Their Lips are Moving Again
While denying he was using it but saying he’d be willing to, Vice President Mike Pence committed some other lies today about hydroxychloroquine sulfate, the drug Trump claims he is taking to prevent COVID-19.
Asked during the Fox interview if he had concerns about the message Trump’s use of the drug sends, Pence noted that the FDA approved the off-label use of the drug so physicians could prescribe it if they deemed it appropriate.
Yeah, no.
First of all, the Food and Drug Administration doesn’t “approve” drugs for off-label use. That’s an oxymoron. Here’s the FDA’s own explainer on the subject:
When you are prescribed a drug for its approved use, you can be sure:
That FDA has conducted a careful evaluation of its benefits and risks for that use.
The decision to use the drug is supported by strong scientific data.
There is approved drug labeling for healthcare providers on how to use the drug safely and effectively for that use…
If you and your healthcare provider decide to use an approved drug for an unapproved use to treat your disease or medical condition, remember that FDA has not determined that the drug is safe and effective for the unapproved use.
Keep reading. […]
From Russia with Love – Trump Edition
A video that captures the dreams of two-thirds of Americans.
Fox Guest Eviscerates Trump’s ‘Obamagate’ Conspiracy
Partial Transcript via BuzzFlash:
Timeline: Devastating New Biden Ad Tracks Trump’s Virus Crisis Lies and Inaction
“Timeline,” a new ad from the Biden campaign, takes the viewer through a chronology of Trump’s incompetence and failures as the covid-19 crisis swept the country from both coasts.
It ends with a kicker: “Donald Trump doesn’t understand,” the narrator says. “We have an economic crisis because we have a public health crisis. And we have a public health crisis because he refused to act. Donald Trump didn’t build a great economy. His failure to lead destroyed one.”
The ad is running on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube in six battleground states: Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin,
Maher to Dems: Don’t Fall for GOP’s ‘Joe Biden, Sex Monster’ Ploy
On his “Real Time” show on HBO last night, Bill Maher urged Democrats not to fall into Republicans’ trap and obsess over an accusation of sexual assault against Biden from a former staffer. Their ploy is especially insidious because Republicans have ignored the fact that Trump has been accused of 26 incidents of “unwanted sexual contact” and 43 instances of inappropriate behavior.
White House Merch Now Includes Trump and Pence Pandemic Commemorative Coins
Trump and his team never miss a chance to rewrite the history of their slow start and pathetic flailing as the pandemic swept into the nation from both coasts earlier this year.
During his ill-fated daily news conferences, which ran from March 6 to April 23, Trump praised his response to the crisis over 600 times, according to a New York Times analysis. And just this week Jared Kushner told Fox viewers that the administration’s failure to mitigate the disaster was a “great success story.” (In other words, a “heckuva job.”)
Meanwhile, at least 60,000 Americans died from covid-19 and the infection rate surpassed 1 million people. The economy is crashing, businesses are closing and more than 17 million are unemployed.
Even as these bad metrics continue to get worse, Trump declared on Tuesday that “the worst days” of the pandemic are behind us. (In other words, “Mission Accomplished.”)
Now, in a goulish new low, the Trump White House gift shop is selling a souvenir coin that commemorates the administrations’ pathetic pandemic response.
The coin shows names of both Trump and Pence as well as other members of their pandemic response team. It depicts a presidential podium on one side, and a graphic of the virus hovering over a map of the globe on the other.
People who are interested in buying this beyond-tacky token of Trump cult propaganda can order it from the White House gift shop. No rush, however. TMZ reports that the price has already been slashed from $125 to $100.
Frum: Trump Will Sacrifice American Lives By Reopening Too Soon in a Desperate Gambit to Win Reelection
From Huffington Post: “In a thread on Twitter, David Frum said reports that the White House is now pivoting its pandemic messaging to focus on the economy showed Trump is ‘consciously choosing to risk higher virus casualties” in the second quarter of 2020 “in hope of jolting the economy into revival in Q3 to save his re-election” in November.
‘It’s a desperate gamble to save himself by sacrificing others,’ wrote Frum, who is now a senior editor at The Atlantic. “It’s also not very likely to work.'”
Trump Reverses Course on Early Reopening, Hangs Ga. Gov Out to Dry
In a dramatic reversal, Trump announced yesterday that he opposed Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s order to open businesses in his state, even though the state has not met Trump administration criteria for bringing commercial activity back online.
Trump’s advocacy for early reopening helped spur protests by armed tea party-type groups targeting Democratic governors across the country. Trump’s reversal comes at the same time a new AP-NORC poll found that just 12 percent of Americans favor early reopening, while 87 percent disapprove, among whom 26 percent say restrictions don’t go far enough and 61 percent say the lockdown rules are about right.
