Dartmouth Professor Brendan Nyhan suggested that Fox News hosts broadcasting from their home studios are hypocrites if they are also urging viewers to go back to work.
"I wonder what you make of Fox News stars who are out there encouraging people resume their normal lives, get back to work while broadcasting from their homes, staying at home?" host Brian Stelter asked Nyhan on CNN's Reliable Sources program on Sunday.
"I think you should watch what people do and not what they say," Nyhan advised. "There are a lot of people sitting in their houses on webcams telling everyone they should go back out and resume their lives."
"That's cheap talk from elites who aren't frontline workers," he continued, "who aren't in essential roles that put them at risk. And I think it's really being tossed out casually, in an irresponsible manner."
"People are dying," Nyhan added. "In the thousands. We're already over the totals for the Vietnam war. So this is just different from the kind of conspiracy content that Fox was running prior to this pandemic. The stakes are higher in a direct way for everybody."
In a biting editorial commentary by "AM Joy" host Joy Reid, a columnist of the conservative National Review Online was dragged over the coals for a series of dismissive columns about former First Lady Michell Obama where he reduced her to nothing more than a woman who happened to be married to a famous man.
Reid began by sarcastically reading from one of the columns.
"Allow me to read from one particularly sad piece of haterism, from the very angry, angry, National Review: 'Thousands of strong, smart, independent women flock to every public appearance of, and hang on every platitude of, a woman whose sole notable accomplishment is her marriage. Lucking into marrying a celebrity is not usually posited to be the aim of feminism. No one can name a single other exceptional, or even unusual, achievement.'"
"Yeah, fellas," Reid smirked. "Graduating from Princeton and Harvard Law School and being an associate at a top Chicago law firm, and Executive Director of Community of Affairs for the University of Chicago Hospitals -- earning more than any United States Senator.
"As first lady launching the 'Let's Move' campaign with partners like Nike and Walmart and Serena Williams to fight childhood obesity, particularly for working-class and poor kids. Calling on men to 'be better,'" the MSNBC host continued, dragging First Lady Melania Trump into the explanation and accusing her of stealing it as 'be best' and then plagiarizing Michelle Obama's convention speech.
"Did I mention the New York Times bestseller book and $60 million Netflix deal?" she asked. "No, no accomplishments at all. She was a first lady icon who launched designers to fame just by wearing their clothes --- but she is just the 'first wife' and not the wife of a reality star. "
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett revealed on Sunday that he fears going to work in the White House because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
"Testing is a key component of it, but even testing doesn't remove all risks," Hassett told CBS host Margaret Brennan. "The interesting or sad thing about my dear colleague who was stricken with the coronavirus this week is that we were getting testing -- because we're close to the president every day -- and even with that, she tested negative one day and then positive the next day. And she's going to work in a community where people are being tested."
"This is a very, very scary virus," he added. "People are going to go back to work and they're going to be worried about things and it's going to take a while for things to get back to normal, I assume."
"When it comes to your work environment you just described," Brennan wondered, "do you wear a mask, are you going to continue to show up for work at the White House?"
"I've got a mask right here," Hassett said, holding his mask up to the camera. "The fact is I practice aggressive social distancing and I'll wear a mask when I feel it's necessary."
"It is scary to go to work," he admitted. "I think I would be a lot safer sitting at home than I would be going to the West Wing."
Hassett described the White House as a "small, crowded place" that is "a little bit risky."
"You have to do it because you have to serve your country," he remarked.
Appearing on MSNBC's "Am Joy" on Sunday morning, former Watergate prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks called out Attorney General Bill Barr for intervening in the court case of former Donald Trump adviser Michael Flynn, saying it appears to her to be a cover-up because Flynn might have had more to offer on Russian involvement in the administration had he seen what his time in jail might look like.
Speaking with host Joy Reid, bluntly called the Justice Department's actions under Barr a "cover-up."
Noting that Flynn had already pleaded guilty and the trial was in the sentencing phase, the former prosecutor stated that whole situation reeked of corruption at the highest levels.
