On Thursday, following the arrest of former Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, Eric Trump posted a picture of Maxwell at Chelsea Clinton's wedding.
He was immediately deluged in scorn from social media, as commenters reminded him of all the pictures of Maxwell with his own father.
The mayor of Tuscon has stopped an effort to paint a "thin blue line" in front of a police station.
"Today, my office was made aware of a request made by an individual with known ties to white supremacist ideology to paint a 'thin blue line' in front of the TPD Headquarters," Mayor Regina Romero wrote in a statement posted to Twitter.
"I unequivocally disavow this effort that serves to incite and divide our community, and minimizes the Black Lives Matter movement," she explained.
"All public art requests, especially those that use City resources, should be treated on a case-by-case basis and consider whether they reflect our City's values. Requests coming from a known white supremacist sympathizer clearly do not pass this test," Romero wrote. "This is unacceptable."
The leader of the free world was blasted online for focusing on cable ratings as coronavirus cases surge across America.
" CNN should move [Chris Cuomo] back to the morning slot. He was rewarded for bad ratings with a much better time slot - and again got really bad ratings. Getting totally trounced by Fox News," Trump argued. "Give him another shot in the morning - He would easily beat Morning Joe’s poorly rated show!"
The president was quickly mocked for focusing on cable news ratings during a pandemic. Here's some of what people were saying:
On Thursday, in the wake of President Donald Trump announcing that he actually likes the way he looks in a protective face mask, Fox & Friends co-anchor Steve Doocy bemoaned the fact that America ever let mask-wearing become a political controversy. “For some reason, over the last couple of weeks, a month, masks have become political,” said Doocy.
Writing for The Daily Beast, Justin Baragona and Maxwell Tani pointed to a key source of politicization of masks — Doocy's own network.
"Since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. months ago, Fox News hosts and guests have repeatedly criticized face coverings—either by openly mocking them or by claiming mandated mask-wearing is an infringement on personal freedom, particularly by Democratic officials eager to control the population," said the report. "During an April 24 broadcast of Hannity, for instance, guest host Mike Huckabee and Fox News contributor Trey Gowdy — both former Republican elected officials — groused about a then-new Houston mandate that would fine residents up to $1,000 if they didn’t wear a mask in public, calling it an example of local government 'trampling the constitutional rights of American citizens.'"
In another incident, "primetime star Laura Ingraham — who was actually an early and vocal proponent of mask-wearing — insisted that donning face masks had become a way for Democrats and liberals to enforce incessant panic. 'Now Rush Limbaugh made a great point, as he always does, on the radio the other day and he said the virus itself as it weakens and states start reopening, the media that have been selling panic, panic, panic for weeks and weeks and weeks, they have fewer images to sell their hysteria to justify continued lockdowns,' she said on the April 29 broadcast of The Ingraham Angle. 'But the masks, well they're kind of a constant reminder. You see the mask and you think, you are not safe. You are not back to normal. Not even close.'"
Fox News' criticism of masks tracked well with President Donald Trump's previous refusal to be seen wearing them. Two weeks ago, he even suggested state masks requirements were part of a plot to make him look bad.
On Thursday, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) called for President Donald Trump to disband the task force, directing particular ire at Drs. Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx. "They engender panic and hysteria and undermine what the president’s doing," he said.
Commenters on social media were enraged at the congressman's insinuation that facts about a public health crisis should be sidelined so as not to "undermine" the political aspirations of the president.
Civil rights activist and prominent MSNBC analyst Maya Wiley revealed on MSNBC on Thursday that she is considering a campaign for mayor of New York City.
Wiley also serves as the senior vice president for social justice at The New School and the Henry Cohen Professor of Urban Policy and Management at the Milano School of Policy, Management, and Environment.
"There have been reports in multiple outlets about some people discussing whether or not you might run for mayor of new york," MSNBC chief legal analyst Ari Melber noted. "Not as friend of Maya, but as a journalist, do you have any comment on that? Are you considering running for mayor?"
Wiley said, "I have been so overwhelmed by just the amount of support and kind words and outpouring I've gotten as a result of these news reports. All I can say to you is, I am certainly exploring it because I've been extremely privileged to be asked by folks to think about it."
"For me the biggest issues of the city is whether or not we'll have a bold future, not one of tinkering, where we have leadership advancing the fundamental historical moment we're in, which is to do history-making, not deal-making so this is a city we can all stay in, this is a city we can all live in," she explained.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, City Comptroller Scott Stringer and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson are also reportedly considering bids in the 2021 election.
