thehuffingtonpost--2020-05-24--GOP Rep. Warns Trump On Wild Scarborough Murder Claim: 'Just Stop. It Will Destroy Us.'

An Illinois Republican congressman warned President Donald Trump Sunday to “ just stop ” with his outrageous insinuations that MSNBC commentator Joe Scarborough is a murderer .
“ Completely unfounded conspiracy .
Just stop , ” a frustrated Rep. Adam Kinzinger tweeted , lashing Trump ’ s attack on Scarborough , a frequent critic of the president .
“ Stop spreading it , stop creating paranoia .
It will destroy us , ” he added , apparently referring to Republicans and future elections — or possibly America .
It 's interesting watching you folks attempt to control the monster that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the damage and death he has inflicted on our country is a direct result of the @ GOP and all who support it .
— TurboTachs ( @ TurboTachs ) May 24 , 2020 Kinzinger was one of the hordes of critics who packed Twitter with outraged responses after Trump repeatedly indicated that Scarborough was somehow linked to the death of a former intern when he was a Florida congressman .
Authorities determined that the 2001 death of 28-year-old intern Lori Lausutis was accidental after she collapsed of an undiagnosed heart condition @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Scarborough ’ s wife and co-host , Mika Brzezinski , called Trump a “ cruel , disgusting .
sick person ” on their program Wednesday .
“ He ’ s once again tweeting conspiracy theories about Joe , falsely accusing him of murder , ” she said .
Trump ’ s drumbeat attack on Scarborough , co-host of “ Morning Joe , ” and vicious tweets linking followers to an unhinged conspiracy site , is widely regarded as a desperate attempt by the president to distract the public .
He hopes to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lack of leadership during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis that has now claimed nearly 100,000 lives , critics argue .
For many , the unwarranted attack on a critic in the media was a bridge too far , even for Trump .
The President 's Twitter feed is now indistinguishable from the craziest MAGA trolls .
It is the evidentiary record that he is mentally unstable and unable to execute the duties of his office .
— Tom Nichols ( @ RadioFreeTom ) May 24 , 2020 it 's just the president of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ host of murder .
very cool , very normal , very dignified , very presidential and not at all the kind of thing a vulgar unhinged morally-bankrupt sweaty warthog would do — Jeff Tiedrich ( @ itsJeffTiedrich ) May 24 , 2020 You are pushing a conspiracy to try to get the American people to forget you killed 100,000 of our fellow Americans We will not forget and we will vote .
— David Hogg ( @ davidhogg111 ) May 24 , 2020 Donald Trump doesn ’ t care about Lori Klausutis or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an abnormal heart rhythm collapsed and hit her head .
But facts don ’ t matter to Trump , he ’ d rather use this tragedy to make disgusting false accusations .
😳 # FactsMatter # UnfitToBePresident — Jules Morgan ( @ glamelegance ) May 24 , 2020 Tweets also lit up with criticism for Twitter and CEO Jack Dorsey for not taking down Trump ’ s unfounded murder insinuation against Scarborough , while cracking down on other users for far less important policy violations .
Brzezinski said in a tweet Wednesday that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ getting the president banned from the social media platform for violating Twitter ’ s policies “ every day.
” I will be reaching out to head of twitter about their policies being violated every day by President Tump .
Hope my call is taken .
Please retweet if you agree — Mika Brzezinski ( @ morningmika ) May 20 , 2020 @ jack Please do something when he breaks every rule that we have to follow on here .
We get suspended but he just tweets and tweets lies and targeted harassment and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
# TwitterRulesForEveryoneExceptTrump — DPersisted ( @ DPersisted ) May 24 , 2020

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An Illinois Republican congressman warned President Donald Trump Sunday to “just stop” with his outrageous insinuations that MSNBC commentator Joe Scarborough is a murderer.
“Completely unfounded conspiracy. Just stop,” a frustrated Rep. Adam Kinzinger tweeted, lashing Trump’s attack on Scarborough, a frequent critic of the president. “Stop spreading it, stop creating paranoia. It will destroy us,” he added, apparently referring to Republicans and future elections — or possibly America.
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Completely unfounded conspiracy. Just stop. Stop spreading it, stop creating paranoia. It will destroy us. https://t.co/XgDl6LmANb — Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) May 24, 2020
GOP critics weren’t concerned about Trump pulling down the party alone.
If only Republicans had some sort of clue 🤦🏼♂ pic.twitter.com/xvwZljbZeB — doug (@dougRESISTance) May 24, 2020
It's interesting watching you folks attempt to control the monster that you created. Just remember that all of the damage and death he has inflicted on our country is a direct result of the @GOP and all who support it. — TurboTachs (@TurboTachs) May 24, 2020
Kinzinger was one of the hordes of critics who packed Twitter with outraged responses after Trump repeatedly indicated that Scarborough was somehow linked to the death of a former intern when he was a Florida congressman. Authorities determined that the 2001 death of 28-year-old intern Lori Lausutis was accidental after she collapsed of an undiagnosed heart condition and struck her head on a desk.
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Scarborough’s wife and co-host, Mika Brzezinski, called Trump a “cruel, disgusting. sick person” on their program Wednesday. “He’s once again tweeting conspiracy theories about Joe, falsely accusing him of murder,” she said.
Trump’s drumbeat attack on Scarborough, co-host of “Morning Joe,” and vicious tweets linking followers to an unhinged conspiracy site, is widely regarded as a desperate attempt by the president to distract the public. He hopes to direct attention away from criticism of his lack of leadership during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis that has now claimed nearly 100,000 lives, critics argue.
For many, the unwarranted attack on a critic in the media was a bridge too far, even for Trump.
The President's Twitter feed is now indistinguishable from the craziest MAGA trolls. It is the evidentiary record that he is mentally unstable and unable to execute the duties of his office. — Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) May 24, 2020
it's just the president of the united states straight up accusing a tv host of murder. very cool, very normal, very dignified, very presidential and not at all the kind of thing a vulgar unhinged morally-bankrupt sweaty warthog would do — Jeff Tiedrich (@itsJeffTiedrich) May 24, 2020
You are pushing a conspiracy to try to get the American people to forget you killed 100,000 of our fellow Americans
We will not forget and we will vote. — David Hogg (@davidhogg111) May 24, 2020
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We'd prefer to focus less on one death 30 years ago and focus more on the 100,000 deaths you're accountable for now. — Nick Jack Pappas (@Pappiness) May 24, 2020
Donald Trump doesn’t care about Lori Klausutis or her family. She lost consciousness from an abnormal heart rhythm collapsed and hit her head. But facts don’t matter to Trump, he’d rather use this tragedy to make disgusting false accusations. 😳 #FactsMatter #UnfitToBePresident — Jules Morgan (@glamelegance) May 24, 2020
The more you smear, the more fall from your fold pic.twitter.com/85YXL5aOXs — Les Hail Yes (@LesHailYes) May 24, 2020
Tweets also lit up with criticism for Twitter and CEO Jack Dorsey for not taking down Trump’s unfounded murder insinuation against Scarborough, while cracking down on other users for far less important policy violations.
Brzezinski said in a tweet Wednesday that she planned to speak to Dorsey about getting the president banned from the social media platform for violating Twitter’s policies “every day.”
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Twitter did not immediately respond to a HuffPost request for comment.
I will be reaching out to head of twitter about their policies being violated every day by President Tump. Hope my call is taken. Please retweet if you agree — Mika Brzezinski (@morningmika) May 20, 2020
@jack Please do something when he breaks every rule that we have to follow on here. We get suspended but he just tweets and tweets lies and targeted harassment and you do nothing. This is insane. #TwitterRulesForEveryoneExceptTrump — DPersisted (@DPersisted) May 24, 2020
@Jack and @TwitterSupport. So it's cool to accuse someone of murder on Twitter? Seems illegal to me. Plus a violation of your hateful conduct policy. What gives? pic.twitter.com/UqBOwtYFnA — Ann Lewis Hamilton (@AnnLHamilton) May 24, 2020
Come on, @jack. How long are you going to allow this? Enough! — Eric Slater (@ericsslater) May 24, 2020


thehuffingtonpost--2020-05-25--Trump Flips Out After Biden Ad Rips Him For Golfing Amid Growing Death Toll

A new ad from former Vice President Joe Biden ’ s campaign ripped into President Donald Trump for golfing over the weekend as the coronavirus death toll in the nation approached 100,000 .
The video , which Biden posted to his Twitter account on Saturday , features a bar graph tracking coronavirus-related deaths in the U.S .
The bar on the graph steadily rises as footage of what appears to be Trump golfing plays in the background .
Nearly 100,000 lives have been lost , and tens of millions are out of work .
Meanwhile , the president spent his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( @ JoeBiden ) May 24 , 2020 Trump fired back with a series of tweets , defending his golfing as “ exercise ” and slamming former President Barack Obama for also playing golf during his own administration .
Sleepy Joe ’ s representatives have just put out an ad saying that I went to play golf ( exercise ) today .
They think I should stay in the White House at all times .
What they didn ’ t say is that it ’ s the first time I ’ ve played @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden was constantly ... .. — Donald J. Trump ( @ realDonaldTrump ) May 25 , 2020 ... vacationing , relaxing & making shady deals with other countries , & that Barack was always playing golf , doing much of his traveling in a fume spewing 747 to play golf in Hawaii - Once even teeing off immediately after announcing the gruesome death of a great young man by ISIS !
— Donald J. Trump ( @ realDonaldTrump ) May 25 , 2020 Trump has repeatedly criticized Obama for playing the sport in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the second Ebola case was confirmed in the United States , Trump went on Fox News to bash the then-president for golfing .
“ There are times to play and times that you can ’ t play .
It sends the wrong signal , ” he said .
The last time Trump golfed was March 8 .
He played multiple rounds in January , February and March as the coronavirus spread to the United States and public health officials called for an increase in testing equipment and protective gear , which didn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
USA Today detailed the president ’ s behaviors in the weeks leading up to his declaration of a national emergency on March 13 , saying , “ he hosted large gatherings at Mar-a-Lago , went golfing , attended fundraisers , dispensed misinformation about the virus and flouted social distancing guidelines known to stem its spread .
”