"This is a clear cover-up," Wine-Banks insisted. "It is because probably Flynn knows something that Trump does not want revealed, and he's trying to protect him. This is a big cover-up. It should be one of the biggest scandals of this administration and because of COVID-19, we're not hearing enough about it."
Fox News host Ainsley Earhardt argued on Sunday that churches in Michigan should reopen to celebrate Mother's Day even though the state is still under stay-at-home orders due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Earhardt spoke to her co-hosts from her New York home where she is locked down with her family.
"We're talking about churches wanting to get back out there, wanting to open up," Fox News co-host Pete Hegseth said. "What's your message to pastors, to people that want to be back in church?"
"Oh, my goodness!" I miss our church. I miss our friends there. I miss our ministers and just the music and everyone being together."
"Depending on your region, I understand why people want to open back up," she continued. "Some of these counties in Michigan that the churches are suing the governor there because there aren't that many [coronavirus] cases."
According to Earhardt, two of the churches had one death in each of their counties due to the novel coronavirus. The third church had nearly 900 deaths in its county, she said.
"So I understand," she insisted. "If they are going to open them up, let's do it safely and distance yourself from one another and these churches say they have a plan to do that."
"So, we need Christ, we need God," Earhardt continued. "A lot of people are hurting, suicides are up and other things are up... A lot of people are sad and are missing their friends and there are consequences to that."
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on Sunday insisted that his "rosy" projections about the economy have nothing to do with the November election.
"I think it's important that we face what the real numbers are," Fox News host Chris Wallace told Mnuchin. "The Bureau of Labor Statistics says the real number, which includes people who are not looking for work, is 22.8%. That does not include the 7 million people who have lost their jobs since then."
"Aren't we talking close to 25% at this point, which is Great Depression neighborhood?" the Fox News host asked.
"We could be," Mnuchin agreed. "Unlike the Great Depression where you had economic issues that led to this, we closed down the economy. It wouldn't be a surprise if you close down the economy, half of the workforce didn't work."
"We're very focused on rebuilding this economy," the Treasury secretary added. "That's why we're focused on rebuilding this economy. We'll have a better third quarter, we'll have a better fourth quarter and next year is going to be a great year."
The Fox News host, however, did not seem convinced.
"You and the president both say that the economy is going to come roaring back," Wallace noted. "I've got to ask you about a number of signs that indicate that the recovery is going to be much slower than that, sir."
Wallace pointed to predictions that the unemployment rate will be over 9% until the end of 2021.
"Are your rosy predictions based on economic reality or the November election?" Wallace asked.
"My numbers aren't rosy," Mnuchin replied. "I've said you are going to have a very, very bad second quarter and then I think you are going to see a bounce back."
The Treasury secretary went on to explain that his predictions are based on the presumption that vaccines and therapies for COVID-19 would soon be available.
Reporting on CNN's "New Day" early Sunday morning, White House correspondent Kristin Holmes said administration staffers are working scared now that higher-ups in Donald Trump's administration have been exposed to the COVID-19 virus.
Speaking with hosts Victor Blackwell and Christi Paul, Homes stated that the news that CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield, Dr. Anthony Fauci and FDA Director Stephen Hahn have all gone into one form of quarantine or another after two White House staffers tested positive for the coronavirus has rocked staffers who are still coming in everyday during the health crisis.
"This is clearly not the narrative that the White House wants to have right now," Holmes began. "Remember just last week, President Trump broke his self-isolation and went to Arizona. That trip was meant to really signal that the country was ready to reopen; we've seen states slowly working to reopen their different businesses. We know people are going back to work and that's what the White House wanted to be talking about."
"Now the narrative is completely different, it is people are scared, and it's in the place where it's essentially the safest place in the country arguably," she continued. "People are still getting sick here. What does that say? And what does it say if three of the top doctors on the front line fighting this virus are now quarantining themselves for 14 days?"
"Why? Because they came into contact with someone who tested positive. Where? Here at the White House," she explained. "So, it's clearly a shift in narrative, what we are talking about. Will anything actually change? That's the big question now. Well, on Friday, after the vice president's press secretary tested positive, a memo went out to all staffers, essentially said that they were taking stronger measures to protect them, to prevent the spread of coronavirus. That meant heightened cleaning in high touch-point places. It also meant at some points they would be maintaining maximum staff teleworking. One thing that wasn't mentioned, though, was masks."