Mimi Rocah, who was a fellow MSNBC legal analyst, ran for District Attorney of Westchester County. Rocah is currently leading by a wide margin as votes continue to be counted in the Democratic Primary.
Watch:
On Thursday, in an op-ed, the conservative Washington Examiner reported on an incident from Alabama Republican Senate candidate Tommy Tuberville's career as a football coach for Auburn University in 1999.
"When Clifton Robinson, the short but quick receiver from Naples, Florida, returned to the Auburn University football team in August 1999 after pleading guilty to contributing to the delinquency of a minor to avoid going to trial after being charged with the second-degree rape of a 15-year-old girl, first-year head coach Tommy Tuberville pledged to figure out the right punishment for him," wrote Siraj Hashmi. "'Clifton is back on the team,' Tuberville said. 'He and I will sit down today, and I'll tell him that we do things right around here, so he can expect there will be some punishment. What it is, I don't know yet.' That punishment ended up being a mere one-game suspension from the team's Sept. 4 season opener against Appalachian State. Auburn won 22-15."
Under Alabama law, second-degree rape occurs when the accused "engages in sexual intercourse with a female less than 16 and more than 12 years old, provided; however that the (man) is at least two years older than the female."
"Tuberville is not responsible for the actions of his players," wrote Hashmi. "However, when it comes to disciplining a student-athlete for something as serious as sex with a minor, Tuberville at least holds some accountability. A harsh punishment like booting an offending player from the team draws a line in the sand that mistakes such as these will not be tolerated."
Moreover, Hashmi pointed out, "Clearly, Tuberville's punishment didn't succeed in teaching Robinson to stay out of trouble. In February 2000, Robinson was arrested on assault charges caused by a fight. In August 2004, several years after leaving Auburn, Robinson was arrested and ultimately convicted in 2006 of aggravated battery of an off-duty police officer."
Tuberville is currently the leading candidate in the Republican primary to take on Democratic Sen. Doug Jones, who won a special election upset in 2017 due in large part to credible accusations of child molestation by the GOP candidate, former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore. Jones is considered to be one of the most vulnerable incumbent senators of the election cycle.
You can read more here.
COVID-19 hospitalizations in Arizona set a record on Thursday, but one of the state's Republican representatives in Congress went to Fox News to urge the end of President Donald Trump's Coronavirus Task Force.
"I think that Birx and Fauci have gone well past their, their -- they've expired, their time of usefulness has expired," Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) said.
"What they do, is when the president comes out and makes a policy -- because he is the president, he is the policymaker. When they come and make these statements that they make, they engender panic and hysteria and undermine what the president's doing. That's what I think's critical," they argued.
"Doesn't he defer to them as the health experts?" Neil Cavuto asked. "Doesn't he have a commission because he defers to them as the health experts? And they're citing worries."
"But isn't that what doctors do, kind of look after people's lives?" Cavuto asked.
"Neil, what I'm saying is the task force may not be necessary anymore," Biggs said. "And what I'm saying is that Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx have undermined what this president is trying to do."
Accused of failing to uphold their civic duty, younger Americans are behind the current COVID-19 surge, with several states moving to close bars, beaches and other places that saw huge crowds when lockdowns were eased.
The median age for new cases in Florida in the past few days has fluctuated between 34 and 36. In Los Angeles, 40 percent of new cases are among those under 40. And in the greater Phoenix area, the major center of the contagion in Arizona, half are under the age of 35.
In total, half or more of all the cases in California and Arizona since the start of the pandemic have been among the 18-49 age group, and the rate is expected to rise.
This in turn has fueled innumerable calls for individual responsibility from mayors, governors and federal officials in recent days.
"We issue a particular plea to young people," Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday, urging the use of masks. "This is about protecting our most vulnerable."
Bars have been shut once more in Texas, California and parts of Michigan. In Florida, they can't serve alcohol anymore.
In Texas, the governor has also banned "tubing" -- floating down a river in the inner tube of a tire. Thousands of the state's youths were going tubing, often in large groups, prior to the ban.
- Trump isolated -
President Donald Trump continues to minimize new records in confirmed cases (more than 50,000 were reported Wednesday, another single-day record). On Thursday, he said the US remained prepared and was the "king of ventilators."
But he is increasingly isolated in this position. Those under him appear to be taking the situation more seriously, and voicing their concerns.
The Department of Health and Human Services has announced a "blitz" in testing in hotspots in Texas, Florida and Louisiana, specifically in order to detect cases among those younger than 35.
"When you have a lot of younger people who are asymptomatic, particularly in an outbreak situation, it is much harder, not impossible, but much harder to contact trace," said Brett Giroir, the official in charge of coordinating the national testing strategy.
