President than Trump.

In a space of one week, Trump tweeted about anything related to Obama and Michael Flynn 52% of the time and just 23% for COVID-19 and was referring to the virus in the past. And yet almost a week ago, the number of cases in the Us went over 1.5 million and the number of deaths went over 90,000.

Trump moves to re-opening even as deaths continue

Three top public health officials, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] Director Dr. Robert Redfield, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, are all entering either full or partial quarantine. Their decisions follow the diagnosis of Donald Trump’s personal valet and Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary Katie Miller last week. Stephen Miller, Trump’s senior adviser and Katie Miller’s husband, is also staying away from the White House for the immediate future.

Trump asked why his valets weren’t ordered to wear masks before this week even though that’s the example he himself has set. Trump has told people he doesn’t want to be near anyone who hasn’t been tested. [Maybe they will wear a sticker saying when they were last tested. Maybe on their forehead signed by the tester.]

Officials like Dr. Deborah Birx and Fauci have become far less visible. The coronavirus task force briefings have been replaced by media trolling sessions by White House press secretary Kayleigh “The Parrot II” McEnany. Seems like they want no medical experts at the briefings now. The must be giving too much bad news.

Dr. Fauci warned senators that states and cities face serious consequences if they open up too quickly amid the pandemic. Fauci also told a Senate committee it was a “bridge too far” for schools to expect a vaccine or widely available treatment for COVID-19 by the time students return to campuses in the fall, though he expressed optimism a vaccine would be developed in the next year or two.

“I was surprised by his answer, actually,” Trump said. “It’s just — to me it’s not an acceptable answer, especially when it comes to schools.”

Fauci was asked whether the overall coronavirus death toll was accurate. “The number is likely higher,” Fauci responded. “I don’t know exactly what percent higher — but almost certainly it’s higher.” Trump, on the other hand, says the death toll is way inflated and – you guessed it – is a plot by his political enemies to reduce his chances of winning in November.

Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican who tested positive for coronavirus in March, challenged Fauci and other public health experts, arguing that the virus has been on a “relatively benign course” outside of high infection rates in New England. He warned that there would be an even greater damage to the country if schools did not re-open in the fall. “”I don’t think you’re the one person that gets to make a decision.” But he isn’t.

If you didn’t notice, all the medical officials who have been in the news have mostly disappeared recently from any conferences, TV appearances, etc.

Trump, at a news conference, claims there could be a vaccine by the end of the year [his defense secretary Mark Esper – a medical expert – said so… not]even though real experts said 12 months would may not be long enough. Even 18 months. They are claiming a fully approved vaccine by year end.

At the same news conference, Trump claims truckers honking near the White Shack at Constitution Avenue weren’t protesting against him but for him. In fact, the truckers were protesting about their plight.

Trump announced “Operation Warp Speed,” a program to develop a coronavirus vaccine as fast as possible. But for him, he will still push to re-open the country with or without a vaccine.

Trump slammed efforts to make in-person voting easier in advance of this week’s special election for California’s 25th congressional district as a “SCAM!”, demanding that “These votes must not count.” Trump had previously tweeted he opposes voting by mail since it “doesn’t work out well for Republicans.” Not true. He has previously said that mail-in ballots are “corrupt” and “they’re forgeries in many cases.” Also [duh] not true.

Trump’s claim that Democrats “are trying to steal another election” was that Los Angeles County election officials recently added a new in-person voting location in the city of Lancaster — described by Trump as “the most Democrat area in the State.” So now Trump dislike mail-in and in person voting? And the mayor of Lancaster is a Republican. Most Democratic?

A CBS reporter [who is Asian] asked Trump a question. Right away Trump blabbers away regarding the number of deaths in the world and says “Ask China”. When she tries to follow up and she gets cut off. He then asks a CNN reporter who has 2 questions but I think as soon as he figured who she was and from what network he told her something like “you took too long to ask”. He then looked if there were others asking questions [other than these two] and then just left.

Trump claims that the USA is leading the world in testing. Maybe by actual tests but not by percentage. The US is at 2.8%, Canada is at 3.0% and a few countries in Europe are way higher.

Rick Bright, who filed a whistleblower complaint after being removed from his position as head of the agency in charge of pandemic response, testified for just under four hours before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s health subcommittee. He said:

• There was a lack of plans from federal agencies and the administration.
• His warnings about supply shortages were ignored multiple times.
• “There were some attempts to bypass” a vetting process for hydroxychloroquine.
• He doubts whether there will be a vaccine in 12 to 18 months.

