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| Coronavirus US live: White House holds daily briefing amid stay-at-home protests | Coronavirus US live: White House holds daily briefing amid stay-at-home protests |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Demonstrations, which flared up earlier in the week, appear to have a partisan bent, with a preponderance of Trump 2020 flags | Demonstrations, which flared up earlier in the week, appear to have a partisan bent, with a preponderance of Trump 2020 flags |
| “We’re spending mostly in Africa, six billion dollars a year,” Trump says. “That’s on Aids. What we’ve done for Aids in Africa is unbelievable. We’ve spent $6bn a year. That’s been going on for a long time. Nobody knows that. You’ve never heard that. I’ve never heard that. Millions of people are living right now and living very comfortably because of the fact that we have found the answer to that horrible, horrible plague. That was a plague. But we spend $6bn a year and from what I hear it’s very well spent, done by professionals including this great professional (Dr Birx).” | |
| He continues: “The World Health Organization, we’re just finding more and more problems. We spend this money really well. There are other ways we can spend the $500m. We can find other ways to spend it where people are going to be helped in a much greater way.” | |
| Trump continues his broadside against the media, taking dead aim at New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman for a recent story which included a report that White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has cried during meetings with administration staff on at least two occasions. | |
| “I even read a story where Mark Meadows, who’s a tough guy, he was crying. This is Maggie Haberman. You know, she won a Pulitzer Prize for her coverage of Russia but she was wrong on Russia. So was everyone else. They should all give back their Pulitzer Prizes. In fact it turned out that the crime was committed by the other side. The crime was not committed by this side, it was committed by the other side. A bunch of bad people.” | |
| He continued: “So Maggie Haberman gets a Pulitzer Prize. She’s a third-rate reporter. New York Times. And we put her name up here last week. People thought it was a commercial, it wasn’t a commercial. It was like a commerical but it wasn’t a commercial. It was just clips. And because we exposed her as being a bad reporter, what happened is she came out and said Mark Meadows was crying. It’s OK if he did ... but he’s not a cryer. It was a nasty story in so many ways. It was fake news. And she only did it because we exposed her for being a terrible, dishonest reporter. I haven’t spoken with her for a long time.” | |
| Donald Trump is complaining about mainstream media outlets using anonymous sources. | |
| Fact check: Top level publications such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Guardian, etc, use on the record sources wherever possible in their reporting. | |
| But occasionally, the only way a story can be fully reported is to use sources who, the journalists agree, cannot be named because they were not authorized to talk, are afraid of retribution or being in danger, or or some other carefully considered reasons. | |
| Normally, the reporter will have verifiable information about the source and what they are telling the outlet, and the use of an unnamed source, and the reason they are remaining anonymous, will have to be authorized by senior editor(s). | |
| Fact check: US economy | |
| At a Saturday briefing, Trump once again said the US has the greatest economy in the world. | |
| It is true that the US is the richest country in the world and that – before the pandemic - Trump had presided over a record breaking 113 straight months of job growth and all time highs on the stock markets. | |
| But there were big problems with the US economy before Covid-19 hit. Stock market gains benefit mainly the wealthy. The richest 1% of Americans own more than half the value of equities owned by US households, according to Goldman Sachs. | |
| And too many of the new jobs created under Trump were low wage. Even billionaires were worrying about growing income inequality. Minorities, who earn less on average, failed to make much ground in the boom years and are now the first, and the hardest hit, in the downturn. | |
| Read more, from the Guardian’s Broken Capitalism series: | |
| “It could have been stopped in China before it started and the whole world is suffering because of it,” Trump says. “We had the greatest economy in the history of the world. Better than China, better than any country in the world, better than any country has ever had. We had the highest stock market in history by far – and I’m honored by the fact has started to up very substantially. That’s because the market is smart.” | |
| Donald Trump is talking about national resources for tackling the coronavirus. Here are a couple of fact checks. | |
| And | |
| “The hardest thing of all by far, by a factor of 20, is the ventilators,” Trump says. “Now we’re the king of ventilators. We have ventilators and we’re going to be helping other countries very soon.” | |
| He continues: “Unfortunately some partisan voices are attempting to politicize the issue of testing – because I inherited broken junk. Just as they did with ventilators where we had virtually none and the hospitals were empty. For the most part the hospitals didn’t have ventilators. We had take care of the whole country ... and now the rest of the world is coming to us asking if we can help with ventilators because they’re very complicated, very expensive. They’re very hard to build. And we have them coming in by the thousand.” | |
