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| Coronavirus US live: Pence to reportedly 'maintain distance' with Trump as Fauci prepares to testify | Coronavirus US live: Pence to reportedly 'maintain distance' with Trump as Fauci prepares to testify |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Pence will avoid close contact with Trump after possible exposure when his press secretary, Katie Miller, tested positive for coronavirus | Pence will avoid close contact with Trump after possible exposure when his press secretary, Katie Miller, tested positive for coronavirus |
| Yet more from the president: | |
| This tweet may have been sent in response to a Washington Post piece this morning, which said “Governors collectively have been winning widespread praise from the public for their handling of the coronavirus outbreak, often with the kind of bipartisan approval that has eluded President Trump. But a large-scale Post-Ipsos poll finds that some Republican governors who have embraced reopening their states are struggling to achieve that consensus.” | |
| It’s fair to say there isn’t much of a consensus, anywhere, over the federal government being a help to governors facing down the coronavirus crisis. | |
| Just for one example, the Democratic governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, recently told a Daily Beast podcast, The New Abnormal with Rick Wilson and Molly Jong-Fast, about a call to the White House which convinced her she needed to strike out on her own: | |
| Just for another example, Larry Hogan of Maryland, a Republican, has spoken publicly about having to hide test kits bought from South Korea, in case the federal government tried to take them. | |
| …in case anyone had found themselves distracted by, well, the utter chaos everywhere else. | |
| The justices are working remotely like the rest of us and today they will hear questions regarding attempts by Congress and New York state to obtain Donald Trump’s financial records, regarding whether he is profiting off the presidency and whether hush money payments to women who claim affairs with him involved the falsifying of business records. | |
| Trump’s lawyers say he doesn’t have to surrender such records while in office, and indeed cannot be prosecuted for anything while in office, even shooting someone on Fifth Avenue. It means they think the president is above the law and it’s a, uh, controversial claim. | |
| But the court has a conservative majority and there are off-ramps available short of stoking an all-out constitutional crisis over the power of the presidency in a democracy, as this fine analysis from Amelia Thomson-Deveaux at fivethirtyeight.com points out. | |
| I previewed the day for the Guardian, and contacted Sidney Blumenthal, formerly an aide to Bill Clinton during his impeachment drama, now a biographer of Abraham Lincoln, for comment: | |
| Here’s the whole piece: | |
| Vice President Mike Pence is reportedly to maintaining distance “for the immediate future” from Donald Trump, after consulting with the White House medical unit, a senior administration official told CNN, which adds that it’s not yet clear exactly how long Pence will stay away from the president. | Vice President Mike Pence is reportedly to maintaining distance “for the immediate future” from Donald Trump, after consulting with the White House medical unit, a senior administration official told CNN, which adds that it’s not yet clear exactly how long Pence will stay away from the president. |
| Pence’s office did not respond to a CNN request for comment, the news network reports. | Pence’s office did not respond to a CNN request for comment, the news network reports. |
| Pence did not turn up to Trump’s press conference in the White House rose garden last evening. Trump apparently will keep in touch with his Veep mainly by telephone. | Pence did not turn up to Trump’s press conference in the White House rose garden last evening. Trump apparently will keep in touch with his Veep mainly by telephone. |
| Meanwhile, there’s this: | Meanwhile, there’s this: |
| And here’s a comment from Jeremy Diamond, who was one of the bylines on the CNN story: | And here’s a comment from Jeremy Diamond, who was one of the bylines on the CNN story: |
| Vice President Mike Pence is going to adjust his movements following the news last Friday that his press secretary Katie Miller tested positive for coronavirus. | Vice President Mike Pence is going to adjust his movements following the news last Friday that his press secretary Katie Miller tested positive for coronavirus. |
| It’s emerging right now that Pence will now avoid close contact with Donald Trump, maintaining distance from the president after Pence’s possible exposure. There were reports over the weekend that Pence would go into quarantine, but then reports to the contrary, CNN just reported. | It’s emerging right now that Pence will now avoid close contact with Donald Trump, maintaining distance from the president after Pence’s possible exposure. There were reports over the weekend that Pence would go into quarantine, but then reports to the contrary, CNN just reported. |
| Pence has not been wearing a mask in public around the White House. It’s not clear if he was exempted from the new rule put in place yesterday that those entering the West Wing must wear a mask. Trump was exempted. | Pence has not been wearing a mask in public around the White House. It’s not clear if he was exempted from the new rule put in place yesterday that those entering the West Wing must wear a mask. Trump was exempted. |
| Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, has been speaking to ABC News’ Good Morning America. | Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, has been speaking to ABC News’ Good Morning America. |
| If there was (were?) ever a gamut of issues to be run, he has been running it. | If there was (were?) ever a gamut of issues to be run, he has been running it. |
| On Donald Trump’s claims about his administration’s coronavirus response, particularly over the availability of testing: “The truth is the truth … anyone can’t get a test around the country. ... He knew about this crisis all the way back in January and February. He’s been incompetent the way he responded.” | On Donald Trump’s claims about his administration’s coronavirus response, particularly over the availability of testing: “The truth is the truth … anyone can’t get a test around the country. ... He knew about this crisis all the way back in January and February. He’s been incompetent the way he responded.” |
| On campaigning in a pandemic and whether he should leave his basement in Delaware: “We’re on the campaign trail now. And everybody says you know Biden’s hidin’. Well let me tell you something – we’re doing very well! We’re following the guidelines of the medical professionals.” | On campaigning in a pandemic and whether he should leave his basement in Delaware: “We’re on the campaign trail now. And everybody says you know Biden’s hidin’. Well let me tell you something – we’re doing very well! We’re following the guidelines of the medical professionals.” |
| On Trump’s attempts to make “Obamagate” a real thing: “I was aware that [the FBI] asked for an investigation [of Michael Flynn] but that’s all I know about it. Think about this, can you imagine any other president focusing on this at a moment when people are just absolutely concerned about their health, the health of their families? … We have an economic crisis, a health crisis, this is all about diverting attention. Focus on what’s in front of us. Get us out of this, Mr President.” | On Trump’s attempts to make “Obamagate” a real thing: “I was aware that [the FBI] asked for an investigation [of Michael Flynn] but that’s all I know about it. Think about this, can you imagine any other president focusing on this at a moment when people are just absolutely concerned about their health, the health of their families? … We have an economic crisis, a health crisis, this is all about diverting attention. Focus on what’s in front of us. Get us out of this, Mr President.” |
| On people who believe Tara Reade, the former Senate staffer who has accused him of sexual assault, and therefore will not vote for him: “That’s their right … At the end of the day, the truth is the truth. And truth is, this never happened.” | On people who believe Tara Reade, the former Senate staffer who has accused him of sexual assault, and therefore will not vote for him: “That’s their right … At the end of the day, the truth is the truth. And truth is, this never happened.” |
| Also this morning, former Georgia gubernatorial candidate, voting rights campaigner and contender to be named Biden’s vice-president Stacey Abrams is out with her endorsement of the former veep. | Also this morning, former Georgia gubernatorial candidate, voting rights campaigner and contender to be named Biden’s vice-president Stacey Abrams is out with her endorsement of the former veep. |
| Here’s Daniel Strauss with more on the Reade story and how it is, to a degree, deepening splits in Democratic ranks: | Here’s Daniel Strauss with more on the Reade story and how it is, to a degree, deepening splits in Democratic ranks: |
| An extraordinary intervention from Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, who has told former president Barack Obama to “keep his mouth shut” over criticism of Donald Trump. | An extraordinary intervention from Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, who has told former president Barack Obama to “keep his mouth shut” over criticism of Donald Trump. |
| Last week, remarks by Obama were leaked to Yahoo News. | Last week, remarks by Obama were leaked to Yahoo News. |
| Speaking to alumni of his administration, the 44th president said he was worried about the “rule of law”, in light of the justice department’s decision to drop its case against former national security adviser Michael Flynn. That’s the issue at the heart of Trump’s attempts to gin up an “Obamagate” scandal, which on Tuesday morning he again claimed “makes Watergate look small time!” | Speaking to alumni of his administration, the 44th president said he was worried about the “rule of law”, in light of the justice department’s decision to drop its case against former national security adviser Michael Flynn. That’s the issue at the heart of Trump’s attempts to gin up an “Obamagate” scandal, which on Tuesday morning he again claimed “makes Watergate look small time!” |
| Obama also said the response to the coronavirus pandemic had been “an absolute chaotic disaster”. | Obama also said the response to the coronavirus pandemic had been “an absolute chaotic disaster”. |
