Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) received a public rebuke on Fox News for his minimizing of the threat of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
Gaetz infamously wore a gas mask to mock the disease.
Gaetz was brutally taken to task on Laura Ingraham's show by Democratic strategist Chris Hahn, a former advisor to Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
Watch:
On Fox News Thursday in discussion with Sean Hannity, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) made an extraordinary statement: That he wants the United States to "cancel" some of the national debt held by the Chinese government as punishment for allowing the coronavirus to spread beyond its borders.
"I want to get the medical supply chain back in the United States, and I want to start canceling some debt that we owe to China, because they should be paying us, not us paying China," said Graham. "So I think you're going to see a bipartisan pushback against China to punish them so severely to deter them in the future."
Putting aside the thorny legal question of whether a foreign country can be legally held at fault for the spread of a deadly disease, there is a big problem with what Graham is proposing: the 14th Amendment.
The amendment, one of the three "Reconstruction Amendments" passed in the wake of the Civil War, contained a clause at the end that was designed to prevent Southern politicians — who historically wielded outsized power in Congress — from canceling the U.S. war debt, which could have shielded the white landowners who led the war effort from having to pay taxes: "The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned."
At a bare minimum, this amendment would appear to make it unconstitutional to "cancel" Treasury bonds held by the Chinese government or businesses. But it might go even further than that — some have interpreted the phrase "shall not be questioned" more literally, to mean that public officials are bound not to say anything that would make creditors "question" the validity of the public debt. If that is the case, then Graham would have violated the Constitution simply by saying he wants debt held by China to be canceled.
Either way, far from the "bipartisan pushback" Graham is predicting, his idea will go nowhere.
Watch below:
The Speaker of the House of Representatives suggested Congress may not return to Washington, DC during the month of April as the country faces the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and a nationwide economic crisis.
"Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaled Thursday that the House is unlikely to return to session later this month, her clearest indication yet that Congress — like the rest of the country — could remain shuttered for weeks or even longer as the coronavirus crisis continues," Politico reported Thursday evening.
The House is scheduled to return to work on April 20th.
"In a half-hour interview, Pelosi issued a stark warning to President Donald Trump, urging him not to prematurely rush to reopen major segments of the country before the coronavirus is under control, which she said could further send the U.S. economy into a tailspin," Politico noted.
Over 15,000 Americans have died from the virus and the latest unemployment numbers showed over 6 million filed for benefits, for the second week in a row.
Two House committees have called on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to turn over documents related to reports that the agency is seizing orders of coronavirus medical supplies from states, as well as the involvement of President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in overseeing those efforts.
This article originally appeared at Salon.
The chairs of the House Homeland Security and Oversight committees called on FEMA to turn over documents responding to a "troubling report" from the Health and Human Services Department's inspector general detailing "severe shortages" of emergency equipment reported by hospitals around the country.
"The report confirms that — in the richest nation in the world — hospitals are lacking masks, gowns and other basic materials," Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., said in a letter to FEMA Administrator Peter Gaynor.
The committees also requested a response to media reports that that agency was "redirecting" medical supplies ordered by states and hospitals. Officials in at least a half-dozen states have reported that FEMA hijacked supplies sent to states without informing them.
"After encouraging the states to take care of themselves, the Trump administration now appears to be positioning FEMA to engage in the redirection of private supply chains — but the agency's opaque and evolving processes are clearly not meeting the needs that communities have right now for [personal protective equipment] and medical supplies," the letter said.
The committees requested documents to understand how FEMA is operating its "Airbridge" program, in which the administration pays to fly in supplies from China for private companies to sell to states and hospitals in the U.S., and to "understand the role of Jared Kushner in managing FEMA's operational efforts to obtain and distribute" supplies.
Thompson and Maloney said their committees "do no understand the role" that Kushner is playing in FEMA's efforts.
"It appears that Mr. Kushner is unclear about basic facts regarding the purpose of the Strategic National Stockpile," the letter said, noting that Kushner "erroneously" described it as "our stockpile" that is "not supposed to be the state stockpiles that they then use."
The chairs were also "troubled" by reports that Kushner's actions could be "circumventing protocols that ensure all states' requests are handled appropriately."
"We are particularly troubled that Mr. Kushner's work may even involve 'directing FEMA and HHS officials to prioritize specific requests from people who are able to get Kushner on the phone,'" they wrote.
That appeared to be a reference to Kushner's comment that he called up New York's top health official and delivered critical supplies after getting a "call" from Trump saying "he was hearing from his friends" that hospitals in the city were in short supply.