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A new ad from former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign ripped into President Donald Trump for golfing over the weekend as the coronavirus death toll in the nation approached 100,000.
The video, which Biden posted to his Twitter account on Saturday, features a bar graph tracking coronavirus-related deaths in the U.S. The bar on the graph steadily rises as footage of what appears to be Trump golfing plays in the background.
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Check out the Biden ad below:
Nearly 100,000 lives have been lost, and tens of millions are out of work.
Meanwhile, the president spent his day golfing. pic.twitter.com/H1BVNtgVjA — Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 24, 2020
Trump fired back with a series of tweets, defending his golfing as “exercise” and slamming former President Barack Obama for also playing golf during his own administration.
Sleepy Joe’s representatives have just put out an ad saying that I went to play golf (exercise) today. They think I should stay in the White House at all times. What they didn’t say is that it’s the first time I’ve played golf in almost 3 months, that Biden was constantly..... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 25, 2020
...vacationing, relaxing & making shady deals with other countries, & that Barack was always playing golf, doing much of his traveling in a fume spewing 747 to play golf in Hawaii - Once even teeing off immediately after announcing the gruesome death of a great young man by ISIS! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 25, 2020
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Trump has repeatedly criticized Obama for playing the sport in the past. In 2014, when the second Ebola case was confirmed in the United States, Trump went on Fox News to bash the then-president for golfing.
“There are times to play and times that you can’t play. It sends the wrong signal,” he said.
The last time Trump golfed was March 8. He played multiple rounds in January, February and March as the coronavirus spread to the United States and public health officials called for an increase in testing equipment and protective gear, which didn’t arrive for several weeks or longer.
USA Today detailed the president’s behaviors in the weeks leading up to his declaration of a national emergency on March 13, saying, “he hosted large gatherings at Mar-a-Lago, went golfing, attended fundraisers, dispensed misinformation about the virus and flouted social distancing guidelines known to stem its spread.”
Later, on Memorial Day, Trump again went on a Twitter tirade over the criticism, saying, ”...I played golf over the weekend. The Fake & Totally Corrupt News makes it sound like a mortal sin - I knew this would happen!”


thehuffingtonpost--2020-05-24--Chris Wallace Slams Kayleigh McEnany: 'I Never Saw A W.H. Press Sec. Act Like That'

Fox News anchor Chris Wallace took aim at White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Sunday , slamming her for going after reporters about their religious faith and for telling them what questions they should be asking .
McEnany had on Friday accused journalists of “ desperately ” wanting churches and places of worship to stay closed after she was questioned about President Donald Trump ’ s claim he would “ override ” governors who ignored his demand to immediately reopen churches amid the COVID-19 pandemic .
A reporter was asking what legal authority the president has to do so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the White House briefing room covering Ronald Reagan .
I have to say , I never — and in the years since too — I never saw a White House press secretary act like that , ” Wallace said to a panel on “ Fox News Sunday.
” Donna Brazile , the former interim Democratic National Committee chair , responded that she personally knows McEnany to be an “ extraordinary person ” but criticized the “ combative ” approach she ’ d taken in her new role .
Wallace continued by playing another @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
During that clip , McEnany posed a series of questions ― complete with prepared slides ― that she said journalists should be asking about former national security adviser Michael Flynn .
“ What Donald Trump wants in a press secretary is a Twitter troll who goes on attack , ” Golberg told Wallace .
“ Doesn ’ t actually care about doing the job they have , and instead wants to impress really an audience of one and make another part of official Washington another one of these essentially cable news and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ McEnany “ isn ’ t acting like she ’ s working for the public ” and acts instead like “ what she used to be , which is a spokesperson for the Trump campaign.
” Another panelist , Josh Holmes , the former chief of staff for Sen. Mitch McConnell ( R-Ky. ) , defended McEnany .
He claimed her behavior was different from past press secretaries because any spokesperson in the Trump administration and campaign “ finds themselves under constant attack by the press.
” “ Let me just say , Sam @ @ @ @ @ @ @ House , we were pretty tough on the White House press secretaries and we never had our religious beliefs questioned or were lectured on what we should ask , ” Wallace replied .
His latest comments will likely come as another escalation in tensions with Trump .
While some primetime Fox News personalities routinely stump for the president , negative coverage last week sent Trump into a Twitter tailspin against the network .
On Monday , anchor Neil Cavuto had harshly criticized the president ’ s claim he ’ s using the unproven @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against coronavirus .
Trump declared Monday he was “ looking for a new outlet ” and on Thursday complained that Fox News was “ doing nothing ” to help him get re-elected in November .
And on Friday , he raged at the network for airing a poll that showed him trailing presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden .

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Fox News anchor Chris Wallace took aim at White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Sunday, slamming her for going after reporters about their religious faith and for telling them what questions they should be asking.
McEnany had on Friday accused journalists of “desperately” wanting churches and places of worship to stay closed after she was questioned about President Donald Trump’s claim he would “override” governors who ignored his demand to immediately reopen churches amid the COVID-19 pandemic. A reporter was asking what legal authority the president has to do so.
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“I spent six years in the White House briefing room covering Ronald Reagan. I have to say, I never — and in the years since too — I never saw a White House press secretary act like that,” Wallace said to a panel on “Fox News Sunday.”
Chris Wallace blasts Kayleigh McEnany for questioning the religious beliefs of White House reporters:
"I spent six years in the White House briefing room covering Ronald Reagan. I have to say, I never...I never saw a White House press secretary act like that." pic.twitter.com/o9K1LxROUV — Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) May 24, 2020
Donna Brazile, the former interim Democratic National Committee chair, responded that she personally knows McEnany to be an “extraordinary person” but criticized the “combative” approach she’d taken in her new role.
Wallace continued by playing another excerpt from Friday’s press briefing. During that clip, McEnany posed a series of questions ― complete with prepared slides ― that she said journalists should be asking about former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
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Conservative commentator Jonah Goldberg labeled McEnany’s behavior “indefensible and grotesque.”
“What Donald Trump wants in a press secretary is a Twitter troll who goes on attack,” Golberg told Wallace. “Doesn’t actually care about doing the job they have, and instead wants to impress really an audience of one and make another part of official Washington another one of these essentially cable news and Twitter gladiatorial arenas.”
.@JonahDispatch says @PressSec Kayleigh McEnany's behavior is "indefensible and grotesque" and that Trump wants a "Twitter troll who goes on [the] attack, doesn’t actually care about doing the job they have..." in a press secretary. pic.twitter.com/2cPZgVe0c5 — Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) May 24, 2020
Wallace added that McEnany “isn’t acting like she’s working for the public” and acts instead like “what she used to be, which is a spokesperson for the Trump campaign.”
Another panelist, Josh Holmes, the former chief of staff for Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), defended McEnany. He claimed her behavior was different from past press secretaries because any spokesperson in the Trump administration and campaign “finds themselves under constant attack by the press.”
“Let me just say, Sam Donaldson and me in the Reagan White House, we were pretty tough on the White House press secretaries and we never had our religious beliefs questioned or were lectured on what we should ask,” Wallace replied.
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Wallace, a frequent and vocal Trump critic, was the subject of Trump Twitter outrage last month after a “Fox News Sunday” segment critical of his administration’s pandemic response.
His latest comments will likely come as another escalation in tensions with Trump. While some primetime Fox News personalities routinely stump for the president, negative coverage last week sent Trump into a Twitter tailspin against the network. On Monday, anchor Neil Cavuto had harshly criticized the president’s claim he’s using the unproven and potentially dangerous drug hydroxychloroquine to protect against coronavirus.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-05-24--Federal Judge Clears Way For Hundreds Of Thousands Of Ex-Felons To Vote In Florida