Kellyanne Conway, who serves as a White House counselor to the president, denounced the members of a conservative anti-Trump group co-founded by her husband as failures during a Thursday appearance on Fox News.
Conway told Fox News host Harris Faulkner that the group of strategists and consultants who run the Lincoln Project "never achieved what I achieved, which is success as a presidential campaign manager. They all failed."
She disagreed with a disclaimer by Faulkner that her line of questioning was unrelated to the identity of her husband, saying that it "certainly" was about him or "you would've quoted other people in the group."
George Conway commented on Trump's response to a recent Lincoln Project ad titled, "Mourning in America," which blamed the president for insufficiently responding to the coronavirus pandemic in a Washington Post editorial published Wednesday. After calling out Trump for referring to members of the Lincoln Project as "loser types" who were "a disgrace to Honest Abe," George Conway claimed that Trump "fears the truth. He fears being revealed for what he truly is. Extreme narcissists exaggerate their achievements and talents, and so Trump has spent his life building up a false image of himself — not just for others, but for himself, to protect his deeply fragile ego."
An April ad from the Lincoln Project argued that Trump "just didn't care" about the coronavirus pandemic and instead spent his time at "campaign rallies and golfing." George Conway refuted the Republican claim that Trump was too distracted by impeachment to respond to the pandemic in March by noting, "Look at the calendar. The impeachment trial ended on Feb. 5. In reality, it was over before it even started, thanks in large part to McConnell. The only drama was about whether there'd be any witnesses — and that ended on Jan. 31, when the Senate voted not to hear testimony. That left plenty of time to deal with the virus."
Two months earlier, the Lincoln Project took out an ad against Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine., which claimed that her support for a Trump ally, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., showed that she is "there to support corruption and loyalty to a political party." George Conway has also contributed to the campaign of former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president.
Trump implemented a number of policies which critics claim to have weakened America's ability to respond to the coronavirus outbreak, including disbanding a National Security Council pandemic panel praised by experts, advocating for major budget cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and failing to provide Americans with accurate scientific information.
Former CIA chief of staff Jeremy Bash appeared on MSNBC Thursday to discuss the recent report that Attorney General Bill Barr helped let Michael Flynn off after pleading guilty for lying to the FBI. One thing he said is still being lost is why Flynn lied to begin with.
"In Bill Barr, the president's found his easy mark and Barr folds very easily," said Bash. "And we've known that for a long time -- that's probably why he got the job because he committed to do that when he signed up for this. But moreover, what you've seen is the president increasingly tightening the pressure, insisting that the coverup of Flynn's conversations with Russia -- and that's what this was, a coverup, lies to cover up Flynn's conversations with Russia that that was fine with Trump. To go back to the initial point, we've never yet been told not just what the lies were or the conditions of the lie but why. Why did Mike Flynn feel a need to mislead the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of investigation? What was he covering up that Donald Trump told him to do?"
He went on to say that it was clear from the early days of the scandal that Trump told Flynn to tell the Russians that they would be relaxing sanctions as soon as they get into office.
"Nobody to this day understands why Donald Trump felt compelled to make that promise to Vladimir Putin," he said. "I think it's clear that he lied to the vice president and he lied to the FBI. it's true, campaigns can talk to foreign governments, transition teams can talk to foreign governments. It's even fine to say privately or publicly, 'Hey, we're changing course on American foreign policy.' In fact, Trump might argue that's why he was elected. That's all legitimate and above board, but for some reason, Trump directed Flynn to cover it up and we don't yet know why Trump and Flynn wanted to cover up this channel to Russia."
Former Director of National Intelligence Michael Flynn was fired from the White House after he lied to Vice President Mike Pence about his interactions with the Russian government prior to President Donald Trump being sworn in. Flynn contacted former Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak to discuss easing sanctions on them while former President Barack Obama was still the president.
Pence said in a recent statement Flynn's lie about the Russians appears to have been unintentional.