Some GOP members question need for hearing and its timing. Should be focused on the pandemic instead. Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina claimed that the hearing was not about the whistleblower complaint but “undermining the administration during a national and global crisis.”

“I never even thought of changing the date of the election. Why would I do that? November 3rd. It’s a good number. No, I look forward to that election,” Trump said during an April 27 press conference when asked about the election date. Of course, we know Trump. Anything he has said is meaningless within 15 minutes of saying it.

Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida is telling members the club will partially reopen shortly, and guests will need to maintain social distancing guidelines.

In case you are not keeping score, Trump is at 152 executive orders. Obama did 147 in his first term. He did 121 at this time in his third year. Only “advantage” Obama had was that he did more in his first 2 weeks.

In a new poll, 84% of Republicans say they trust Trump to give them information on the virus. Only 61% of the same slice of the electorate say they trust Fauci, who has headed the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984. Trump has no medical qualifications.

And now COVID-19 hits the White Shack

Donald Trump’s personal valet [an aide picked from the military] tested positive for COVID-19. Now all along the “rule” is that if you come in contact with someone who tests positive, that person should self-quarantine for 14 days from the last contact. Trump is expected to be tested. Will he self-quarantine?

[If he doesn’t, what’s to stop his followers to ignore the 14 day rule if he does?]

The day after, the press secretary for Vice President Mike Pence’s group tested positive as well. But the day before, the staffer, who is married to Stephen Miller (and known racist), was tested negatively. His plane to Iowa was delayed as 6 people did leave the plane. Unsure if for testing or otherwise.

Trump is whining that China didn’t notify him sooner about COVID-19, even though it was on the news late last year. He was notified by his intelligence services early January. Didn’t his top intelligence agency – FOX News – had it in a report? There are thoughts of punishing China now although he praised China and President Xi 24 times in January and February for transparency. A recent trade deal was finalized. So he can’t change that part.

Trump said Dr. Anthony Fauci [as well as others in the pandemic task force] will be allowed to testify in the Senate if asked but not in the House. Wonder why? Which party controls what part of congress. Chief of Staff Mark Meadows will decide if someone can testify. This could clear Trump of any possibly future charges of obstruction.

Trump then went off track by saying he doesn’t trust the Democratic controlled House and repeated that the Democratic Party wants him to fail during this pandemic – no matter how many American deaths it causes.

Trump may hold back any further stimulus bills unless there is a payroll tax cut. The current bill is one to help out state and local governments that was left out of the last bill but was supposedly promised after it was excluded from the last bill.

Trump claiming didn’t know about COVD-19 until just before he banned the Chinese from entering the US.

• It was first brought up by intelligence services on January 3rd – at least his preferred intelligence agency, FOX News.
• Did he even bother to read the briefings [that he generally doesn’t read anyways according to many people]?
• How could he not know of the virus? You couldn’t miss it if you watched the news [in his case – FOX News – unless they ignored it then].

Seems Trump continues to try to rewrite history while ignoring the various news footage that contradicts his version of history.

The Justice Department’s decision to drop the criminal case against Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, whose lies about his contacts with Russia prompted Trump to fire him three years ago and special counsel Robert Mueller to flip him to cooperate in the Russia investigation. Seems Trump is happy with the news even though he then went after Flynn.

Trump appeared to reverse course on the decision to wind down the coronavirus task force, instead rebranding it. He tweeted that the task force will “continue on indefinitely” and shift its focus to “SAFETY & OPENING UP OUR COUNTRY AGAIN.” Just days prior, Pence said the task force could disband by Memorial Day [May 25th].

Trump touted his administration’s success in procuring personal protective equipment and testing, even though many experts say there is not nearly enough testing available. He also said that task force members may be added or subtracted “as appropriate” and will “also be very focused on Vaccines & Therapeutics.”

“It’s possible there will be some [deaths] because you won’t be locked into an apartment or a house or whatever it is,” Trump said in an interview. “But at the same time, we’re going to practice social distancing, we’re going to be washing hands, we’re going to be doing a lot of the things that we’ve learned to do over the last period of time.” I doubt it. Seeing already plenty of people ignoring social distancing, wearing gloves, etc.

I’m very shocked: Trump actually said he wasn’t thrilled about massage parlors opening up [in Georgia?]

The administration also has not released guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] that have been in the works for weeks and offered advice on how to reopen certain businesses and facilities. In a sharply worded statement, the White House blasted the guidelines. But the CDC is a de facto regulator in a public health crisis and a lot of business literally can’t reopen without it.