A federal judge ruled Sunday that hundreds of thousands of ex-felons in Florida can ’ t be forced to pay back fines and fees owed to the state before they cast a ballot , saying a Republican-backed law passed last year effectively created a “ pay-to-vote system.
” Florida overwhelming passed a measure in 2018 that restored the voting rights to nearly every felon who had completed “ all terms ” of their sentences , a victory hailed by voting rights advocates at the time .
But in 2019 , the Republican-controlled legislature passed a bill that said the “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ if all court-issued fees , fines and restitution had also been paid .
“ The State of Florida has adopted a system under which nearly a million otherwise-eligible citizens will be allowed to vote only if they pay an amount of money , ” the judge wrote .
“ Most citizens lack the financial resources to make the required payment … This pay-to-vote system would be universally decried as unconstitutional but for one thing : each citizen at issue was convicted , at some point in the past , of a felony offense.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ and impose conditions on their re-enfranchisement , ” Hinkle later wrote .
“ But the conditions must pass constitutional scrutiny .
Whatever might be said of a rationally constructed system , this one falls short in substantial respects.
” The order requires the state to inform all felons if they are eligible to vote and how much they owe in fees .
Any felon will be legally allowed to register to vote if they are not given an answer in 21 days .
Florida Gov .
Ron DeSantis ( R ) will have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which could have dramatic implications for the upcoming election in November ( it ’ s unclear if any appeal would finish before ballots were cast ) .
Reuters notes at least 775,000 felons have unpaid legal costs in the state , although some estimates say there could be up to 1.4 million .
“ The court recognized that conditioning a person ’ s right to vote on their ability to pay is unconstitutional , ” Julie Ebenstein , a staff attorney with the ACLU , said in a statement .
“ This ruling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be able to rejoin the electorate and participate in upcoming elections .
This is a tremendous victory for voting rights.
” Critics said the Florida GOP ’ s move in 2019 amounted a poll tax meant to disenfranchise voters once more .
Hinkle noted in his ruling that many ex-felons aren ’ t even able to find out how much they owe until the state completes a screening of citizens by 2026 or later .
“ In the meantime , year after year , federal and state elections will pass , ” he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the State can condition voting on payment of fines and restitution that a person is able to pay but can not condition voting on payment of amounts a person is unable to pay.
” The judge did not find that the 2019 law discriminated based on race , however .
A disproportionate number of felons in the state are African American .

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A federal judge ruled Sunday that hundreds of thousands of ex-felons in Florida can’t be forced to pay back fines and fees owed to the state before they cast a ballot, saying a Republican-backed law passed last year effectively created a “pay-to-vote system.”
Florida overwhelming passed a measure in 2018 that restored the voting rights to nearly every felon who had completed “all terms” of their sentences, a victory hailed by voting rights advocates at the time. But in 2019, the Republican-controlled legislature passed a bill that said the “all terms” provision was only met if all court-issued fees, fines and restitution had also been paid.
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U.S. District Court Judge Robert Hinkle ruled Sunday that provision was unconstitutional.
“The State of Florida has adopted a system under which nearly a million otherwise-eligible citizens will be allowed to vote only if they pay an amount of money,” the judge wrote. “Most citizens lack the financial resources to make the required payment … This pay-to-vote system would be universally decried as unconstitutional but for one thing: each citizen at issue was convicted, at some point in the past, of a felony offense.”
“The state may disenfranchise felons and impose conditions on their re-enfranchisement,” Hinkle later wrote. “But the conditions must pass constitutional scrutiny. Whatever might be said of a rationally constructed system, this one falls short in substantial respects.”
The order requires the state to inform all felons if they are eligible to vote and how much they owe in fees. Any felon will be legally allowed to register to vote if they are not given an answer in 21 days.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) will have the opportunity to appeal the ruling, which could have dramatic implications for the upcoming election in November (it’s unclear if any appeal would finish before ballots were cast). Reuters notes at least 775,000 felons have unpaid legal costs in the state, although some estimates say there could be up to 1.4 million.
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Voting rights groups hailed the move on Sunday.
“The court recognized that conditioning a person’s right to vote on their ability to pay is unconstitutional,” Julie Ebenstein, a staff attorney with the ACLU, said in a statement. “This ruling means hundreds of thousands of Floridians will be able to rejoin the electorate and participate in upcoming elections. This is a tremendous victory for voting rights.”
VICTORY: A court just ruled that Florida’s attempt to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of Floridians is an illegal poll tax. Floridians who owe costs and fees can now register and cast their ballots. pic.twitter.com/baBPnwJThL — ACLU (@ACLU) May 24, 2020
Critics said the Florida GOP’s move in 2019 amounted a poll tax meant to disenfranchise voters once more. Hinkle noted in his ruling that many ex-felons aren’t even able to find out how much they owe until the state completes a screening of citizens by 2026 or later.
“In the meantime, year after year, federal and state elections will pass,” he wrote. “This order holds that the State can condition voting on payment of fines and restitution that a person is able to pay but cannot condition voting on payment of amounts a person is unable to pay.”
The judge did not find that the 2019 law discriminated based on race, however. A disproportionate number of felons in the state are African American.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-05-25--GOP Gov. Rejects Divide Over Wearing Face Masks: 'This Is Not About Politics'

Ohio Gov .
Mike DeWine is the latest Republican governor to reject the political fight over wearing face masks in public to mitigate the spread of coronavirus .
“ This is not about politics .
This is not about whether you are liberal or conservative , left or right , Republican or Democrat , ” DeWine said during an interview on NBC ’ s “ Meet the Press ” on Sunday , adding : “ It ’ s been very clear what the studies have shown , you wear the mask not to protect yourself so much as to protect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ where we truly are all in this together .
What we do directly impacts others.
” He was reacting to North Dakota Gov .
Doug Burgum ( R ) , who on Friday made a heartfelt plea to constituents to “ dial up empathy and understanding ” and skip the partisan debate about wearing masks .
DeWine said the remarks were “ spot on.
” EXCLUSIVE : @ GovMikeDeWine responds to Gov .
Doug Burgum 's ( R-N.D. ) emotional statement about wearing masks .
# MTP # IfItsSunday '' I 've watched @ @ @ @ @ @ @ This is not about politics .
... We wear the mask ... not to protect yourself so much as to protect others . ''
pic.twitter.com/SU5RKlePOw — Meet the Press ( @ MeetThePress ) May 24 , 2020 The governors ’ comments come following a string of divisive incidents linked to wearing masks as states gradually reopen .
DeWine had faced backlash at the start of the month when he mandated all Ohioans to wear masks in public , forcing him to revoke the decision a day later .
Despite official guidance from public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ slow the spread of the virus and should be worn in public , the governors have faced mixed messaging on mask-wearing from their party leadership .
President Donald Trump has repeatedly flouted the policy and , amid his push to kickstart the economy earlier this month , reportedly told advisers he believed wearing one would “ send the wrong message.
” At a tour of a Michigan Ford Motor Co. plant on Thursday , he wore a mask for part of the outing but took it off before appearing in public because he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the press the pleasure of seeing it.
” Vice President Mike Pence , too , faced criticism when he bucked the policy while visiting Mayo Clinic in April .
He later admitted he should have done so , and donned a mask at a factory tour a week later .
Despite a number of high-profile controversies over mask-wearing , a recent HuffPost/YouGov poll found that most Americans consider wearing masks a matter of public health .
A large majority of Democrats and a more modest majority of Republicans support wearing masks , the @ @ @

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Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is the latest Republican governor to reject the political fight over wearing face masks in public to mitigate the spread of coronavirus.
“This is not about politics. This is not about whether you are liberal or conservative, left or right, Republican or Democrat,” DeWine said during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, adding:
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“It’s been very clear what the studies have shown, you wear the mask not to protect yourself so much as to protect others. And this is one time where we truly are all in this together. What we do directly impacts others.”
He was reacting to North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R), who on Friday made a heartfelt plea to constituents to “dial up empathy and understanding” and skip the partisan debate about wearing masks. DeWine said the remarks were “spot on.”
EXCLUSIVE: @GovMikeDeWine responds to Gov. Doug Burgum's (R-N.D.) emotional statement about wearing masks. #MTP #IfItsSunday
"I've watched that clip a couple of times. This is not about politics. ... We wear the mask ... not to protect yourself so much as to protect others." pic.twitter.com/SU5RKlePOw — Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) May 24, 2020
The governors’ comments come following a string of divisive incidents linked to wearing masks as states gradually reopen. DeWine had faced backlash at the start of the month when he mandated all Ohioans to wear masks in public, forcing him to revoke the decision a day later.
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Despite official guidance from public health experts that wearing face coverings can slow the spread of the virus and should be worn in public, the governors have faced mixed messaging on mask-wearing from their party leadership. President Donald Trump has repeatedly flouted the policy and, amid his push to kickstart the economy earlier this month, reportedly told advisers he believed wearing one would “send the wrong message.”
At a tour of a Michigan Ford Motor Co. plant on Thursday, he wore a mask for part of the outing but took it off before appearing in public because he “didn’t want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it.”
Vice President Mike Pence, too, faced criticism when he bucked the policy while visiting Mayo Clinic in April. He later admitted he should have done so, and donned a mask at a factory tour a week later.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-05-25--Trump Threatens To Move GOP Convention Unless Full Arena Is Allowed