“I’m more inclined to believe it was unintentional than ever before,” Pence said last week while visiting Indiana. “When you see the nature of abusive actions by Justice Department officials toward him, it’s deeply troubling.”
During a report on the developments of the Flynn case, NBC News reporter Hans Nichols pointed out that Trump indicated a willingness to hire Flynn back.
“I would certainly consider it,” said Trump. “It looks to me like Michael Flynn would be exonerated, based on everything I’ve seen."
"I will only say this: I think that General Flynn is a wonderful man. He had a wonderful career and it was a disgrace what happened to General Flynn," Trump said during a coronavirus task force briefing at the end of April. "Let's see what happens now. But what happened to General Flynn should never happen again in our country."
“She was ticketed at the scene for a misdemeanor violation of retail fraud and released," the police chief said.
O’Donohue revealed that Gibbs is accused of taking a grocery cart with $130 worth of items through the self-checkout lane, but she only paid "about $45 worth of the items and not the others."
"I would like to apologize to my family, friends and especially my constituents for my substantial lapse in judgement on Wednesday, May 6," Gibbs said in a statement. "A combination of many external factors led to me taking items from the Meijer store without paying for all of them. The economic impact of the COVID-19 statewide lockdown has taken a serious toll on me personally."
Gibbs attributed her actions to "not thinking clearly."
"Michiganders, and people around the country, are suffering with the economic and personal pain COVID has brought to every one of us. We need now, more than ever, to stand together as Americans and get back working so others do not face the same health consequences I am facing," the statement concluded.
Gibbs recently came under fire for attending an April 15 protest against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's stay-at-home order. Days later, the city council censured her and asked her to resign.
“In my eyes, the scare on the coronavirus is over,” Gibbs told the paper. “I’m not a doctor, but my personal belief is that the people who got it, or are going to get it, have already gotten it, so let’s get back to work.”
The View's Whoopi Goldberg joined her colleagues in sounding the alarm about the slaying of Georgia jogger Ahmaud Arbery, who was hunted down and shot for "looking like" someone a group of white men thought was suspicious. The murder happened at the end of February but prosecutors have been unwilling to bring charges in the months following. The men are still free.
The group noted that former Vice President Joe Biden tweeted about the tragedy, saying that he joins in the demand for justice for the family.
"I would also like to put out there that I think that the guy that's running the country ought to say something pretty soon about this because I tell you if two black men had been in a truck and watched a white guy go by and just got out and shot him, we would hear no end to what an outrage it was," said Goldberg. "We would hear that from the top. So, I am saying now, here, from my space, you need to say something, sir. You need to say it and you need to say it pretty soon."
She related it to the White House deciding that Americans don't need to be tested anymore and the lack of interest in testing all Americans who want to be tested.
"You know, I think I'm getting a little tired of these people deciding who it's OK to have a test, whether I should have a test, whether I deserve to have a test," said Goldberg. "You remember in 2009 when basically Republicans were touting Obamacare as being death panels and they were very concerned about how we treated our elderly, and how we treated Americans to make sure that that was no longer the case? Well, I guess now it's okay. It doesn't matter who dies. You know, now it's okay with everybody. I'm just tired of people telling me I don't need a test. You don't know what I need. Stop doing that."
She later said to the White House: "It's starting to feel like you really don't have any respect for the American people at all, and I'm saying it just right now. I don't think you have any respect for the American people."
Fox News judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano said on Thursday that a Republican plan to shield businesses from coronavirus-related lawsuits is "dangerous."
Earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) suggested that he would not support additional relief funds to households and businesses unless the package also includes a measure shielding businesses from liability for coronavirus infections.
But Napolitano argued that the provision would be anti-conservative and violate states rights.
"Can the Congress tell state courts that they cannot hear claims of liability when someone goes into a public accommodation and contracts coronavirus?" the Fox News analyst explained. "Congress has been very reticent to do that. Conservatives who believe in states rights have been very reluctant to interfere with the operation of state courts."
Napolitano pointed out that the only other instance where Congress has restricted state courts is a law that prohibits gun manufacturers from being sued over gun violence.
"I think that this liability shield business is very dangerous," he added. "The decision of whose fault someone was harmed by should be decided by juries and not by politicians."