Though Gaynor and Navy Rear Adm. John Polowczyk, the logistics chief for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are overseeing the supply chain, Kushner has assembled a so-called "shadow" task force filled with start-up entrepreneurs who have "issued orders to health agencies" and sparked "resentment" among federal officials, according to The New York Times.
One senior official described Kushner's team as a "frat party" that "descended from a UFO and invaded the federal government," while others criticized the group's use of private email and free teleconferencing services to discuss sensitive policy issues.
As Kushner's elevated role draws scrutiny from lawmakers, his wife Ivanka Trump is planning to take on a big role in the federal effort to rescue small businesses impacted by the coronavirus, Axios reports.
A White House official told CNN that "during recent weeks, Ivanka has has been meeting on the phone with members of Congress and CEOs of the country's major financial institutions in the run up to and the launch of the [Paycheck Protection Program]."
Ivanka Trump, who has been working part-time at the White House while her kids are home from school, participated in a Tuesday conference call with small businesses alongside her father.
"She created over 15 million jobs," the president said, repeating a completely false stat he has repeatedly cited in the past while referring to his daughter's efforts on the White House "Pledge to America's Workers" initiative.
"Ivanka didn't create 15M jobs. As of the March data, pre-shutdown, there'd been fewer than 6.5M jobs added during this presidency. Rather, companies have pledged 15.8M 'education and training opportunities,' many for existing employees," CNN fact-check Daniel Dale explained on Twitter. "Also, it's not clear how many of the 'education and training opportunities' the White House 'Pledge to America's Workers' initiative had anything to do with prompting and how many the companies would have created anyway but are simply disclosing to the White House to get credit."
On Thursday, The New York Times reported that some GOP lawmakers friendly with President Donald Trump are starting to worry his daily coronavirus press briefing appearances are hurting him — and think that he should bow out and leave the briefings to the experts.
"In his daily briefings on the coronavirus, President Trump has brandished all the familiar tools in his rhetorical arsenal: belittling Democratic governors, demonizing the media, trading in innuendo and bulldozing over the guidance of experts," wrote Jonathan Martin and Maggie Haberman. "It’s the kind of performance the president relishes, but one that has his advisers and Republican allies worried."
The report continued: "As unemployment soars and the death toll skyrockets, and new polls show support for the president’s handling of the crisis sagging, White House allies and Republican lawmakers increasingly believe the briefings are hurting the president more than helping him. Many view the sessions as a kind of original sin from which all of his missteps flow, once he gets through his prepared script and turns to his preferred style of extemporaneous bluster and invective."
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) reportedly believes Trump "sometimes drowns out his own message" at these conferences and that "I told him your opponent is no longer Joe Biden — it’s this virus." He believes that "once-a-week" briefings would probably make more sense. Meanwhile, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) believes the pressers are "going off the rails a little bit" and wants Trump to "let the health professionals guide where we’re going to go."
Rep. Paul Mitchell (R-MI) agreed, saying "It is not helpful to hurl names and talk badly about people. We need to focus on the problem."
"The consternation reflects a new sense of urgency over Mr. Trump’s re-election efforts as Joseph R. Biden Jr. emerges as his likely Democratic challenger," said the report. "Three new polls this week show Mr. Biden leading the president, and the Trump campaign’s internal surveys show he has mostly lost the initial bump he received early in the crisis, according to three people briefed on the numbers. Public polls show he badly trails the nation’s governors and his own medical experts in terms of whom Americans trust most for guidance."
"Some of Mr. Trump’s aides have quietly suggested to him that he ratchet back his public attacks on the governors who have emerged as leaders in the response to the virus," continued the report. "But they acknowledge their efforts can be something of a fool’s errand; the president has his style and he won’t change, they say."
You can read more here.
Hannity was complaining about media coverage of President Donald Trump's multiple failures in responding to the coronavirus pandemic -- which have resulted in America leading the world in COVID-19 cases.
The Fox News host -- with the chyron, "members of the media attack President Trump daily during coronavirus pandemic" -- played clips of criticism of White House failures.
CNN chief media correspondent Brian Stelter appeared happy that a clip of his show, "Reliable Sources," was included in Hannity's montage.
Stelter posted a clip of Hannity's show with his remarks -- and thanked Hannity for allowing a larger audience to see them.
"This was a 9/11 level failure of the federal government. It was. It needs to be talked about and covered and scrutinized that way," Stelter counseled.