President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to relocate the upcoming Republican National Convention from North Carolina to another state if its Democratic governor doesn ’ t allow his party “ full attendance ” at the event .
In a series of tweets , Trump targeted Gov .
Roy Cooper for being “ still in Shutdown mood ” during the coronavirus pandemic , saying he would find a more accommodating state if Cooper doesn ’ t cave to his demand .
“ Plans are being made by many thousands of enthusiastic Republicans , and others , to head to beautiful North @ @ @ @ @ @ @ immediately given an answer by the Governor as to whether or not the space will be allowed to be fully occupied , ” Trump tweeted .
“ If not , we will be reluctantly forced to find , with all of the jobs and economic development it brings , another Republican National Convention site.
” I love the Great State of North Carolina , so much so that I insisted on having the Republican National Convention in Charlotte at the end of August .
Unfortunately , Democrat Governor , @ RoyCooperNC is still @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that by August we will be allowed ... — Donald J. Trump ( @ realDonaldTrump ) May 25 , 2020 ... full attendance in the Arena .
In other words , we would be spending millions of dollars building the Arena to a very high standard without even knowing if the Democrat Governor would allow the Republican Party to fully occupy the space .
Plans are being ... .
— Donald J. Trump ( @ realDonaldTrump ) May 25 , 2020 ... made by many thousands of enthusiastic Republicans , and others , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ August .
They must be immediately given an answer by the Governor as to whether or not the space will be allowed to be fully occupied .
If not , we will be reluctantly forced ... — Donald J. Trump ( @ realDonaldTrump ) May 25 , 2020 ... to find , with all of the jobs and economic development it brings , another Republican National Convention site .
This is not something I want to do .
Thank you , and I LOVE the people of North Carolina !
— Donald J.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , 2020 Nearly 50,000 people are expected to attend the August 24-27 event in Charlotte , according to the RNC ’ s website .
“ It ’ s an issue we ’ ve been talking about because these national conventions literally take many months to organize and prepare , ” Pence said .
“ There are states around the country — we think of Texas , we think of Florida , Georgia — the last two states I visited last week that have made tremendous progress on reopening their communities and reopening their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Charlotte , North Carolina , is scheduled to hold the Republican National Convention in August .
A spokesperson for Cooper ’ s office said state health officials are working with the RNC to address Trump ’ s capacity concerns and will review its plans as they make decisions about how to hold the convention in Charlotte .
“ North Carolina is relying on data and science to protect our state ’ s public health and safety , ” press secretary Dory MacMillan said in an email to HuffPost .
The Democratic National Convention @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Wisconsin .
Both the Republican and Democratic events will see their parties formally nominate their respective choices for the next president and vice president of the United States .
Due to health concerns , the DNC ’ s organizers are considering turning it into a virtual gathering .

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President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to relocate the upcoming Republican National Convention from North Carolina to another state if its Democratic governor doesn’t allow his party “full attendance” at the event.
In a series of tweets, Trump targeted Gov. Roy Cooper for being “still in Shutdown mood” during the coronavirus pandemic, saying he would find a more accommodating state if Cooper doesn’t cave to his demand.
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“Plans are being made by many thousands of enthusiastic Republicans, and others, to head to beautiful North Carolina in August. They must be immediately given an answer by the Governor as to whether or not the space will be allowed to be fully occupied,” Trump tweeted. “If not, we will be reluctantly forced to find, with all of the jobs and economic development it brings, another Republican National Convention site.”
I love the Great State of North Carolina, so much so that I insisted on having the Republican National Convention in Charlotte at the end of August. Unfortunately, Democrat Governor, @RoyCooperNC is still in Shutdown mood & unable to guarantee that by August we will be allowed... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 25, 2020
...full attendance in the Arena. In other words, we would be spending millions of dollars building the Arena to a very high standard without even knowing if the Democrat Governor would allow the Republican Party to fully occupy the space. Plans are being.... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 25, 2020
...made by many thousands of enthusiastic Republicans, and others, to head to beautiful North Carolina in August. They must be immediately given an answer by the Governor as to whether or not the space will be allowed to be fully occupied. If not, we will be reluctantly forced... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 25, 2020
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...to find, with all of the jobs and economic development it brings, another Republican National Convention site. This is not something I want to do. Thank you, and I LOVE the people of North Carolina! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 25, 2020
Nearly 50,000 people are expected to attend the August 24-27 event in Charlotte, according to the RNC’s website.
In an interview on “Fox & Friends” Monday, Vice President Mike Pence said Trump’s request of Cooper is “very reasonable.”
“It’s an issue we’ve been talking about because these national conventions literally take many months to organize and prepare,” Pence said. “There are states around the country — we think of Texas, we think of Florida, Georgia — the last two states I visited last week that have made tremendous progress on reopening their communities and reopening their economies.”
The Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, is scheduled to hold the Republican National Convention in August. ASSOCIATED PRESS
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A spokesperson for Cooper’s office said state health officials are working with the RNC to address Trump’s capacity concerns and will review its plans as they make decisions about how to hold the convention in Charlotte.
“North Carolina is relying on data and science to protect our state’s public health and safety,” press secretary Dory MacMillan said in an email to HuffPost.
The Democratic National Convention is also scheduled for August in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Both the Republican and Democratic events will see their parties formally nominate their respective choices for the next president and vice president of the United States. Due to health concerns, the DNC’s organizers are considering turning it into a virtual gathering.
Representatives for the RNC did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s requests for comment on Monday.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-05-25--Protesters Hang Effigy Of Kentucky Governor Outside Governor's Mansion

A group of protesters gathered for a “ Patriot Day 2nd Amendment Rally ” near the Kentucky State Capitol concluded Sunday ’ s event by hanging an effigy of Gov .
Andy Beshear in a tree outside the governor ’ s mansion .
Video and photos from the event in Frankfort , captured by Courier Journal reporter Sarah Ladd , show two men hoisting the effigy with a sign reading “ Sic Semper Tyrannis ” as the song “ God Bless the U.S.A. ” plays in the background .
Gerry Seavo , a freelance photographer who was covering the event @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s organizer , Ben Kennedy , brought out the effigy at the end .
“ As we were leaving , one of the guys said , ‘ Hey , stick around .
We ’ re gon na hang an effigy , ’ and it didn ’ t strike me at the time what it was , ” Seavo said .
“ I didn ’ t think they would hang Gov .
Beshear .
I just stuck around.
” “ It was eerie to me because as an African American , there ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
“ It ’ s a lynching .
It ’ s a lynching .
That popped into my mind and I thought , ‘ What am I doing here ?
’ ” Seavo said the effigy was hung by men who appeared to be Kentucky Three Percenters , an anti-government , pro-gun group that the Southern Poverty Law Center identifies as part of the right-wing militia movement .
The effigy was cut down by Tony Wheatley of Constitutional Kentucky , the leader of a different group in attendance .
Seavo said Wheatley @ @ @ @ @ @ @ act and that some of the Three Percenters tried to distance themselves from it afterward .
( A Facebook page claiming to represent the Sons of Liberty Three Percenters issued a statement disavowing responsibility after the event . )
“ After that happened , no one would talk about it , ” Seavo said .
“ Who made it and stuff .
Now they ’ re trying to push this off as a media hoax.
” “ Doing this in front of our Capitol , just a short walk from where the Governor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ young children live , is an act that reeks of hate and intimidation and does nothing but undermine our leading work to battle this deadly disease and restore our economy safely , ” the statement concluded .
“ What occurred at today ’ s rally was unacceptable and has no place in Kentucky ’ s political discourse , ” the statement read .
“ The Republican Party of Kentucky strongly condemns the violent imagery against the Governor in today ’ s protest .
”

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A group of protesters gathered for a “Patriot Day 2nd Amendment Rally” near the Kentucky State Capitol concluded Sunday’s event by hanging an effigy of Gov. Andy Beshear in a tree down the street from the governor’s mansion.
Video and photos from the event in Frankfort, captured by Courier Journal reporter Sarah Ladd, show two men hoisting the effigy with a sign reading “Sic Semper Tyrannis” as the song “God Bless the U.S.A.” plays in the background.
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“Sic semper tyrannis” loosely translates from Latin to “thus always to tyrants.” John Wilkes Booth allegedly shouted the phrase after assassinating President Abraham Lincoln.
The demonstrators were reportedly protesting restrictions that the Democratic governor implemented to help curb the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gerry Seavo James, a freelance journalist who was covering the event, told HuffPost that the event’s organizer, Ben Kennedy, brought out the effigy at the end.
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“As we were leaving, one of the guys said, ‘Hey, stick around. We’re gonna hang an effigy,’ and it didn’t strike me at the time what it was,” James said. “I didn’t think they would hang Gov. Beshear. I just stuck around.”
Then he realized what was happening.
“It was eerie to me because as an African American, there’s these intergenerational trauma triggers,” James said. “It’s a lynching. It’s a lynching. That popped into my mind and I thought, ‘What am I doing here?’”
James said the effigy was hung by men who appeared to be Kentucky Three Percenters, an anti-government, pro-gun group that the Southern Poverty Law Center identifies as part of the right-wing militia movement.
Protesters hang an effigy of Gov. Andy Beshear during a Patriot Day 2nd Amendment Rally in Frankfort, Kentucky. Bryan Woolston / Reuters
The effigy was cut down by Tony Wheatley of Constitutional Kentucky, the leader of a different group in attendance. James said Wheatley was “very upset” about the act and that some of the Three Percenters tried to distance themselves from it afterward. (A Facebook page claiming to represent the Sons of Liberty Three Percenters issued a statement disavowing responsibility after the event.)
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“After that happened, no one would talk about it,” James said. “Who made it and stuff. Now they’re trying to push this off as a media hoax.”
The act was roundly condemned by Kentucky politicians.
Kentucky state House Democrats released a statement calling the act “beyond reprehensible” and charged the state’s Republican leadership with condoning similar “hateful rhetoric” in the past, effectively enabling Sunday’s event.
“Doing this in front of our Capitol, just a short walk from where the Governor, First Lady, and their two young children live, is an act that reeks of hate and intimidation and does nothing but undermine our leading work to battle this deadly disease and restore our economy safely,” the statement concluded.
The state Republican Party also issued a statement decrying the act as “unacceptable.”
“What occurred at today’s rally was unacceptable and has no place in Kentucky’s political discourse,” the statement read. “The Republican Party of Kentucky strongly condemns the violent imagery against the Governor in today’s protest.”
CORRECTION: This article incorrectly located the hanging of the effigy outside the governor’s mansion. While the protestors did march to the mansion, the hanging occurred later near the capitol.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-05-25--Trump Whines Over Negative Golf Coverage While Attacking Biden, Obama

