This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis.
It is a popular meme about sex and politics: “Yeah you cute, but are you down with the revolution?” Based on personal experience, and Trump supporters’ apparent dating difficulties, politics literally and figuratively cut to the heart.
GOP strategist Karl Rove, whom President Donald Trump has reportedly consulted for advice on his reelection campaign, asserted on Tuesday that the President tweeting in defense of the Confederate flag isn’t doing him any favors.
Continue reading “Karl Rove Says Trump’s Confederate Flag Apologia Is A Bad Idea”
The United States is still the overall COVID-19 champion of the world, and hundreds of people continue to die daily from the virus.
Continue reading “Trump’s Bogus Claim About Our ‘Lowest Mortality Rate’ Is Part Of A Pattern”
One of the true mysteries of this stage of the COVID Crisis in the United States is why the death toll from the disease continues to fall, albeit slowly, even after months of plateaued cases and weeks of rapid case growth in most of the country. The White House has glommed on to this disjuncture in a highly dishonest and opportunistic way. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to understand what’s happening on its own terms.
It is helpful to distinguish between two issues.
The first is the range of potential reasons why fewer people may be dying of COVID or becoming severely ill even though more people are getting it – even taking into account more testing. I want to devote another post to making sense of potential reasons for this. They are a variety of factors including the age profile of people getting infected, an improved standard of care, perhaps even people becoming infected with less intensive exposure.
Again, we’ll come back to those in another post.
Law enforcement is investigating and conducting interviews after a Bloomington man was allegedly assaulted and, he said, almost lynched by a group of white people on July 4th.
The pattern has become pretty predictable.
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) announced that he has decided against attending the Republican National Convention next month, making him the second Republican to opt out of the event. Continue reading “Alexander Becomes Second GOPer Skipping RNC After Grassley Opts Out”
Gov. Larry Hogan (R-MD), who is one of just a few Republican governors who have publicly challenged President Trump on his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, announced a virtual book tour to launch his new memoir on Tuesday.
The news comes as he considers a presidential run in 2024, according to the New York Times.
“After this November election is over, regardless of who wins, there are a large majority of Americans who are completely convinced our political system is fundamentally broken, and they’re going to be looking for something different,” Hogan told the Times.
Hogan considered running last year when he weighed a primary challenge against Trump, but changed course to lead the National Governors Association.
The memoir, titled, “Still Standing,” addresses growing concerns among Americans about a broken political system, Hogan told The New York Times in an interview.
The book, which was delayed from an earlier publication date due to the pandemic, will discuss the governor’s battle with cancer as well as how he faced the aftermath of the police killing of Freddie Gray in his state in 2013. It also contains chapters about the coronavirus pandemic both in Maryland and nationally, with a critique of Trump’s leadership throughout the crisis.
Hogan said he was not interested in a run for the U.S. Senate in 2022, despite polling showing him as a potential contender to Senator Chris Van Hollen (D).
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro says he has tested positive for COVID-19 after months of downplaying the virus’ severity.
Bolsonaro confirmed the test results while wearing a mask and speaking to reporters in capital Brasilia.
“I’m well, normal. I even want to take a walk around here, but I can’t due to medical recommendationS,” Bolsonaro said.
The president has often appeared in public to shake hands with supporters and mingle with crowds, at times without a mask. He has said that his history as an athlete would protect him from the virus, and that it would be nothing more than a “little flu” were he to contract it.
He has also repeatedly said that there is no way to prevent 70% of the population falling ill with COVID-19, and that local authorities’ measures to shut down economic activity would ultimately cause more hardship than allowing the virus to run its course.
Cities and states last month began lifting restrictions that had been imposed to control the spread of the virus, as their statistical curves of deaths began to decline along with the occupation rate of its intensive-care units. Brazil, the world’s sixth most populous nation, with more than 210 million people, is one of the global hot spots of the pandemic.
On Monday, Bolsonaro told supporters in Brasilia that he underwent an X-ray of his lungs that showed they were clean, and that he would be tested for COVID-19. On Tuesday, he told CNN Brasil that his fever had subsided.
Over the weekend, the Brazilian leader celebrated the U.S. Independence Day with the nation’s ambassador to Brazil, then shared pictures on social media showing him with his arm around the ambassador alongside several ministers and aides. None wore masks, despite being in close quarters.
The U.S. Embassy said on Twitter on Monday that Ambassador Todd Chapman is not showing any COVID-19 symptoms but would be tested.
Bolsonaro tested negative three times in March after meeting with the U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida. Multiple members of his delegation to the U.S. were later reported to be infected with the virus.
More than 65,000 Brazilians have so far died from COVID-19 and more than 1,500,000 have been infected. Both numbers are the world’s second-highest totals, and are considered to be undercounts to the lack of widespread testing.
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro on Tuesday morning found himself in a fiery exchange on CNN as he repeatedly dodged questions regarding President Trump’s refusal to wear a mask in public. Continue reading “WH Adviser Dodges On Trump Mask Refusal: ‘Nothing More To Squeeze From That Orange’”