| Fact check: death rates | |
| While the coronavirus death rates in the US, both in comparison to the number of confirmed cases and in comparison to the population, are relatively good they are not the best in the world.Research by the US’s Johns Hopkins University showed that as of April 13, the death rate in the US was 4% of cases and 6.73 deaths per 100,000 population. | |
| That is significantly better than rates in hard hit countries such as Italy, Spain, the UK and France, and similar overall to Iran, which was also an early hotspot. | |
| But death rates are higher in the US than Germany, South Korea, Japan, Australia, and many other countries. The death rate in China has been recorded as 4% of cases and 0.2 deaths per 100,000 population, but there are ongoing questions about China’s reported death toll. | |
| Trump opens his daily coronavirus briefing on an offensive tack, accusing the media of failing to tout statistics that prove the US is winning the battle against the coronavirus better than any other nation. | Trump opens his daily coronavirus briefing on an offensive tack, accusing the media of failing to tout statistics that prove the US is winning the battle against the coronavirus better than any other nation. |
| “The United States has produced dramatically better health outcomes than any other country with the possible exception of Germany,” Trump says. “On a per-capita basis, our mortality rate is far lower than other nations of western Europe with the lone exception of possibly Germany. This includes the UK, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, France. Spain, for example, has a mortality rate that is nearly four times that of the United States. But you don’t hear that. You hear we have more death, but we’re a much bigger country than any of those countries by far. | “The United States has produced dramatically better health outcomes than any other country with the possible exception of Germany,” Trump says. “On a per-capita basis, our mortality rate is far lower than other nations of western Europe with the lone exception of possibly Germany. This includes the UK, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, France. Spain, for example, has a mortality rate that is nearly four times that of the United States. But you don’t hear that. You hear we have more death, but we’re a much bigger country than any of those countries by far. |
| “So when the fake news gets out there, they start talking about the United States has No 1. But we’re not No 1, China is No 1. Just so you understand. China is No 1 by a lot. It’s not even close. They’re way ahead of us in terms of death. It’s not even close. You know it. I know it. They know it. But you don’t want to report it. Why? You’ll have to explain that. Someday I’ll explain it.” | “So when the fake news gets out there, they start talking about the United States has No 1. But we’re not No 1, China is No 1. Just so you understand. China is No 1 by a lot. It’s not even close. They’re way ahead of us in terms of death. It’s not even close. You know it. I know it. They know it. But you don’t want to report it. Why? You’ll have to explain that. Someday I’ll explain it.” |
| Florida governor Ron DeSantis has announced that all K-12 schools in Florida will continue with distance learning for the rest of the school year at a news conference on Saturday in Tallahassee. | Florida governor Ron DeSantis has announced that all K-12 schools in Florida will continue with distance learning for the rest of the school year at a news conference on Saturday in Tallahassee. |
| Students across the state have been learning from home for more than month with the original order for online classes set to end on 15 April before it was extended to 1 May. | Students across the state have been learning from home for more than month with the original order for online classes set to end on 15 April before it was extended to 1 May. |
| Then in a big reversal, DeSantis said he will release the names the nursing homes and assisted living facilities where residents and staff have tested positive for Covid-19 in the interest of public health. | Then in a big reversal, DeSantis said he will release the names the nursing homes and assisted living facilities where residents and staff have tested positive for Covid-19 in the interest of public health. |
| The decision comes at a time when multiple media organizations have criticized DeSantis’s administration for its lack of transparency, even threatening to sue for the information. As the Miami Herald wrote this week: | The decision comes at a time when multiple media organizations have criticized DeSantis’s administration for its lack of transparency, even threatening to sue for the information. As the Miami Herald wrote this week: |
| The Florida governor also said his task force charged with working on a plan to re-open the economy amid the pandemic will start meeting “telephonically” on Monday and will issue short-term recommendations to him before the end of the week. | The Florida governor also said his task force charged with working on a plan to re-open the economy amid the pandemic will start meeting “telephonically” on Monday and will issue short-term recommendations to him before the end of the week. |
| “They’re meeting every day this coming week and I was some recommendations by the end of the week,” DeSantis said. “So, hey, if they solve the world in three days, then they don’t have to meet [the rest of the week].” | “They’re meeting every day this coming week and I was some recommendations by the end of the week,” DeSantis said. “So, hey, if they solve the world in three days, then they don’t have to meet [the rest of the week].” |
