Skip to content
29 Million
Hydroxychloriquine has proved ineffective as a treatment for covid-19. In fact, it has had dire side effects in some cases. And yet Trump has been desperately selling it to his hapless followers. The method behind his madness may arise from the fact that his administration purchased 29 million doses of the drug, mostly from India.
47
Today is Juneteenth, recognizing the day in 1865 when Union soldiers landed in Galveston, Texas and told slaves there that they were free and that the Civil War had ended. Currently, 47 states recognize the date as a state holiday, but legislation to declare it a national holiday has repeatedly stalled in Congress.
24%
A new AP-NORC poll finds just 24% of Americans say the country is headed in the right direction, down from 33% a month ago and 42% in March. “Trump’s overall approval rating during this moment of tremendous upheaval sits at 39%. Though that’s down slightly from the 43% who approved of his job performance in February and March, it’s well within the narrow range where his ratings have stayed throughout his time in office. That suggests that the president’s most enthusiastic supporters have remained loyal throughout the pandemic and other crises.”
59%
A new Monmouth poll finds 59% of Democratic primary voters believe having a woman of color as Joe Biden’s running mate would increase the ticket’s chances of victory. Just 5% say such a pick would make a Democratic win less likely, 16% say it would make no difference and 20% are not sure.
50.5% to 41.3%
FiveThirtyEight launched its polling averages for the 2020 presidential race: “Biden currently leads Trump 50.5% to 41.3% in national polls, according to our average — a 9.2-point lead. … Biden also leads Trump in swing states such as Michigan, Wisconsin and Arizona — although his lead in many swing states are not as wide as his margin in national polls, suggesting that the Electoral College could once again favor Trump in the event of a close election.”
61% to 35%
A new Washington Post-Schar School poll finds President Trump receives negative marks for his handling of the protests over George Floyd’s death, with 61% saying they disapprove and 35% saying they approve. Much of the opposition to Trump is vehement, as 47% of Americans say they strongly disapprove of the way the president has responded to the protests. Also important: 69% say the killing of Floyd represents a broader problem within law enforcement.
10
Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy is now ‘open’ to renaming the service’s 10 bases and facilities that are named after Confederate leaders, an Army official told Politico, in a reversal of his previous position.
14
Since the start of June, 14 states and Puerto Rico have recorded their highest-ever seven-day average of new coronavirus cases since the pandemic began, according to data tracked by the Washington Post: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Kentucky, New Mexico, North Carolina, Mississippi, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah.
372
A Washington Post analysis of data collected by three vote-by-mail states found that officials identified just 372 possible cases of double voting or voting on behalf of deceased people out of about 14.6 million votes cast by mail in the 2016 and 2018 general elections, or 0.0025 percent.
14 points
After a new CNN poll came out showing Donald Trump trailing Joe Biden by 14 percentage points, the president announced he has retained Republican pollster John McLaughlin to write a memo denouncing the poll. However, Jonathan Chait points out McLaughlin is “a laughingstock within the profession.” McLaughlin has a FiveThirtyEight pollster rating of C/D and is one of the lowest-rated polls in their database.