Trump continues to insist that Americans are having no issues getting tested if needed also contrasts with complaints from governors and public health officials around the country that they sometimes lack the supplies needed to conduct the tests.

They are having so much problems with the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) that a person trying to submit an online loan application under the PPP ended up accessing the application of someone who lived 1,200 miles away. The PPP is one of the core provisions of the $2 trillion economic stimulus package Trump signed into law March 27.

Trump announced that he was firing the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, Christi Grimm, and nominating a handpicked replacement. Meanwhile, Rick Bright was in the process of filing what promises to be a damning whistleblower complaint to the Inspector. A ruling came in saying Bright’s job should be re-instated as the firing was politically motivated.

In his first visit outside of Washington since the start of the pandemic, Trump traveled to Arizona to visit a Honeywell mask-making plant. Guess what? He wasn’t wearing a mask in public. “I had it on back — backstage. But they said you didn’t need it, so, I didn’t need it. And by the way, if you noticed, nobody else had it on that was in the group.” Is it a coincidence that he only wore a mask “backstage” or did he ever wear one?

Trump is very, very focused on how he is portrayed and perceived. And he wants the image that the public gets of him to be that of a strong and fearless leader. He wants to be seen as manly, just like his buddy Russian President/Dictator Vladimir Poutine.

Trump announced the new CDC guidelines on mask-wearing in mid-April: “I don’t think I’m going to be doing it. … Wearing a face mask as I greet presidents, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens — I just don’t see it.” He forgot tyrants, dictators, etc. And exactly how many foreign leaders have arrived at the White Shack since mid-March?

Trump attended a World War II event with veterans in their 90s. He did not wear a mask. White House press secretary Kayleigh “The Parrot II” McEnany said “I can tell you those veterans are protected… It was their choice to come here.” Neither Trump, Melania Trump or the veterans and others wore masks and gloves.

Trump continues to blame the Obama administration for not replenishing stockpile of gloves, masks and other required medical items after the swine flu in 2009. However it was the Republican controlled Congress that stopped President Obama from passing the funding to do so.

Former President George W. Bush released a short, heartfelt video offering words of support for a nation rocked by a staggering loss of lives and livelihoods during the coronavirus pandemic. Trump, of course whined. Trump tweeted “Oh bye [sic] the way, I appreciate the message from former President Bush, but where was he during Impeachment calling for putting partisanship aside… He was nowhere to be found in speaking up against the greatest Hoax in American history!” Petty.

Way back in 2015, McEnany was a harsh critic of then-candidate Trump before she became a fierce advocate for him, including calling comments he made about Mexican immigrants in 2015 “racist”. Before the 2016 campaign, McEnany said it was “unfortunate” and “inauthentic” to call him a Republican. Within a couple of months, her tune changed. She changed her mind and became a big supporter of Trump. Or maybe a big fat paycheck changed her mind.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the initial reports on the shots fired from North Korea into South Korea indicate they were “accidental.” Accidental? A single shot is accidental. Not multiple.

An administration executive order declares “a national emergency with respect to the threat to the United States bulk-power system” and takes steps to ban the US power grid from acquiring or installing using equipment “in which any foreign country or a national thereof has any interest.” This actually protects the grid – however, the cost of installing and maintaining goes up. It even shuts our friendly countries such as Canada or the UK.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said during an interview [on Fox Business] it was “too hard to tell at this point” when asked if he thought international travel would resume this year, but added “this is a great time for people to explore America.” What?

Joke time: Because of his huge ego, if Trump contracted COVID-19, he would say it wasn’t COVID-19 but the all improved COVID-20.

6 months away!

So, in 6 months from today, the citizens of the United States will be going to the polls to elect their next President, maybe their next Senator, their next house representative plus state and local officials.

Of course, the biggest question will be who will be the next President. Will the Democrats’ Joe Biden be elected or will the Republicans’ Donald Trump continue for another four treacherous years.

Say Trump wins again, he will be gloating. However, if he didn’t win the popular vote like in 2016, he will probably complain about voter fraud again. His ego will get in the way.

But say Biden gets elected as President [and he should the way things are going], Trump will complain about voter fraud. He will contest various voting polls. If COVID-19 is still lingering, he will complain about how his voters couldn’t vote or how some [in Democratic leaning counties] should be tossed out for whatever reasons he can dream up.

Trump may even go as far as saying it was a coup d’état. Now that would rile up his base and could really cause problems such as violence. The party, however, may not be too happy. On the other hand, they may finally turn their backs on him.