| McConnell was speaking to Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump in an online fundraiser on Monday night. Asked about Obama “slamming” the administration for its response to the coronavirus outbreak, he said: “I think President Obama should have kept his mouth shut. | McConnell was speaking to Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump in an online fundraiser on Monday night. Asked about Obama “slamming” the administration for its response to the coronavirus outbreak, he said: “I think President Obama should have kept his mouth shut. |
| “You know, we know he doesn’t like much this administration is doing. That’s understandable. But I think it’s a little bit classless frankly to critique an administration that comes after you. | “You know, we know he doesn’t like much this administration is doing. That’s understandable. But I think it’s a little bit classless frankly to critique an administration that comes after you. |
| “You had your shot. You were there for eight years. I think the tradition that the Bushes set up of not critiquing the president who comes after you is a good tradition.” | “You had your shot. You were there for eight years. I think the tradition that the Bushes set up of not critiquing the president who comes after you is a good tradition.” |
| There is indeed a tradition of former presidents not commenting on or attacking their successors in the Oval Office, but Trump is, to put it lightly, not part of the informal club which currently includes Obama, George W Bush*, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter and has regularly attacked those who went before. | There is indeed a tradition of former presidents not commenting on or attacking their successors in the Oval Office, but Trump is, to put it lightly, not part of the informal club which currently includes Obama, George W Bush*, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter and has regularly attacked those who went before. |
| Plus, Obama’s views of Trump are pretty well known, if by indirect routes. For example, in a Hulu documentary about Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign against Trump, the Virginia senator Tim Kaine is seen to say the then president thinks Trump is a fascist. | Plus, Obama’s views of Trump are pretty well known, if by indirect routes. For example, in a Hulu documentary about Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign against Trump, the Virginia senator Tim Kaine is seen to say the then president thinks Trump is a fascist. |
| In the remarks leaked to Yahoo News, Obama said he would be hitting the campaign trail for Joe Biden this fall. Biden leads Trump in swing states and national polls and Obama is a proven campaigner, to say the least. McConnell is presiding over a Republican Senate majority that looks increasingly at risk. Everything is politics, folks. | In the remarks leaked to Yahoo News, Obama said he would be hitting the campaign trail for Joe Biden this fall. Biden leads Trump in swing states and national polls and Obama is a proven campaigner, to say the least. McConnell is presiding over a Republican Senate majority that looks increasingly at risk. Everything is politics, folks. |
| *Fun George W Bush note: the 43rd president is widely reported, while on the podium at Trump’s inauguration, to have leant over to a neighbour after the new president’s dystopian “American Carnage” speech and labelled it “some weird shit”. Which counts as commenting on a successor, if not, granted, in public | *Fun George W Bush note: the 43rd president is widely reported, while on the podium at Trump’s inauguration, to have leant over to a neighbour after the new president’s dystopian “American Carnage” speech and labelled it “some weird shit”. Which counts as commenting on a successor, if not, granted, in public |
| CBS News said it is fully backing its reporter Weijia Jiang, amid controversy after Donald Trump told Jiang, who is Asian American, to “ask China” about coronavirus deaths. | CBS News said it is fully backing its reporter Weijia Jiang, amid controversy after Donald Trump told Jiang, who is Asian American, to “ask China” about coronavirus deaths. |
| “We fully support Weijia Jiang, the WH team, and every journalist at CBS News,” CBS said in a statement, reported by CNN’s Brian Stelter. Their work is critical to democracy and furthers understanding for the American public every day.” | “We fully support Weijia Jiang, the WH team, and every journalist at CBS News,” CBS said in a statement, reported by CNN’s Brian Stelter. Their work is critical to democracy and furthers understanding for the American public every day.” |
| Trump’s comment to Jiang, which was condemned as racist by some commentators, came after the CBS journalist asked Trump why he continued to claim – wrongly – that the US was performing better than other countries in terms of testing for coronavirus. | Trump’s comment to Jiang, which was condemned as racist by some commentators, came after the CBS journalist asked Trump why he continued to claim – wrongly – that the US was performing better than other countries in terms of testing for coronavirus. |
| “Why does that matter?” asked Jiang, who was born in China. “Why is this a global competition when, every day, Americans are still losing their lives?” | “Why does that matter?” asked Jiang, who was born in China. “Why is this a global competition when, every day, Americans are still losing their lives?” |