Just a few days ago, Pence made reassuring remarks that hotspots were limited geographically and young people were those most affected, meaning the number of severe cases were likely to be low.
But "it just doesn't make sense to say, we'll just keep it out of the nursing homes," Harvard epidemiologist Marc Lipsitch told reporters Wednesday.
"That has not worked so far," he added, evoking the tragic experience of the country's northeast over the spring.
Will the increasingly strong warnings from authorities be heeded? Experts stress that the changes in behavior required are simple: frequent hand-washing, avoiding crowds, and covering your face when physical distancing isn't possible.
Anthony Fauci, the country's top infectious diseases official, warned this week that on the current track the US could start registering more than 100,000 new cases per day.
He thundered against bars and beaches filled with young people mixing freely without face coverings.
"So they have an understandable attitude, which is unfortunate but understandable, 'If I get infected, what do I care, but it's likely I'm not even going to get sick,'" he told BBC Radio 4 on Thursday.
This is true, but that doesn't mean the infection won't get passed on, he said.
"We need to engender some societal responsibility in people, particularly the younger people," he added.
Given the known delay between having a confirmed infection, hospitalization and death, the coming weeks will show whether the country is listening.
© 2020 AFP
On Thursday, Politico reported that it could take a decade for unemployment levels to return to where they were before the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
"The economic outlook for the next 10 years has 'deteriorated significantly' since the independent budget agency issued its last complete set of projections in January, CBO noted," reported Caitlan Emma. "That illustrates the devastating effects of the pandemic and underscores the reality of a slower economic recovery than the 'rocket ship' rebound predicted by President Donald Trump."
"CBO assumes that if federal taxes and spending remain in place, the economy will grow rapidly in the third quarter of this year. But compared to earlier estimates, real GDP will be 3.4 percent lower, on average, for the next decade," said the report. "The annual unemployment rate, which was projected to average 4.2 percent, is now projected to average 6.1 percent during the same period. The calculations do not take into account any changes that could occur with the passage of an additional emergency relief bill that Congress is expected to take up prior to the August recess."
The CBO also says that "African American, Hispanic, and female workers have been hit particularly hard, in part because they make up a disproportionate share of the workforce in certain industries with jobs that involve elevated risks of exposure to the coronavirus."
Trump has repeatedly promised that the economy will rebound quickly, but economic experts are more pessimistic.
The former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York will testify before the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday, according to multiple reports.
Geoffrey Berman will testify after the bizarre sequence of events that preceded his ouster from the office. AG Bill Barr announced that Berman was resigning, with the SDNY denied. He was then fired by President Donald Trump.
Outbreaks of coronavirus are forcing several large Church of God congregations in Cleveland, Tennessee, to close their doors again, WRCBtv reports.
"In a series of posts in the past week on the Westmore Church of God Facebook page, lead pastor of the church Kelvin Page reported one, then five and then at least 12 cases of COVID-19 in his congregation," the report states. "In the days since, people connected to the church said the outbreak is two or three times that number."
Read the full report over at WRCBtv.
News4Jax reporter Lena Pringle covered the peaceful Black Lives Matter protests in downtown Jacksonville, Florida on Thursday, only to be attacked for being there by a white police union chief.
"The Kemetic Empire, other activist organizations, and family members of those killed by police are demonstrating on the steps of JSO in downtown Jacksonville. Listen in to find out what concerns and changes they want to see from JSO," Pringle typed, posting a video of the demonstration that displayed black body bags to signify the lives taken by police. The comments exploded on Pringle's feed with racism and hate.
Police union president Steve Zona shared the video with a snide commentary on the reporter.
"We support the right to peacefully protest even if we don’t agree with the message and we don’t. But it’s also nice to see a local reporter out protesting with them. Reinforces what we already know about many in the media. Add another one to the list of zero credibility," he said.
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"This comment on this Facebook post from Steve Zona is completely false," tweeted Pringle after the attacks by police began. "I was never protesting with protestors - I was covering the story for my station. My credibility is 100% intact. This is inappropriate. I am disgusted with this false claim from someone of your status."
"I can’t believe this is happening," Pringle also tweeted. "This is dangerous and a false statement @szonajaxfop please correct this. I am holding you accountable as a leader in this city to do the right thing and tell the truth."
"If I was a white reporter I wonder if [Zona] and the Fraternal Order of Police Jacksonville, FL Lodge 5-30 would blatantly lie and try to ruin my credibility?" said Pringle on Twitter. "If I was a white reporter I wonder if I would be getting all these hateful comments for simply not tolerating racism?"
See her video report and the hateful comments below:
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