President Donald Trump once again took swings at criticism he received about golfing over the weekend amid the coronavirus pandemic , calling the media “ deranged ” and deflecting complaints onto his predecessor , Barack Obama .
“ The Fake & Totally Corrupt News makes it sound like a mortal sin - I knew this would happen !
” he tweeted Monday following news coverage of him hitting the links in Virginia as the nation ’ s COVID-19 death toll neared 100,000 .
It was his first time golfing since he declared the pandemic a national emergency .
Some stories @ @ @ @ @ @ @ get outside and perhaps , even a little exercise , I played golf over the weekend .
The Fake & Totally Corrupt News makes it sound like a mortal sin - I knew this would happen !
What they don ’ t say is that it was my first golf in almost ... — Donald J. Trump ( @ realDonaldTrump ) May 25 , 2020 ... .3 months and , if I waited 3 years , they would do their usual “ hit ” pieces anyway .
They are sick with hatred and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ They don ’ t mention Sleepy Joe ’ s poor work ethic , or all of the time Obama spent on the golf course , often flying to ... .
— Donald J. Trump ( @ realDonaldTrump ) May 25 , 2020 ... .Hawaii in a big , fully loaded 747 , to play .
What did that do to the so-called Carbon Footprint ?
He also played moments after the brutal killing by ISIS of a wonderful young man .
Totally inappropriate - and it was me who shattered 100 % of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a MESS !
— Donald J. Trump ( @ realDonaldTrump ) May 25 , 2020 Trump went on to say that the media was “ sick with hatred and dishonesty ” and “ truly deranged.
” He then attacked Obama ’ s own golfing habits as well as those of former Vice President and presumed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden , saying the latter has a “ poor work ethic.
” His insults and complaints were similar to ones he tweeted on Saturday .
However , Trump managed to dodge the fact that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ playing golf while he was in the White House .
In one interview Trump gave in 2014 , he suggested that the game is entirely unpresidential .
“ When you ’ re president , you sort of say , I ’ m going to give it up for a couple of years and I ’ m going to really focus on the job , ” he told Fox News .
“ Can you believe that , with all of the problems and difficulties facing the U.S. , President Obama spent the day playing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ year .
“ I play golf to relax .
My company is in great shape .
@ BarackObama plays golf to escape work while America goes down the drain , ” he wrote on Twitter a few years earlier , in 2011 .
Trump , who is an avid Twitter user , had similarly said that he would no longer tweet during his presidency .
After three years in office , he has already spent 270 % more days on a golf course than Obama had at the same point in his first @ @ @ @ @ @ @

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President Donald Trump once again took swings at criticism he received about golfing over the weekend amid the coronavirus pandemic, calling the media “deranged” and deflecting complaints onto his predecessor, Barack Obama.
“The Fake & Totally Corrupt News makes it sound like a mortal sin - I knew this would happen!” he tweeted Monday following news coverage of him hitting the links in Virginia as the nation’s COVID-19 death toll neared 100,000.
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It was his first time golfing since he declared the pandemic a national emergency.
Some stories about the fact that in order to get outside and perhaps, even a little exercise, I played golf over the weekend. The Fake & Totally Corrupt News makes it sound like a mortal sin - I knew this would happen! What they don’t say is that it was my first golf in almost... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 25, 2020
....3 months and, if I waited 3 years, they would do their usual “hit” pieces anyway. They are sick with hatred and dishonesty. They are truly deranged! They don’t mention Sleepy Joe’s poor work ethic, or all of the time Obama spent on the golf course, often flying to.... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 25, 2020
....Hawaii in a big, fully loaded 747, to play. What did that do to the so-called Carbon Footprint? He also played moments after the brutal killing by ISIS of a wonderful young man. Totally inappropriate - and it was me who shattered 100% of the ISIS Caliphate. I was left a MESS! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 25, 2020
Trump went on to say that the media was “sick with hatred and dishonesty” and “truly deranged.” He then attacked Obama’s own golfing habits as well as those of former Vice President and presumed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, saying the latter has a “poor work ethic.” His insults and complaints were similar to ones he tweeted on Saturday.
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However, Trump managed to dodge the fact that he has also incessantly criticized Obama for playing golf while he was in the White House. In one interview Trump gave in 2014, he suggested that the game is entirely unpresidential.
“When you’re president, you sort of say, I’m going to give it up for a couple of years and I’m going to really focus on the job,” he told Fox News.
“Can you believe that, with all of the problems and difficulties facing the U.S., President Obama spent the day playing golf,” Trump tweeted that same year.
Can you believe that,with all of the problems and difficulties facing the U.S., President Obama spent the day playing golf.Worse than Carter — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 14, 2014
“I play golf to relax. My company is in great shape. @BarackObama plays golf to escape work while America goes down the drain,” he wrote on Twitter a few years earlier, in 2011.
Trump, who is an avid Twitter user, had similarly said that he would no longer tweet during his presidency.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-05-25--Joe Biden Makes His First Public Appearance In More Than 2 Months

Former Vice President Joe Biden made his first public appearance in more than two months on Monday , breaking from his online-only campaign as social distancing measures begin to ease .
“ Never forget the sacrifices that these men and women made , ” he told reporters after laying down a wreath .
“ Never , ever forget.
” His late son , Beau Biden , was an army veteran who served in the Iraq War before dying of brain cancer in 2015 .
The former vice president has been campaigning exclusively from his Delaware home for the last two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and other 2020 campaign functions to come to a screeching halt .
The circumstances have sowed some anxiety among his supporters , who worry that Biden ’ s at a disadvantage while President Donald Trump continues to hold press conferences .
The Biden campaign did not say whether Monday ’ s appearance means he will begin to appear in public again .
“ Vice President Biden and Dr. Biden believe that as the American people support each other and persevere together to overcome this crisis , it ’ s more imperative than ever @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and their families , who sacrificed everything for this nation , and who always represent the very best in us as Americans , ” a campaign official told HuffPost .
“ It ’ s that spirit that will get us through this challenge and enable us to come back stronger than before.
” While Biden wore a mask Monday , complying with advice from public health officials , Trump has refused to wear one .
During a tour at a Ford Motor Co. plant last Thursday , the president told reporters he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but took it off to spite them .
“ I didn ’ t want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it , ” Trump said .

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Former Vice President Joe Biden made his first public appearance in more than two months on Monday, breaking from his online-only campaign as social distancing measures begin to ease.
Sporting a protective face mask with his wife, Jill Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee commemorated Memorial Day by visiting Delaware Memorial Bridge Veterans Memorial Park.
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“Never forget the sacrifices that these men and women made,” he told reporters after laying down a wreath. “Never, ever forget.”
His late son, Beau Biden, was an army veteran who served in the Iraq War before dying of brain cancer in 2015.
Former Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, visit Delaware Memorial Bridge Veterans Memorial Park on Monday, May 25. OLIVIER DOULIERY via Getty Images
The former vice president has been campaigning exclusively from his Delaware home for the last two months after the coronavirus outbreak forced rallies and other 2020 campaign functions to come to a screeching halt. The circumstances have sowed some anxiety among his supporters, who worry that Biden’s at a disadvantage while President Donald Trump continues to hold press conferences.
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The Biden campaign did not say whether Monday’s appearance means he will begin to appear in public again.
“Vice President Biden and Dr. Biden believe that as the American people support each other and persevere together to overcome this crisis, it’s more imperative than ever that we honor and remember the veterans, and their families, who sacrificed everything for this nation, and who always represent the very best in us as Americans,” a campaign official told HuffPost. “It’s that spirit that will get us through this challenge and enable us to come back stronger than before.”
While Biden wore a mask Monday, complying with advice from public health officials, Trump has refused to wear one. During a tour at a Ford Motor Co. plant last Thursday, the president told reporters he had a mask on at one point but took it off to spite them.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-05-25--Veterans Affairs Gives 1,300 Vets Unproven COVID-19 Drug Touted By Trump

In a study of 100,000 patients with COVID-19 published Friday in the medical journal The Lancet , patients who received hydroxychloroquine had a “ significantly higher risk of death ” compared to those who were not given the drug .
“ We were unable to confirm a benefit of hydroxychloroquine ” on in-hospital outcomes for COVID-19 , the researchers concluded .
Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie said in a letter Friday to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer ( D-N.Y. ) that despite mounting concerns about the drug , the VA will continue to use hydroxychloroquine for veterans .
Revelations of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have sparked concerns about the effects it may have on veterans , many of whom are older and have underlying health conditions that make them more susceptible to a fatal side effect of the drug : heart arrhythmias , or irregular heartbeats .
“ Veterans ’ groups remain deeply concerned that the VA has made large purchases of this drug and appears to have administered it to veterans despite the well-known , and in some cases , fatal risks , ” Schumer wrote Wilkie earlier this month .
After Wilkie ’ s letter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ statement later that day , saying , “ This drug may be useless or even harmful for COVID-19 patients , but the VA continues to administer it to hundreds of vets .
Why are we just learning this ?
” “ We need to know what the basis was for using this drug against the consensus of science , which called into question its effectiveness in treating COVID-19 , ” he continued .
“ We also need to know who is authorizing these new trials , what facilities are participating and what families @ @ @ @ @ @ @ aggressively pitching hydroxychloroquine since March , even though the drug had not yet undergone clinical trials examining its effectiveness against COVID-19 .
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization have both warned against using the drug to treat COVID-19 .
Last Monday , the president attacked a study of veterans treated with the drug that showed no benefits against the coronavirus .
He called the findings a “ Trump enemy statement , ” insisting they were politically motivated .
He then claimed that he had been taking the drug @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Friday .
The Trump administration ordered 29 million doses of hydroxychloroquine before it underwent trials for COVID-19 treatment .
The VA also bulk-ordered some 6.3 million doses , according to Wilkie ’ s letter .
The drug is now being administered on veterans by the VA in “ certain circumstances , ” largely “ at the final stages of a veteran ’ s life in the hope that it has some positive effect , ” Wilkie wrote .