| “They’re losing their lives everywhere in the world,” Trump said. “And maybe that’s a question you should ask China. Don’t ask me, ask China that question, OK?” | “They’re losing their lives everywhere in the world,” Trump said. “And maybe that’s a question you should ask China. Don’t ask me, ask China that question, OK?” |
| Shortly after the interchange, Trump abruptly ended the press conference. | Shortly after the interchange, Trump abruptly ended the press conference. |
| On Tuesday morning Trump tweeted, perhaps in response to the incident: | On Tuesday morning Trump tweeted, perhaps in response to the incident: |
| Trump did not provide evidence regarding the anger of Asian Americans, or Chinese Americans. | Trump did not provide evidence regarding the anger of Asian Americans, or Chinese Americans. |
| More on Dr Anthony Fauci’s email to the New York Times and the prospects for the top public health expert’s Senate testimony today. | More on Dr Anthony Fauci’s email to the New York Times and the prospects for the top public health expert’s Senate testimony today. |
| “The major message that I wish to convey to the Senate … committee,” Fauci wrote, “is the danger of trying to open the country prematurely. If we skip over the checkpoints in the guidelines to ‘Open America Again’, then we risk the danger of multiple outbreaks throughout the country. This will not only result in needless suffering and death, but would actually set us back on our quest to return to normal.” | “The major message that I wish to convey to the Senate … committee,” Fauci wrote, “is the danger of trying to open the country prematurely. If we skip over the checkpoints in the guidelines to ‘Open America Again’, then we risk the danger of multiple outbreaks throughout the country. This will not only result in needless suffering and death, but would actually set us back on our quest to return to normal.” |
| As Sheryl Gay Stolberg put it in her report, “It is a message starkly at odds with the things-are-looking-up argument that President Trump has been trying to put out: that states are ready to reopen and the pandemic is under control. | As Sheryl Gay Stolberg put it in her report, “It is a message starkly at odds with the things-are-looking-up argument that President Trump has been trying to put out: that states are ready to reopen and the pandemic is under control. |
| Remember a few weeks ago, when Fauci confirmed reporting about a White House ignoring warnings about Covid-19 and we all thought the 79-year-old, just about the most trusted man in America having served Democrats and Republicans since 1984, was about to be fired? | Remember a few weeks ago, when Fauci confirmed reporting about a White House ignoring warnings about Covid-19 and we all thought the 79-year-old, just about the most trusted man in America having served Democrats and Republicans since 1984, was about to be fired? |
| I do, just about, and he wasn’t fired then. But as we know, Donald Trump is not a man who likes to be upstaged and to see others’ profiles grow larger than his, let alone see them played on Saturday Night Live by Brad Pitt while the president gets eviscerated by Alec Baldwin, again. | I do, just about, and he wasn’t fired then. But as we know, Donald Trump is not a man who likes to be upstaged and to see others’ profiles grow larger than his, let alone see them played on Saturday Night Live by Brad Pitt while the president gets eviscerated by Alec Baldwin, again. |
| And though Fauci will testify remotely today, due to those White House coronavirus cases, he will be on a very big stage indeed. | And though Fauci will testify remotely today, due to those White House coronavirus cases, he will be on a very big stage indeed. |
| Dr Stephen Hahn of the Food and Drug Administration and Dr Robert Redfield of the Centers for Disease Control and Protection will also testify remotely at the hearing, which will be chaired remotely by Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican who had a staffer test positive and who made headlines on Sunday by questioning the administration’s ambitious timeline for a vaccine. | Dr Stephen Hahn of the Food and Drug Administration and Dr Robert Redfield of the Centers for Disease Control and Protection will also testify remotely at the hearing, which will be chaired remotely by Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican who had a staffer test positive and who made headlines on Sunday by questioning the administration’s ambitious timeline for a vaccine. |
| Here’s one Republican response to Fauci. It’s from Andy Biggs, a congressman from Arizona, a state which is pressing on with reopening despite, according to an NYT database, cases continuing to rise: | Here’s one Republican response to Fauci. It’s from Andy Biggs, a congressman from Arizona, a state which is pressing on with reopening despite, according to an NYT database, cases continuing to rise: |
| …and welcome to another day of coronavirus coverage in the US. The politics of it in a minute – the president is up and tweeting – but first as ever the figures from Johns Hopkins University: | …and welcome to another day of coronavirus coverage in the US. The politics of it in a minute – the president is up and tweeting – but first as ever the figures from Johns Hopkins University: |
| US cases: 1,347,765 | US cases: 1,347,765 |
| US deaths: 80,679 | US deaths: 80,679 |
| New York cases: 337,055 | New York cases: 337,055 |
| New York deaths: 26,988 | New York deaths: 26,988 |