Do you take any responsibility? “No, I don’t.”

Donald Trump said that he takes no responsibility for any spike in people using disinfectants improperly after dangerously suggesting last week that ingesting it could serve as a coronavirus treatment. Asked about the increase during a White House news conference, Trump said: “I can’t imagine why.” When asked if he takes any responsibility for the spike, Trump answered: “No, I don’t.”

The administration has curtailed the news conferences with Trump because of the way he has handled these news conferences. He’s been going off on different tangents, quite often picking fights with reporters, news networks or segued into a topic that he wasn’t even asked about.

To show you how petty the Trump administration is, a White House official wanted to swap the seats of a news reporter from a major news network with a print reporter from a lesser newspaper – because Trump hates that news network. The print reporter refused and the White House official was almost ready to call in the Secret Service. Unsure if they have any jurisdiction.

Trump is expected to sign a five-page executive order under the Defense Production Act to compel meat processing plants to remain open amid the coronavirus pandemic. By signing the order, Trump will declare these plants as a part of critical infrastructure in the US. Some of the country’s largest processing plants have been forced to cease operations temporarily after thousands of employees across the country have tested positive for the virus.

Some of the meat processing plants have undocumented workers. They may not show up for work. In addition some [legal] workers may not show up for work either with some previously had the virus. They are also concerned about the safety while working at the plants.

Trump met the Louisiana governor this past week in the Oval Closet – well it looked like one since the amount of people shoved into the room. In any case, social distancing, masks and gloves went out the window. The politicians and officials were at most 2-3 feet apart. Reporters were next to each other. From the view, only a camera man had gloves and a mask on. Hazard pay for reporters?

A number of top officials in the Trump administration have pushed US intelligence agencies looking into the origin of the novel coronavirus to “hunt for evidence” linking the virus to a Chinese laboratory. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, deputy national security adviser Matthew Pottinger and Anthony Ruggiero, an official with the National Security Council, are among those pushing for the agencies to find a link.

Where have we seen this before: The White House is blocking Dr. Anthony Fauci, a key member of the Trump administration’s coronavirus task force, from testifying on Capitol Hill next week claiming “…it is counter-productive to have the very individuals involved in those efforts appearing at Congressional hearings.” Or maybe they are hiding things. Fauci has been critical lately of re-opening plans.

Trump was shouting at his campaign manager, Brad Parscale. 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. Suing a campaign manager for bad polling numbers would be a first but I would suspect any lawsuit would be thrown out of court. When the candidate continues to make huge mistakes, there is nothing a campaign manager can do other than telling the candidate to stop it.

But others told him to stop. Trump has complained that the lack of rallies is hurting him in the polling. Probably another reason why Trump would want America to open up again – even if it increases the death count.

To show that he has no real experience to do his job, Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, praised the administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic as a “great success story” less than a day after the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States topped 1 million and almost 60,000 deaths.

“I think you will see by June, a lot of the country should be back to normal, and the hope is that by July the country is really rocking again,” he said. Trump actually called Kushner “a genius”.

At the first official briefing by a White House press secretary in 417 days, Kayleigh The Parrot 2 McEnany promised journalists, “I will never lie to you.” In among them:

• She misquoted an FBI agent’s written comment about former national security adviser Michael Flynn. She said “we need” before “to get him to lie” but the FBI never included “we need”.
• She mischaracterized a tweet by Trump about protesters in Michigan. He said there were “very good people” which include a militia. She said it was for protesting.
• She gave an inflated figure for the cost of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. She said $40 million when an independent checking said $32 million.
• She said Mueller offered a “complete and total exoneration” of Trump, something Mueller explicitly said he was not doing.

Did she lie?

Former Republican Sen. Jeff Flake says a “sound defeat” of Trump in November’s election would be better long term for the Republican Party, adding that he would be comfortable voting for a Democrat instead of his own party’s standard bearer. Flake was one of Trump’s most vocal Republican critics, despite being a staunch conservative who almost always voted with the GOP majority. He may vote for a Democrat in November.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have committed $100 million of their own money to fight the coronavirus pandemic. In return, a fevered segment of the pro-Trump internet is convinced the couple wants to kill off a good portion of humanity, then install mark-of-the-beast style tracking chips in whoever survives.

Then another pro-Trumper tweeted “Bill Gates & @WHO have used African & Indian tribal children to experiment w/ non-FDA approved drug vaccines. Both countries [Two? Africa isn’t a country.] raised red flags about the unethical nature of these trials and were ignored.” And of course like just about anything Trump says, there is no proof this is happening. Others claim Gates patented the virus and was behind spreading bit.