| Florida governor Ron DeSantis is set to make a “major announcement” regarding Covid-19 at a news conference at 4:30pm, according to a release from his office. | Florida governor Ron DeSantis is set to make a “major announcement” regarding Covid-19 at a news conference at 4:30pm, according to a release from his office. |
| The announcement will come as the governor has made the push for the re-opening of beaches along the state’s 1,350 miles of shoreline if it can be done safely, a decision that has been in the hands of local governments. | The announcement will come as the governor has made the push for the re-opening of beaches along the state’s 1,350 miles of shoreline if it can be done safely, a decision that has been in the hands of local governments. |
| DeSantis, whose victory in a hard-fought 2018 election that drew national attention was tipped largely by Trump’s endorsement and cash from the president’s allies, issued a “safer at home” order on 1 April, but he was explicit in classifying walking, running and swimming as essential activities. | DeSantis, whose victory in a hard-fought 2018 election that drew national attention was tipped largely by Trump’s endorsement and cash from the president’s allies, issued a “safer at home” order on 1 April, but he was explicit in classifying walking, running and swimming as essential activities. |
| A Michigan prisoner who declined to be paroled in May after decades behind bars has died from Covid-19 complications, the Detroit Free Press reports. | A Michigan prisoner who declined to be paroled in May after decades behind bars has died from Covid-19 complications, the Detroit Free Press reports. |
| Paul O’Neill, a former Treasury secretary who broke with George W. Bush over tax policy and then produced a book critical of the administration, died Saturday. He was 84.O’Neill’s son, Paul O’Neill Jr. confirmed that his father died at his home in Pittsburgh after battling lung cancer for the last couple of years, The Associated Press writes. | Paul O’Neill, a former Treasury secretary who broke with George W. Bush over tax policy and then produced a book critical of the administration, died Saturday. He was 84.O’Neill’s son, Paul O’Neill Jr. confirmed that his father died at his home in Pittsburgh after battling lung cancer for the last couple of years, The Associated Press writes. |
| A former head of aluminum giant Alcoa, O’Neill served as treasury secretary from 2001 to late 2002. He was forced to resign after he objected to a second round of tax cuts because of their impact on deficits. | A former head of aluminum giant Alcoa, O’Neill served as treasury secretary from 2001 to late 2002. He was forced to resign after he objected to a second round of tax cuts because of their impact on deficits. |
| O’Neill’s blunt speaking style more than once got him in trouble as Treasury secretary. | O’Neill’s blunt speaking style more than once got him in trouble as Treasury secretary. |
| He sent the dollar into a tailspin briefly in his early days at Treasury when his comments about foreign exchange rates surprised markets. | He sent the dollar into a tailspin briefly in his early days at Treasury when his comments about foreign exchange rates surprised markets. |
| In the spring of 2001, O’Neill jolted markets again when during Wall Street’s worst week in 11 years, he blandly declared “markets go up and markets go down.” | In the spring of 2001, O’Neill jolted markets again when during Wall Street’s worst week in 11 years, he blandly declared “markets go up and markets go down.” |
| Donald Trump’s treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, said Saturday on Twitter: “Saddened to hear of the passing of the former 72nd Treasury Secretary, Paul O’Neill. He served (at)USTreasury and America with distinction during challenging times. My condolences to his family.”After leaving the administration, O’Neill worked with author Ron Suskind on an explosive book covering his two years in the administration. O’Neill contended that the administration began planning the overthrow of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein right after Bush took office, eight months before the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.O’Neill depicted Bush as a disengaged president who didn’t encourage debate either at Cabinet meetings or in one-on-one discussions with Cabinet members. He said the lack of discussion in Cabinet meetings gave him the feeling that Bush “was like a blind man in a roomful of deaf people.”He said major decisions were often made by Bush’s political team and Vice President Dick Cheney. | Donald Trump’s treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, said Saturday on Twitter: “Saddened to hear of the passing of the former 72nd Treasury Secretary, Paul O’Neill. He served (at)USTreasury and America with distinction during challenging times. My condolences to his family.”After leaving the administration, O’Neill worked with author Ron Suskind on an explosive book covering his two years in the administration. O’Neill contended that the administration began planning the overthrow of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein right after Bush took office, eight months before the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.O’Neill depicted Bush as a disengaged president who didn’t encourage debate either at Cabinet meetings or in one-on-one discussions with Cabinet members. He said the lack of discussion in Cabinet meetings gave him the feeling that Bush “was like a blind man in a roomful of deaf people.”He said major decisions were often made by Bush’s political team and Vice President Dick Cheney. |