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In a study of 100,000 patients with COVID-19 published Friday in the medical journal The Lancet, patients who received hydroxychloroquine had a “significantly higher risk of death” compared to those who were not given the drug. “We were unable to confirm a benefit of hydroxychloroquine” on in-hospital outcomes for COVID-19, the researchers concluded.
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An April study of veterans who were given the drug — relentlessly hawked by President Donald Trump — produced similar findings.
Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie said in a letter Friday to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) that despite mounting concerns about the drug, the VA will continue to use hydroxychloroquine for veterans.
In ltr to @SenSchumer, VA @SecWilkie says they have administered hydroxychloroquine to ~ 1,300 COVID patients.
Doc is here: pic.twitter.com/j8RoJghukE — Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) May 22, 2020
Revelations of the use of the controversial antimalarial drug have sparked concerns about the effects it may have on veterans, many of whom are older and have underlying health conditions that make them more susceptible to a fatal side effect of the drug: heart arrhythmias, or irregular heartbeats.
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“Veterans’ groups remain deeply concerned that the VA has made large purchases of this drug and appears to have administered it to veterans despite the well-known, and in some cases, fatal risks,” Schumer wrote Wilkie earlier this month.
After Wilkie’s letter on Friday, Schumer responded in a statement later that day, saying, “This drug may be useless or even harmful for COVID-19 patients, but the VA continues to administer it to hundreds of vets. Why are we just learning this?”
“We need to know what the basis was for using this drug against the consensus of science, which called into question its effectiveness in treating COVID-19,” he continued. “We also need to know who is authorizing these new trials, what facilities are participating and what families are being told.”
Trump has been aggressively pitching hydroxychloroquine since March, even though the drug had not yet undergone clinical trials examining its effectiveness against COVID-19.
“What do we have to lose?” he asked during a briefing.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization have both warned against using the drug to treat COVID-19.
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Last Monday, the president attacked a study of veterans treated with the drug that showed no benefits against the coronavirus. He called the findings a “Trump enemy statement,” insisting they were politically motivated. Trump claimed Sunday in an interview that he had just finished a two-week course of treatment of hydroxychloroquine. “And by the way, I’m still here,” he said.
The Trump administration ordered 29 million doses of hydroxychloroquine before it underwent trials for COVID-19 treatment. The VA also bulk-ordered some 6.3 million doses, according to Wilkie’s letter.
The drug is now being administered on veterans by the VA in “certain circumstances,” largely “at the final stages of a veteran’s life in the hope that it has some positive effect,” Wilkie wrote.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-05-25--As The Coronavirus Tore Through Seattle, These Sex Workers Built A Hand Sanitizer Factory

Things didn ’ t work out for Jensen ’ s vape company , but he still had contacts in the chemical industry , knowledge of liquid production and leads on vendors for labels and bottles .
He also had a girlfriend , Amanda Halverson , who had been volunteering for the Green Light Project for nearly a year and was with Lascelles at the dive bar the night they hatched the sanitizer plan .
“ We had to chase the thickener all the way up the supply chain to a company in France , ” he said .
“ There @ @ @ @ @ @ @ check out .
We had to call them directly , then send a purchase order with our banking info .
It was like ordering from a catalog in the 1980s.
” The first few weeks , he said , were a constant back and forth between finding and losing suppliers .
“ Vendors were running out of their own supplies , or all of a sudden they decided to sell all their stock to first responders , health care workers or the government .
They were saying , ‘ We ’ ll ship @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tomorrow , then it became , ‘ Sorry , half our staff called in sick.
’ ” Still , just eight days after they first came up with the idea , the trio managed to scrape together all the ingredients they needed for their first batch .
Jensen and Halverson spent hours sanitizing their kitchen , then mixed the ingredients in paint buckets .
They used a blender to mix the thickener with water and a power drill fitted with a whisk attachment to stir the buckets .
After a few hours , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enough for about 250 2-ounce bottles .
The team ’ s pride in its recipe is palpable .
Once you use it , the formulation goes through three stages : First it ’ s wet ( “ everyone thought it was lube when we handed it out the first time , ” Lascelles said ) , then it ’ s sticky , then it ’ s gone .
The liquid comes in vape-juice bottles ― Jensen knows where to get them and they ’ re dirt cheap due to the collapse of that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The larger space and faster production have allowed them to develop their business model .
As well as being relatively easy to make , hand sanitizer is also profitable : Selling one bottle at retail price will allow them to give away two more .
Lascelles calls it , in air quotes , the “ Tom ’ s model , ” after the shoe company that ( haphazardly ) sends one pair to the developing world for every pair sold in the United States .