In a speech to mayors on Thursday, former President Barack Obama offered a critical piece of advice for combating the coronavirus pandemic — and in characteristic fashion, subtextually criticized President Donald Trump without mentioning him by name.
"The biggest mistake any [of] us can make in these situations is to misinform," said Obama. "Speak the truth. Speak it clearly. Speak it with compassion. Speak it with empathy for what folks are going through ... The more smart people you have around you, and the less embarrassed you are to ask questions, the better your response is going to be."
Trump has been widely criticized for perpetually misinforming the public about coronavirus, including his early claims that it would soon go away, that it was no worse than the seasonal flu, and that warm weather would contain its spread. He has also questioned medical experts' social distancing guidelines on multiple occasions, suggesting that the economic consequences of lockdowns are not worth containing the virus, and at one point suggested that exaggerations of the virus were the Democrats' "new hoax."
President Donald Trump has been attempting to blame China for his ineffective response to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
That messaging was evident in a new 2020 campaign ad by Trump's re-election campaign that attacks former Vice President Joe Biden and China.
The ad features a montage of Biden meeting with Chinese officials. However, as Edward-Isacc Dovere of The Atlantic noted, among the montage is Gary Locke.
Locke is of Chinese American descent but is an American who was born in Seattle.
For decades, Locke was a prominent American politician.
He served as ambassador to China and Secretary of Commerce during the Obama administration. Before that, he served two terms as the governor of Washington. Prior to that, he served as executive for the largest county in the state.
On Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence suggested at the day's coronavirus task force briefing that within a day, the White House may be issuing new guidelines allowing doctors to wear "cloth gowns" that can be washed and reused, as a means of cutting back on the cost of medical equipment.
On Thursday, at a coronavirus education meeting, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) incorrectly told attendees that there have been zero COVID-19 deaths in the United States of anyone under the age of 25 "for whatever reason."
"The data has been 100% consistent," said DeSantis. "I've not seen any deviation on that."
In fact, while the elderly are significantly more likely to suffer from life-threatening complications, there have been hundreds of patients under 25 who have been killed by COVID-19. Louisiana and Connecticut have both seen cases of infants who have died after testing positive for the virus.
DeSantis has come under national scrutiny and a barrage of criticism for his handling of the pandemic within his state, resisting calls to close public beaches to Spring Breakers, and taking weeks before issuing a flimsy stay-at-home order that exempts many vulnerable gatherings, including religious functions.
Watch below:
Tentative signs of hope emerged Thursday that the coronavirus pandemic was peaking, as the European Union negotiated a rescue package to help the hard-hit continent.
With the death toll passing 93,000, there remained plenty of grim news, with the IMF warning that the world was dipping into a new Great Depression and new data showing the United States has shed a massive 17 million jobs in a matter of weeks.
But hospitalizations dropped in several countries and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the highest profile of the 1.5 million people infected by the virus, exited three days of intensive care.
"The fire started by the pandemic is starting to come under control," said Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of Spain, where fatalities inched down to 683 from 757 a day before, pushing the total above 15,000.
"Our priority now is not to turn back, especially not to return to our starting point, not to lower our guard," Sanchez told parliament.
France reported that 82 fewer people were in intensive care for COVID-19 -- the first fall since the pandemic broke out.
And in New York, the epicenter of the virus in the United States, only 200 more people entered hospitals, the lowest number since the pandemic struck, even though 799 people died over the last day, Governor Andrew Cuomo said.
"We are flattening the curve by what we are doing," Cuomo said Thursday, adding, "We have to keep the curve flat."
But he declined to predict how New York would be faring in the next few weeks, telling reporters bluntly: "I have no idea."
'A Europe that protects'
EU finance ministers agreed in late-night talks to a 500 billion-euro ($550 billion) rescue package aimed at reducing pain across the 27-nation bloc, especially hardest-hit Italy and Spain.
"Europe has decided and is ready to meet the gravity of the crisis," French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire tweeted after the talks.
He warned earlier in the day that France's economy is expected to shrink six percent this year, even with the country's own 100-billion-euro relief plan.
EU finance ministers put aside proposals by France and Italy for pooled borrowing. The Netherlands relented and let the deal come through after pushing hard for Italy and other affected countries to undertake economic reforms.
"Today we answered our citizens' call for a Europe that protects," Eurogroup chief Mario Centeno said after the talks.
"This response contains bold and ambitious proposals that didn't seem possible just weeks ago," added Centeno, who is also Portuguese finance minister.
