President Trump repeatedly went after the media during a coronavirus task force press briefing Thursday, saying that he should kick out all but a handful of reporters he likes.
“We were very prepared. The only thing we did not prepare for was the media,” Trump said when asked about testing shortages as the coronavirus began to spread domestically.
It’s a stark contrast from the President’s remarks earlier this week, when he said the media had been treating him fairly.
Scroll down for our full coverage of the briefing.
A TPM reader who is a physician and on a medical school faculty is watching the Trump’s ongoing press conference at the White House:
Today’s presser is unbelievable. I am an MD and member of our hospital executive administration in the thick of Covid preparation.
Continue reading “A Lot Of False Hope” →
As I mentioned on Tuesday, many of us are struggling with time dilation, difficulty remembering what happened when, feeling like four days ago was a month ago. This has made me eager to start building timelines of recent events both to place ourselves in time and keep a clear sense of the progression of events that got us here. On this front, I’m particularly interested in locking down when public officials said what, when claims were made, promises were made, decisions were made. This will be a work over time. But I am going to be asking for your help pulling this information together.
Continue reading “Timelines and Your Emails” →
Even as President Trump and his White House task force have shifted their tone to a more grave note in recent days, some Republicans continue to downplay the spread of the virus.
The stances vacillate somewhere between an adherence to harmful conspiracies about COVID-19 and a refusal to put outbreak preventions ahead of the economy.
Continue reading “Where Things Stand: GOP Sits Somewhere Between ‘Beer Virus’ And Open Beaches” →
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) got himself into hot water following a report in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Wednesday night that captured his attitude toward the coronavirus outbreak. Continue reading “Johnson Draws Fire For Coronavirus Remarks: It’s ‘Not A Death Sentence’” →
Rep. Don Young (R-AK) poked fun at the fatal COVID-19 outbreak and dismissed the notion of taking cautionary measures to prevent further spread of the coronavirus.
Continue reading “GOP Rep. Jokes About ‘Beer Virus,’ Says People Should ‘Go Forth With Our Everyday Activities’” →
From TPM Reader ZH …
I’m an American living in Portugal for the last 3 years. We just entered a state of emergency at midnight suspending many civil rights (eg strike, demonstration), enforcing restrictions on movement that are slightly escalated versions of what we did voluntarily for a few days, compelling essential businesses and workers to continue operating, allowing military deployment to assist, and vesting more power in the Prime Minister. This will last 15 days and is renewable.
Continue reading “The View from Portugal” →
Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) wants those dang kids off his beach, but so far Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has yet to clear them out despite the mass COVID-19 outbreak roiling the nation.
Continue reading “Scott Says FL Officials Need To Get People Off Beaches As DeSantis Refuses To Do So” →
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — In Ohio, more than 48,000 people applied for jobless benefits during the first two days of this week. The tally during the same period the prior week: just 1,825.
Continue reading “Unemployment Claims Surge Across The Country As COVID-19 Layoffs Hit Hard” →
ROME — Italy is on track to surpass China in the number of coronavirus-related deaths, a gruesome milestone that is being blamed on the country’s large elderly population, its overwhelmed health care system and the delayed imposition of complete lockdown measures across the epicenter, Lombardy.
Italy registered 2,978 deaths on Wednesday after another 475 people died. Given Italy has been averaging more than 350 deaths since March 15, it is likely to overtake China’s 3,249 dead when Thursday’s figures are released.
U.N. and Italian health authorities have cited a variety of reasons for Italy’s high toll, key among them its large elderly population, who are particularly susceptible to developing serious complications from the virus. Italy has the world’s second oldest population after Japan’s and the vast majority of Italy’s dead — 87% — were over age 70.
In addition, virtually all of Italy’s dead had one or more underlying medical condition, such as diabetes, cancer, hypertension or renal insufficiency.