The Supreme Court asked for additional briefings in two cases concerning Trump’s bid to shield his financial documents from Congress. The court asked the parties to address whether the court even has the ability to decide who should prevail in the dispute.

Lower US courts have upheld US House of Representatives’ use of committee subpoenas for Trump’s financial records dating back years from his longtime accounting firm Mazars USA, and from Deutsche Bank and Capital One. House investigators contended they needed the information as the House was considering new legislation related to money laundering and government ethics.

When Vice President Mike Pence walked into the Mayo Clinic recently, he wasn’t wearing a face mask. Pence was told of the new rules before he visited, the clinic said on Twitter, a post that was subsequently deleted. Everyone else in the building was. After all, it has been the policy at the renowned Rochester, Minnesota, facility since April 13. They even say they’ll provide one.

Pence later told reporters that he wasn’t wearing a mask because he is supposedly tested weekly for coronavirus. Maybe. Wonder how often Trump is tested. Still, Pence as a leader should act like he’s in a leadership role by wearing a mask.

In another sick joke from the Trump Administration, the White House gift shop [online] is selling commemorative COVID-19 coins showing various “historic moments”!

He’s also a medical expert. You didn’t know that?

With hydroxychloroquine as a cure basically shot down, Donald Trump is now claiming that a combination of heat and humidity will wipe out the disease. He even had the head of science and technology at the Department of Homeland Security, presents findings on sunlight and humidity. Of course, there was no actual research into the results.

Trump said UV light could be used to help people with the virus, whether sunlight could be brought “inside the body,” or whether disinfectant materials could be injected into bodies or used to cleanse bodies in the same way they disinfect surfaces. [Please stop laughing!]

Several medical experts immediately took to Twitter to plead with people not to experiment with ingesting bleach, UV light or isopropyl alcohol. But you some on the right who don’t believe in science will do it anyways. [Maybe they should add an extra statistic: those who died from what Trump has said.]

Dr. Deborah Birx, who is the Coronavirus Response Coordinator for the task force, was a bit shocked when he mentioned his treatment suggestion and later was trying to avoid answering any questions related to Trump’s medical advice.

Shortly after his comments, the White Shack said the media took Trump’s comments out of context but you know that’s not true. Then not even 24 hours later, Trump said it sarcastically. Well, aside from the footage which shows him being serious, why wait almost 24 hours to say so? You don’t spend probably 10+ minutes commenting about something you said sarcastically.

Trump has claimed that hydroxychloroquine has been promising in combating the virus – except the current studies say it isn’t true. Under low doses, there is little improvements. Under a high dose it could cause heart problems. Yet Fox News and their TV doctors are claiming it is a miracle drug with one saying the heart issue is for a tiny percentage of the population and it has helped millions of people. Late on this week, Fox News decided the drug isn’t good.

Already the Maryland governor has stated that over 100 people in the 24 hours since Trump made his medical comments have swallowed disinfectants.

At least 43,000 American millionaires who are too rich to get coronavirus stimulus checks are getting a far bigger boost — averaging $1.6 million each, according to a congressional committee. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act trumpeted its assistance for working families and small businesses, but it apparently contains an even bigger benefit for wealthy business owners.

As Trump said the decision would be up to the states to when to open, some states have decided to ignore the White Shack recommendation on how to open up. Already some south-east states are opening up some beaches, stores, bowling alleys, etc. And what did Trump do? He praised them even though it went against his recommendations just days prior.

As some of the states ignored Trump’s “recommendation” of waiting for 14 straight days of decreased cases and deaths, the probability of an early estimate by the administration of having as low of 60,000 deaths will go out the window. Already, the death toll is hitting close to 50,000 at this time. Some states want to open up bars, restaurants, and even [would you believe] massage parlors!

Ignoring social distancing and most were not wearing masks, small protested started in various cities against the restrictions. But if you look at the signs, some were anti-gay, pro-gun, pro-religious [i.e. should have the right to go to church any time], and other non-restriction related issues. I’m sure a few that had masks on did so to hide their faces from the media and not because of the virus. One of the chief organizers for the protests is a man who has affiliations to the National Rifle Association [pro-Trump, pro-right wing].

Trump has suggested that if companies re-open and an employee gets hit with the virus, he believe the employee’s company cannot get sued [but he will wait for a legal opinion].