SEATTLE ― In March, the coronavirus pandemic was starting to unfold, and the Green Light Project, a nonprofit that provides cash and sanitation products to low-income sex workers, was running short on hand sanitizer.
The price had been creeping up since January. Stores ran out, then online retailers, then wholesalers. Green Light Project volunteers had been scouring the internet and texting their friends to scoop up every last ounce they could find, but they were getting increasingly desperate.
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“Other than condoms and pepper spray, hand sanitizer is the most important product for staying safe while doing sex work on the streets,” said a Seattle sex worker who asked not to be identified. Many street-based sex workers don’t have access to soap and running water between clients. In a typical week, the Green Light Project handed out more than 500 single-use packets of Purell.
By mid-March, the group was down to its last 15 packets. On March 10, after another night dipping into their dwindling supply, Sherae Lascelles, the Green Light Project’s founder and director, and a group of volunteers got drinks at a dive bar on North Aurora Avenue, in Seattle’s red-light district.
“Every single person was begging us for sanitizer,” Lascelles said. Workers were worried about catching COVID-19 but couldn’t self-quarantine because they needed income. Some had run out of sanitizer days before. “We kept saying, ‘There has to be another way.’”
And so, that night, their desperation gave rise to an idea: What if we make it ourselves?
“Sex workers don’t stop needing hand sanitizer just because we can’t find it in stores,” Lascelles said. “As sex workers, losing the resources other people rely on is nothing new to us. So we just decided that if no one else was going to make it, it was up to us.”
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Lascelles (who uses they/them pronouns) has been a fixture in Seattle sex worker organizing for nearly a decade. They grew up in Spokane, a mid-sized city six hours east of Seattle, and have been engaged in various forms of sex work since they were a teenager.
Sherae Lascelles, founder of Seattle’s Green Light Project, a nonprofit that gives sanitation products and cash to sex workers, got the idea of making hand sanitizer after supplies began to run out in early March. Grant Hindsley for HuffPost
When Lascelles moved to Seattle in 2010, they got a job at a sex shop and eventually joined an advocacy group pushing for better policies on sex work in the city. Last year, they founded the People of Color Sex Worker Outreach Project and the Green Light Project, both dedicated to political advocacy and direct services for sex workers. This fall, they’re running for a seat in the Washington state House of Representatives.
But though Lascelles knew the importance of hand sanitizer for sex workers, they had no idea how to make it in bulk.
“We didn’t want to give people something we made in a bathtub,” they said. “This is a group that has always been marginalized and I didn’t want them to feel like they were being experimented on.”
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Enter John Jensen. Five years ago, Jensen was a software engineer trying to quit smoking. He took up vaping, but all the flavors he could find lacked something.
So one night, in his kitchen, he made his own. He liked his homemade formula more than the commercial brands, and, it turned out, so did his friends. Jensen quit his software job, found a collaborator — Colby Adam, an engineer and a former Washington State Mr. Leather — and started making vape liquid full time.
Things didn’t work out for Jensen’s vape company, but he still had contacts in the chemical industry, knowledge of liquid production and leads on vendors for labels and bottles. He also had a girlfriend, Amanda Halverson, who had been volunteering for the Green Light Project for nearly a year and was with Lascelles at the dive bar the night they hatched the sanitizer plan.
The First Batch
Jensen was between jobs and the nightclub where Halverson worked as a stripper was shut down under Washington’s lockdown order, so they had time to research hand sanitizer recipes. The substance, they found, is remarkably simple: mostly alcohol, plus glycerin for moisture, polyacrylate for texture and topped off with water. All the ingredients are safe to handle and available in bulk online.
Jensen (with some help from Adam, his former collaborator), consulted recipes and started making test batches. The World Health Organization’s formula, it turned out, was too thin: It had a watery consistency that would evaporate before sex workers could put the bottle back in their pocket. Jensen started reading the labels of Purell and GermX bottles to find out how they got their texture.
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John Jensen formulated a recipe for hand sanitizer and is now working on expanding production to other liquid products. Grant Hindsley for HuffPost
“We had to chase the thickener all the way up the supply chain to a company in France,” he said. “There was no website and no ads to check out. We had to call them directly, then send a purchase order with our banking info. It was like ordering from a catalog in the 1980s.”
Once the thickener came in, they settled on their recipe. Most hand sanitizers are around 63% alcohol, but they decided to use a stronger 70% mixture in case workers needed to water it down to make it last longer. They also skipped artificial fragrances that could irritate users’ skin if they had allergies.
Next, they started looking for suppliers. There was a nationwide demand spike for sanitizer, and dozens of other companies were looking for the same ingredients.
“No one wanted to sell to us because they thought we were going to jack up the price and resell it,” Jensen said. He had to call each supplier individually and convince them the ingredients were for a product they would be giving away.”
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The first few weeks, he said, were a constant back and forth between finding and losing suppliers. “Vendors were running out of their own supplies, or all of a sudden they decided to sell all their stock to first responders, health care workers or the government. They were saying, ‘We’ll ship it today,’ then it became tomorrow, then it became, ‘Sorry, half our staff called in sick.’”
Still, just eight days after they first came up with the idea, the trio managed to scrape together all the ingredients they needed for their first batch. Jensen and Halverson spent hours sanitizing their kitchen, then mixed the ingredients in paint buckets. They used a blender to mix the thickener with water and a power drill fitted with a whisk attachment to stir the buckets. After a few hours, they had 4 gallons of sanitizer, enough for about 250 2-ounce bottles.
Lascelles and a team of volunteers started handing out the homemade sanitizer (along with $20 bills) the next night.
“The response was overwhelming,” Lascelles said. “Some of our participants hadn’t been able to find sanitizer for a month.”
From Kitchen To Factory
Almost as soon as they made their first batch, Jensen and Halverson had already outgrown their kitchen. One afternoon in late March, Jensen visited an old friend — the chiropractor next door — and noticed the 3,000-square-foot office space in his building sitting vacant. Within a week, Jensen, Halverson and Lascelles had rented it.
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Last week, the trio gave HuffPost a tour of their production facility, located in a squat brick square in a north Seattle strip mall. Roughly half of the businesses facing the street are defunct. Around back is a parking lot, a chiropractor’s office and the entrance to what they’ve dubbed Hygiene Hustle.
Amanda Halverson, left, fills bottles of hand sanitizer from a pneumatic filler while Makayla Deppa readies caps for the capping machine. Grant Hindsley for HuffPost
Two semiautomated production lines feed sanitizer into bottles, cap them with a lid, then stick on a label. Of the four volunteers manning the lines, all were either sex workers or their partners. They also have an office space and a “clean room” for sterilizing equipment.
The team’s pride in its recipe is palpable. Once you use it, the formulation goes through three stages: First it’s wet (“everyone thought it was lube when we handed it out the first time,” Lascelles said), then it’s sticky, then it’s gone. The liquid comes in vape-juice bottles ― Jensen knows where to get them and they’re dirt cheap due to the collapse of that industry since the start of the pandemic.
Right now, Jensen and Adam (they’ve both been promoted to Directors of Liquid Transmission, or DOLTs) are working on automating their production lines and extending their supply chain. When their alcohol vendor fell through, they started ordering pre-made sanitizer to ensure their outreach wouldn’t get interrupted.
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Lascelles, for their part, is focusing on distribution. As well as the nightly outreach runs, they’ve sent more than 6,000 bottles to harm-reduction and homeless advocacy organizations. Lascelles even started handing out bottles as tips to food delivery drivers.
The larger space and faster production have allowed them to develop their business model. As well as being relatively easy to make, hand sanitizer is also profitable: Selling one bottle at retail price will allow them to give away two more. Lascelles calls it, in air quotes, the “Tom’s model,” after the shoe company that (haphazardly) sends one pair to the developing world for every pair sold in the United States.
The owners of the facility have given most of their sanitizer away to sex workers and nonprofit organizations, but they have started selling bottles to recoup their costs. Grant Hindsley for HuffPost
This is their blueprint for further expansion. Right now they’re making roughly 4,000 bottles a day and giving the vast majority of them away, either locally or shipping to sex worker organizations around the country. But they’ve also started to sell them: Other outreach organizations have purchased small batches, and a local school district recently ordered 1,200 bottles for its bus drivers.
The team plans to give away an additional 10,000 bottles in the next few weeks and hopes to sell enough stock to cover their costs and perhaps even make back some of their investment. So far, the co-founders have carried the financial burden themselves.
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Ultimately, Lascelles plans to hire four to eight more employees — all current or former sex workers — to run the production lines. Jensen has built a website that will allow customers to put their own logo on each bottle.
They’re working on adapting their production line to make other sanitizer products or even body lotion, soap or shampoo. Green Light Project volunteers have already started to notice a looming lubricant shortage on their nightly outreach rounds.
“Sanitizer is the immediate need, but we could eventually make all of the hygiene products we hand out,” Lascelles said. “We’re connecting with the populations we serve every night, and they know better than anyone what they need.”


thehuffingtonpost--2020-05-25--Trump's Economic Adviser Calls Americans Facing Unemployment 'Human Capital Stock'

President Donald Trump ’ s senior economic adviser , Kevin Hassett , presented a cold view of the U.S. economic system Sunday , referring to American workers as “ human capital stock.
” In a Sunday interview on CNN , Hassett predicted that business would pick up again soon .
“ Our human capital stock is ready to get back to work , ” he said , while admitting at the same time that the nation will continue to struggle with unemployment as high as 23 % this month .
The smiling Hassett seemed blithely calm about an unemployment rate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ May , which may be higher in June and will likely be in the double digits by November , he said .
Critics on Twitter didn ’ t take to Hassett ’ s terminology — or the fact that workers will be bringing up the caboose again while potentially risking their lives if there ’ s a second COVID-19 spike , which Hassett didn ’ t even acknowledge .
He referred to American workers as `` human capital stock ! ''
Are you f*cking kidding me ?
It 's bad enough that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sacrifice our lives for the Dow Jones .
Now we are spoken of as sub-human to boot ?
!
— yaya `` Stay Home & Vote for Joe '' nana ( @ 3_in_austin ) May 24 , 2020 The most shocking thing is how cavalier he is about 20 % unemployment .
It ’ s like just an academic thing to him .
He has no clue those are people .
— Dagger Brown ( @ DCDaggerBrown ) May 24 , 2020 Not to mention the possibility of a second wave of coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ both possibilities to his voters ?
No jobs and people are sick and dying but it ’ s all a hoax ?
— Liat 🌊🇬🇱🇺🇸 # democratsavage✊ ( @ arunningriot ) May 24 , 2020

President Donald Trump’s senior economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, presented a cold view of the U.S. economic system Sunday, referring to American workers as “human capital stock.”
In a Sunday interview on CNN, Hassett predicted that business would pick up again soon.
“Our human capital stock is ready to get back to work,” he said, while admitting at the same time that the nation will continue to struggle with unemployment as high as 23% this month.
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The smiling Hassett seemed blithely calm about an unemployment rate “north of 20%” in May, which may be higher in June and will likely be in the double digits by November, he said.
Critics on Twitter didn’t take to Hassett’s terminology — or the fact that workers will be bringing up the caboose again while potentially risking their lives if there’s a second COVID-19 spike, which Hassett didn’t even acknowledge.
He referred to American workers as "human capital stock!"
Are you f*cking kidding me?
It's bad enough that the Trump administration is calling for us to sacrifice our lives for the Dow Jones.
Now we are spoken of as sub-human to boot?! — yaya "Stay Home & Vote for Joe" nana (@3_in_austin) May 24, 2020
The most shocking thing is how cavalier he is about 20% unemployment. It’s like just an academic thing to him. He has no clue those are people. — Dagger Brown (@DCDaggerBrown) May 24, 2020
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Human capitol stock... that’s how he refers to people. — Irishrygirl (@irishrygirl) May 24, 2020
Basically, he is using a euphemism for slaves. — Bella Swann Erotica 💋 One-Handed Reading 😘 (@BellaSwannBooks) May 24, 2020
Not to mention the possibility of a second wave of coronavirus. How is trump going to sell both possibilities to his voters? No jobs and people are sick and dying but it’s all a hoax? — Liat 🌊🇬🇱🇺🇸 #democratsavage✊ (@arunningriot) May 24, 2020
Hey, ✌human capital✌, stop whining and get back to work! pic.twitter.com/o3b1cyDQKJ — She'sComeUndone (@THCobbPHC) May 24, 2020
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thehuffingtonpost--2020-05-25--Twitter Users Mock Trump For Claiming He's Getting 'Great' COVID-19 Reviews