| I’ve singled out New York as the hardest-hit state but it is getting less hard hit, as Governor Andrew Cuomo said yesterday, outlining reopening plans for some regions, as Lauren Gambino reports here. | I’ve singled out New York as the hardest-hit state but it is getting less hard hit, as Governor Andrew Cuomo said yesterday, outlining reopening plans for some regions, as Lauren Gambino reports here. |
| There’s news this morning too. As states try to reopen their economies, egged on by the administration, Dr Anthony Fauci, the public health expert who is in isolation after an outbreak of cases at the White House, will testify before the Senate today, remotely of course and to senators in masks, sitting six feet apart. | There’s news this morning too. As states try to reopen their economies, egged on by the administration, Dr Anthony Fauci, the public health expert who is in isolation after an outbreak of cases at the White House, will testify before the Senate today, remotely of course and to senators in masks, sitting six feet apart. |
| Fauci has told the New York Times: “The major message that I wish to convey … is the danger of trying to open the country prematurely. If we skip over the checkpoints in the guidelines … then we risk the danger of multiple outbreaks throughout the country. This will not only result in needless suffering and death, but would actually set us back on our quest to return to normal.”” | Fauci has told the New York Times: “The major message that I wish to convey … is the danger of trying to open the country prematurely. If we skip over the checkpoints in the guidelines … then we risk the danger of multiple outbreaks throughout the country. This will not only result in needless suffering and death, but would actually set us back on our quest to return to normal.”” |
| Trump’s not going to like that, but it’s always nice to single out some non-Trump work before I get to him, so here’s Tom McCarthy on the race for a vaccine… and how Trump’s “America First” approach is slowing the global effort. | Trump’s not going to like that, but it’s always nice to single out some non-Trump work before I get to him, so here’s Tom McCarthy on the race for a vaccine… and how Trump’s “America First” approach is slowing the global effort. |
| Try again: Richard Luscombe on the threat to Florida’s greyhounds. And Sam Levin from Los Angeles on a shocking case of death in the US immigration system: | Try again: Richard Luscombe on the threat to Florida’s greyhounds. And Sam Levin from Los Angeles on a shocking case of death in the US immigration system: |
| And so to Trump. | And so to Trump. |
| He’s tweeting this morning on familiar subjects: “Obamagate” (here’s David Smith’s explainer), how Bill Maher “sucks” and how NBC host Chuck Todd “fails again”, and something about strong borders and “182 miles of Border Wall already built”. (That’s the wall that he said Mexico would pay for and, to put it very simply, isn’t being built along the whole border, which runs nearly 2,000 miles.) | He’s tweeting this morning on familiar subjects: “Obamagate” (here’s David Smith’s explainer), how Bill Maher “sucks” and how NBC host Chuck Todd “fails again”, and something about strong borders and “182 miles of Border Wall already built”. (That’s the wall that he said Mexico would pay for and, to put it very simply, isn’t being built along the whole border, which runs nearly 2,000 miles.) |
| Two key tweets for now: responding to conservative columnist John Solomon, he of the Ukraine affair, noting that Nancy Pelosi would be third in line to the presidency if Trump and Pence fell to Covid-19 – “Then we must be very careful. Crazy Nancy would be a total disaster, and the USA will never be a Communist Country!” – and calling reporters to whom Trump responded in a Rose Garden presser by walking out “Fake Journalists!” | Two key tweets for now: responding to conservative columnist John Solomon, he of the Ukraine affair, noting that Nancy Pelosi would be third in line to the presidency if Trump and Pence fell to Covid-19 – “Then we must be very careful. Crazy Nancy would be a total disaster, and the USA will never be a Communist Country!” – and calling reporters to whom Trump responded in a Rose Garden presser by walking out “Fake Journalists!” |
| Those were the salient lines of a chaotic Monday in Washington: after a rash of cases and with top experts isolated, the White House has instituted new rules including regarding the wearing of masks, but that does not apply to Trump. | Those were the salient lines of a chaotic Monday in Washington: after a rash of cases and with top experts isolated, the White House has instituted new rules including regarding the wearing of masks, but that does not apply to Trump. |
| And the press conference – a new low in Trump’s use of such occasions to bully, browbeat, distort or break the truth and attract accusations of racism, or if you support him, another successful battle with a perfidious foe. | And the press conference – a new low in Trump’s use of such occasions to bully, browbeat, distort or break the truth and attract accusations of racism, or if you support him, another successful battle with a perfidious foe. |
| It’s an election year, and some reports have Trump worried about his polling and considering campaign shakeups, so it will only get hotter from here. | It’s an election year, and some reports have Trump worried about his polling and considering campaign shakeups, so it will only get hotter from here. |