Trumps thought of pushing to re-open the economy took a slight relapse as Canada has extended a travel ban between Canada and the US for another 30 days. Cargo can still flow through but not people. That said, some of the hardest hit states are border states. Of course he tweeted it late and the White Shack staff were scrambling to finalize it.

Trump, after months of letting the subject simmer, has finally had his chance. He will sign an executive order to temporarily ban immigration. We’ll see what the courts say on this – although he has a better chance because of the virus. The order is expected to temporarily halt the issuance of new green cards and work visas — steps that had already effectively already been in place amid the coronavirus pandemic.

White House press secretary Kayleigh “The Parrot Two” McEnany said “As President Trump has said, ‘Decades of record immigration have produced lower wages and higher unemployment for our citizens, especially for African American and Latino workers.'” And yet the last 3 years are in the top 10 years with the most immigration since records were kept. What did he do?

On a news channel, after he was told Michael Bloomberg will pay for tracers in New York City where these people will try to determine who may have been in contact with someone who has COVID-19, Rudy Giuliani said “We should trace everybody for cancer, and heart disease. And obesity. I mean, a lot of things kill you more than COVID-19. So, we should be traced for all those things. I mean life possesses a certain degree of risk.” Cancer, obesity and heart disease are not contagious. And we though we heard the last of Giuliani.

CDC Director, Robert R. Redfield, said at one point in the week that if the influenza and COVID-19 are both going around in the fall, it will be a very devastating – even more than right now. Less than 24 hours late, with Trump near him at the daily news conference, Redfield backtracked. However, many in the medical field said that what Redfield said initially was a more likely scenario. Was he pressured to backtrack?

Dr. Rick Bright had led BARDA, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, since 2016 was reassigned to a narrower position. He also announced he will file a whistleblower complaint with the Department of Health and Human Services’ inspector general. He says he was abruptly dismissed from his post in part because he resisted efforts to widen the availability of a coronavirus treatment pushed by Trump – hydroxychloroquine.

He said he will request that the HHS inspector general “investigate the manner in which this administration has politicized the work of BARDA and has pressured me and other conscientious scientists to fund companies with political connections as well as efforts that lack scientific merit.” He has not yet filed the request.

Trump went after House leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate leader Chuck Schumer saying they are doing bad politics by refusing to get a new virus funding bill [plus the usual bullying comments]. The two want additional funding for state and local governments – something the current bill doesn’t have and the Trump and the Republican senators so far have refused to add. So who’s at fault?

Piers Morgan, a right wing news anchor went after Trump saying he “is failing the American people” on almost every level. “He’s turning these briefings into a self-aggrandizing, self-justifying, overly defensive, politically partisan, almost like a rally to him — almost like what’s more important is winning the election in
November.” Morgan is supposedly still friends with Trump.

“You will win the election in November if you get this right. If you stop making it about yourself and make it about the American people and show that you care about them over yourself, you will win.”

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh “The New Parrot” McEnany declared “Under President [Donald Trump’s] leadership we have quickly developed the most expansive and accurate testing system in the world.” There is no such US testing system. There is no national testing strategy, but rather a series of programs administered by states with limited federal guidance.

Trump claims if it wasn’t for his friendship with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, the US would be at war with North Korea. Sure Donnie.

Trump’s friend, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, suggests bankruptcy would be a better route for some states rather than federal aid, as money is doled out to help buffer an economy ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic. His suggestion came after the state and local help would not be in the passed bill this week but supposedly in the next. His office late said basically why help Democratic states.

New York Governor [and possible future presidential nominee] Andrew Cuomo says that his state in a normal year sends more money to the federal government any other state while McConnell’s home state, Kentucky, receives more than gives.

As his own health officials continue to warn against nonessential travel, Trump has privately urged aides over the past week to start adding official events back to his schedule, including photo ops and site visits that would allow him to ditch Washington for a few hours.

The Trump family business is asking the federal government to give Trump’s hotel in Washington, DC, a break on its monthly lease payments during the coronavirus pandemic. The DC hotel is housed in the Old Post Office building, a federally-owned property on Pennsylvania Avenue between the White House and Capitol building. The hotel is currently paying a monthly rent of $267,653 to the GSA.

Trump International hotel workers were furloughed in Washington (237). Chicago (294 employees) and Las Vegas (552 employees). Trump International Hotel and Tower in New York furloughed 70 employees and Trump National Golf Club in Potomac Falls, Virginia, another 102 employees.

Trump tweeted that he has instructed the US Navy to “shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats” that harass US ships. Iranian boats fly?