Both workers and companies are suffering as half the planet is being told to stay at home.
Worst 'since Great Depression'
The International Monetary Fund said that 170 of its 180 members would see declines in per capita income this year -- just a few months after predictions that nearly all would enjoy growth.
"We anticipate the worst economic fallout since the Great Depression," said IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva, urging governments to provide lifelines to businesses and households alike.
And even in the best-case scenario, the IMF expects only a "partial recovery" in 2021, assuming the virus that has infected more than 1.5 million people subsides this year.
"It could get worse," Georgieva warned.
The US Federal Reserve threw out its own fresh lifeline to Americans, with chairman Jerome Powell announcing financing facilities of $2.3 trillion "to provide as much relief and stability as we can during this period of constrained economic activity."
The latest stimulus helped Wall Street's benchmark Dow index rise 1.2 percent, recouping a sliver of this year's massive losses, despite the gloomy job figures.
But Powell also warned that the US economy is moving "with alarming speed" towards "very high unemployment."
Anthony Fauci, the US government's top pandemic expert, voiced guarded hope for a return to normal by summer thanks to the effects of social distancing, the recommendations for virtually all 300 million Americans to keep their space from one another.
"It is very likely that we will progress towards the steps towards normalization as we get to the end of this 30 days," Fauci told CBS television.
"Hopefully, by the time we get to the summer we will have taken many steps in that direction," he said.
Boris Johnson improving
In London, the prime minister's office said Johnson was in "extremely good spirits" after leaving intensive care.
The 55-year-old Conservative leader had received "standard oxygen treatment" after he was transferred to the intensive care unit at London's St Thomas' hospital on Monday, his spokesman said earlier.
Johnson had been an initial skeptic of rigorously emptying out public spaces to fight the virus before heeding expert advice.
His government, with Foreign Minister Dominic Raab temporarily in charge, is now debating whether to extend the lockdown implemented on March 23.
Britain announced another 881 deaths on Thursday, taking the total to 7,978.
Despite hopeful signs in Western nations, the pandemic is marching into areas previously only lightly affected. Africa faces vast consequences, with the World Bank warning that sub-Saharan Africa could slip into its first recession in a quarter.
In a move to build international solidarity over the crisis, Germany on Thursday led a videoconference session of the UN Security Council on the pandemic.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened the session by calling the pandemic "the fight of a generation -- and the raison d'etre of the United Nations itself."
The love affair between President Donald Trump and right-wing media may be hitting a rough patch.
Fox News analyst Brit Hume called out the president on Thursday for a tweet in which he lashed out at the Wall Street Journal. The paper had on Wednesday evening published a piece from the editorial board criticizing Trump’s daily coronavirus briefings that have been filled with misinformation.
“Mr. Trump opens each briefing by running through a blizzard of facts and numbers showing what the government is doing—this many tests, that many masks, so many ventilators going from here to there, and what a great job he’s doing,” wrote the editorial board, which is typically a prominent defender of the president. “Then Mr. Trump opens the door for questions, and the session deteriorates into a dispiriting brawl between the President and his antagonists in the White House press corps.”
Even this description was far too kind, as it ignored the fact that Trump regularly lies and doles out dangerous advice from the White House briefing room.
But the piece clearly got under the president’s skin, so he did what he always does: lash out on Twitter:
“This is a ridiculous tweet,” tweeted Hume in response. “He could get his views across without bragging, endlessly repeating himself, and getting into petty squabbles with the junior varsity players in the WH press corps. And he could stop talking much sooner to give Pence, Fauci, Birx and Giroir more time.”
Of course, neither the Journal nor Hume are likely to admit what the tweet is evidence of: Trump’s spectacular unfitness for office. It’s not just a momentary slip or poorly conceived post. It encapsulates Trump’s entire approach to the presidency: attack enemies, focus on public relations, and only care about how events affect him personally — rather than the country.
At the latest coronavirus task force press briefing on Thursday, President Donald Trump was asked about the ongoing problems with the Paycheck Protection Program, the portion of the CARES Act that offers stimulus relief to small businesses through banks. Trump's response was to push back on the idea there was a problem at all.
"I'm hearing it's a very, very successful rollout," said Trump, noting that, "They're doing record numbers of dollars."
A number of small businesses have reported difficulty in requesting the money for which they are eligible. Some large banks, like Wells Fargo, have been inundated with requests, and are already bumping up against the stimulus cap.
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