Coronavirus – Pensito

Covering Trump Rallies Like ‘Taking Your Family to Fallujah’

September 18, 2020 Buck Banks

“This is not like embedding with the Marines in Fallujah. It is like you are taking your family with you to Fallujah.”

— ABC News White House correspondent Jon Karl, quoted by National Journal, on covering indoor Trump rallies.

White House Secretly Warned Seven States Over Coronavirus

August 31, 2020 Buck Banks

7

White House documents show that senior Trump administration officials in June privately warned seven states about dangerous coronavirus outbreaks that put them in the highest risk “red zone” while publicly dismissing concerns about a second wave of Covid-19, Politico reports.

Trump Needles New Zealand on COVID

August 19, 2020 Buck Banks

“You’ve seen what’s going on in New Zealand? Big surge in New Zealand. It’s terrible. We don’t want that.”

— President Trump, quoted by the Washington Post, after New Zealand reported 22 new coronavirus cases in two days. The United States is currently averaging 50,000 new cases every day.

Studies: Fox Misreporting on Covid-19 Caused Its Viewers to Ignore Health Risks

June 28, 2020 Jon Ponder

Washington Post: “Three serious research efforts have put numerical weight — yes, data-driven evidence — behind what many suspected all along: Americans who relied on Fox News, or similar right-wing sources, were duped as the coronavirus began its deadly spread. Dangerously duped.

[…]

Must See from Randy Rainbow: ‘Distraction’

May 21, 2020 Jon Ponder

Lamest President Ever

May 4, 2020 Buck Banks

When it comes to coronavirus, Trump’s an idiotic lout.
We never know what drug or disinfectant next he’ll tout.
When responding to covid,
His judgement is horrid.
Trump admits it’s horrible, but, he says, “It’s working out.”

Trump Says It’s ‘All Working Out’

May 4, 2020 Buck Banks

“It is all working out. It is horrible to go through, but it is working out.”

— President Trump, quoted by the Washington Post.

Pandemic Is Different for Democrats, Republicans

May 4, 2020 Buck Banks

“There’s a stark partisan difference in who has been affected by the coronavirus: Democrats are far more likely than Republicans to live in communities hit hard by Covid-19. … This has contributed to a partisan divide in attitudes about the pandemic, one in which Republican governors, lawmakers, and voters have remained broadly supportive of Trump — and have pushed for policies like the rapid reopening of businesses — while Democrats have not.”

— Philip Klinkner

Trump Predicts More Deaths from COVID-19

May 4, 2020 Buck Banks

100,000

“President Trump scaled up the estimate he has used for the number of expected dead from the coronavrius — projecting that the U.S. toll may be as high as 100,000,” the Washington Post reports. “Trump had previously said that about 65,000 Americans would probably die of covid-19, the disease caused by the virus.”

Pence Finds Self Between a Trump and a Pandemic

May 4, 2020 Buck Banks

“In the most consequential mission of his career, Mr. Pence has tried to navigate the complexities of a mysterious disease and the vagaries of a mercurial president at the same time, steering the response to the most deadly pandemic in generations without getting caught up in the melodrama of the moment. Yet questions have lingered about how seriously he himself took the threat at first and what advice he gave the president in the days when it really mattered”

“This is not like embedding with the Marines in Fallujah. It is like you are taking your family with you to Fallujah.”

— ABC News White House correspondent Jon Karl, quoted by National Journal, on covering indoor Trump rallies.

7

White House documents show that senior Trump administration officials in June privately warned seven states about dangerous coronavirus outbreaks that put them in the highest risk “red zone” while publicly dismissing concerns about a second wave of Covid-19, Politico reports.

“You’ve seen what’s going on in New Zealand? Big surge in New Zealand. It’s terrible. We don’t want that.”

— President Trump, quoted by the Washington Post, after New Zealand reported 22 new coronavirus cases in two days. The United States is currently averaging 50,000 new cases every day.

“It is all working out. It is horrible to go through, but it is working out.”

— President Trump, quoted by the Washington Post.

— Philip Klinkner

100,000

— New York Times

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“It’s so unworthy of a president. It’s beyond despicable. It’s soulless. It’s almost unspeakable in the middle of the pandemic to try to divide the country on a political basis when Covid-19 is really bipartisan.”

— Former Gov. Tom Ridge (R), quoted by the New York Times, on President Trump saying the coronavirus death toll from the coronavirus was actually not so bad “if you take out the blue states.”

“You can imagine it and try to dismiss it, saying he’s just a blowhard and schoolyard tough guy, using his thumbs on Twitter like fists. But the reality, the harsh cold onslaught, is just pure pain.”

— The late Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), in a posthumously published book, We’re Better Than This: My Fight for the Future of Our Democracy.

“This is not like embedding with the Marines in Fallujah. It is like you are taking your family with you to Fallujah.”

— ABC News White House correspondent Jon Karl, quoted by National Journal, on covering indoor Trump rallies.

“The microphone is also a microscope.”

— Bob Woodward told Savannah Guthrie on the Today Show that he will release the audio recordings of his interviews with President Trump that are “relevant.”

“This is an insult to every Nevadan who has followed the directives, made sacrifices, and put their neighbors before themselves. It’s also a direct threat to all of the recent progress we’ve made and could potentially set us back.”

— Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) slammed President Trump Sunday night for violating state rules by holding a campaign rally indoors with thousands of people, NBC News reports.

Numerati

72%

$5.4 million

Michael Bloomberg will spend $5.4 million on a weeklong TV ad campaign in Florida, part of his pledge to help Joe Biden win the all-important presidential battleground state, McClatchy reports.

69%

$1.1 million

“President Trump’s luxury properties have charged the U.S. government more than $1.1 million in private transactions since Trump took office — including for room rentals at his Bedminster, N.J., club this spring while it was closed for the coronavirus pandemic,” the Washington Post reports.

$1 million

Jaime Harrison (D) announced that he raised $1 million within a day after a poll found him tied with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) the U.S. Senate race in South Carolina.