Twitter users brutally mocked President Donald Trump on Memorial Day for simultaneously claiming he ’ s getting “ great reviews ” for the way he ’ s handled the coronavirus pandemic and griping he ’ s not getting enough credit .
The tweet came Monday afternoon as U.S. deaths related to COVID-19 neared the 100,000 mark .
Not that the president thought that was worth mentioning .
Great reviews on our handling of Covid 19 , sometimes referred to as the China Virus .
Ventilators , Testing , Medical Supply Distribution , we made a lot of Governors look very @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so doing .
Most importantly , we helped a lot of great people !
— Donald J. Trump ( @ realDonaldTrump ) May 25 , 2020 Many Twitter users were shocked by what they were reading .
Psycho whines BOTH that nobody gives him credit AND people are giving him great reviews .
Narcissistic , paranoid , delusional and impossible thinking .
pic.twitter.com/UySoqDIeSu — Kurt Eichenwald ( @ kurteichenwald ) May 25 , 2020 Some people pointed out that the Trump ’ s handling of the pandemic is more of a lesson plan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 've written the book on everything NOT to do .
You failed our country ; your arrogance has resulted in tens of thousands of needless deaths .
You failed to lead , leaving it to the states and our public health officials to handle this pandemic .
You did NOTHING , and it shows .
https : //t.co/i8gdoUhDz0 — Morgan J. Freeman ( @ mjfree ) May 25 , 2020 Others wondered where these “ reviews ” were actually published and wished they could post their own .
`` It has a pretty @ @ @ @ @ @ @ really dance to it and the lyrics are confusing .
Anyway , it does n't rock as hard as Tesla and the singer 's not as cute as Drake , so I guess I give it a 64 . ''
https : //t.co/AammCTqvg2 — Laura Lorson ( @ prairielaura ) May 25 , 2020 One guy pointed out that Trump seems to be the guy for whom “ participant trophy ” was invented .
Trump wants a parade for doing the bare minimum that his job requires— and doing it botched and delayed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cohen ( @ briantylercohen ) May 25 , 2020 Another suggested that bringing up the idea of “ reviews ” was just another example of the president ’ s disinformation tactics .
Remember when they caught that film studio making up positive film reviews a few years ago ?
The studio literally made up reviewers and praised their own films .
That 's what Donald Trump is doing here .
That 's what Donald Trump does every day .
https : //t.co/vkEmrkirTH — Don Winslow ( @ donwinslow ) May 25 , 2020 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ answered Trump ’ s claim of “ great reviews ” with a devastating takedown of her own .
Great review .
My friend just died last Wednesday because they needed her ventilator and the doctors felt someone else had better chances .
FYI .
She was ure supporter so one less vote for you .
We can not only blame you but USA does not have medical equipment .
Wtf is my review .
— Nancy ( @ towasfw ) May 25 , 2020 CORRECTION : An earlier version of this article said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ death toll in the U.S. had passed 100,000 .
That had not yet been officially reported as of Monday evening .

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Twitter users brutally mocked President Donald Trump on Memorial Day for simultaneously claiming he’s getting “great reviews” for the way he’s handled the coronavirus pandemic and griping he’s not getting enough credit.
The tweet came Monday afternoon as U.S. deaths related to COVID-19 neared the 100,000 mark. Not that the president thought that was worth mentioning.
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Great reviews on our handling of Covid 19, sometimes referred to as the China Virus. Ventilators, Testing, Medical Supply Distribution, we made a lot of Governors look very good - And got no credit for so doing. Most importantly, we helped a lot of great people! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 25, 2020
Many Twitter users were shocked by what they were reading.
Great reviews? Like on Rotten Tomatoes? — Lira (@LoudmouthLira) May 25, 2020
Psycho whines BOTH that nobody gives him credit AND people are giving him great reviews. Narcissistic, paranoid, delusional and impossible thinking. pic.twitter.com/UySoqDIeSu — Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) May 25, 2020
Some people pointed out that the Trump’s handling of the pandemic is more of a lesson plan on what not to do.
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You've written the book on everything NOT to do. You failed our country; your arrogance has resulted in tens of thousands of needless deaths. You failed to lead, leaving it to the states and our public health officials to handle this pandemic. You did NOTHING, and it shows. https://t.co/i8gdoUhDz0 — Morgan J. Freeman (@mjfree) May 25, 2020
Others wondered where these “reviews” were actually published and wished they could post their own.
Is there a Yelp for pandemics? If so:
1/2★ 100,000 Americans dead. https://t.co/Z926DcLzgr — Jennifer M. Wood (@j_m_wood) May 25, 2020
The Times gave 4 stars but Pandemic Weekly panned it. https://t.co/8WemZOlMl4 — Scott Dooley (@scottdools) May 25, 2020
"It has a pretty good beat, but you can't really dance to it and the lyrics are confusing. Anyway, it doesn't rock as hard as Tesla and the singer's not as cute as Drake, so I guess I give it a 64." https://t.co/AammCTqvg2 — Laura Lorson (@prairielaura) May 25, 2020
GREAT REVIEWS? This is NOT a game show. Your inaction directly led to 100,000+ American deaths. pic.twitter.com/p7VtyFD2OU — Hoodlum 🇺🇸 (@NotHoodlum) May 25, 2020
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One guy pointed out that Trump seems to be the guy for whom “participant trophy” was invented.
Trump wants a parade for doing the bare minimum that his job requires— and doing it botched and delayed, at that. — Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) May 25, 2020
Another suggested that bringing up the idea of “reviews” was just another example of the president’s disinformation tactics.
Remember when they caught that film studio making up positive film reviews a few years ago? The studio literally made up reviewers and praised their own films.
That's what Donald Trump is doing here.
That's what Donald Trump does every day. https://t.co/vkEmrkirTH — Don Winslow (@donwinslow) May 25, 2020
Finally, there was the woman who answered Trump’s claim of “great reviews” with a devastating takedown of her own.
Great review. My friend just died last Wednesday because they needed her ventilator and the doctors felt someone else had better chances. FYI. She was ure supporter so one less vote for you. We cannot only blame you but USA does not have medical equipment. Wtf is my review. — Nancy (@towasfw) May 25, 2020
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CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article said that the tweets came after the COVID-19 death toll in the U.S. had passed 100,000. That had not yet been officially reported as of Monday evening.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-05-25--Andrew Cuomo Congratulates His Daughter On College Graduation With A Promise

New York Gov .
Andrew Cuomo congratulated his daughter Michaela on her graduation from Brown University on Sunday with a @ @ @ @ @ take to heart during the coronavirus pandemic .
The state leader gave a shoutout to @ @ @ @ @ addressing his youngest child , who officially graduated from the Ivy League school in a @ @ @ @ @ best is yet to come .
That I promise , ” the governor wrote in @ @ @

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo congratulated his daughter Michaela on her graduation from Brown University on Sunday with a message that young people can take to heart during the coronavirus pandemic.
The state leader gave a shoutout to all graduates on Twitter before addressing his youngest child, who officially graduated from the Ivy League school in a virtual ceremony.
“The best is yet to come. That I promise,” the governor wrote in his tweet.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-05-25--U.S. Memorial Day Kicks Off Amid Lockdowns As Some Countries Begin Reopening

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe lifted a coronavirus state of emergency in Tokyo and four other remaining areas on Monday , but said that does not mean the end of the outbreak .
He also unveiled a new stimulus package worth about 100 trillion yen ( $ 930 billion ) to provide financial support for pandemic-hit companies .
That ’ s on top of an initial , 117 trillion yen package .
After two days of playing golf , President Donald Trump is scheduled to make Memorial Day appearances at Arlington National Cemetery , where he will lay a wreath @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and then heads off to speak at a historic fort in Baltimore .
The White House , meanwhile , slapped a travel ban on Latin America ’ s most populous nation , saying it would deny admission to foreigners who have recently been in Brazil .
The ban , which takes effect Thursday , does not apply to U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents .
With over 363,000 reported infections , Brazil is second only to the U.S. despite limited testing .
Greece ’ s low COVID-19 infection rate allowed the government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weeks earlier than previously planned .
In addition to resuming ferries with new passenger limits , it allowed cafes and restaurants to reopen under new social distancing rules .
All this , of course , was for Greek holidaymakers as foreign tourists aren ’ t expected until after June 15 .
“ We will implement exactly what the state has told us , whatever the doctors have told us , first and foremost for the safety of our customers , ” said Spiros Bairaktaris , owner of an Athens restaurant that was reducing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ We are also a little sad today , as we have lost two of our more elderly regular customers , ” Fernández said .
“ They use to come every day but now they have left us.
” “ We ’ re not out of the woods yet .
We have to take each day as it comes , each week as it comes and we keep our fingers crossed that Queenslanders will continue to flatten that curve , ” Palaszczuk said .
No new COVID-19 cases have been reported since the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with no symptoms tested positive .
More than 3 million people had been tested prior to the campaign , the official Xinhua News Agency said .

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Americans prepared to mark a Memorial Day like no other as the coronavirus pandemic upended traditional commemorations, while Greece sought to revive its crucial tourism sector by restoring ferry services to its popular Aegean islands.
U.S. authorities warned beach-goers to heed social distancing rules to avoid a resurgence of the virus that has infected 5.4 million people worldwide and killed over 345,000, including nearly 100,000 Americans, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
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People gather on the beach for the Memorial Day weekend in Port Aransas, Texas, Saturday, May 23, 2020. Beachgoers are being urged to practice social distancing to guard against COVID-19. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) ASSOCIATED PRESS
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe lifted a coronavirus state of emergency in Tokyo and four other remaining areas on Monday, but said that does not mean the end of the outbreak. He also unveiled a new stimulus package worth about 100 trillion yen ($930 billion) to provide financial support for pandemic-hit companies. That’s on top of an initial, 117 trillion yen package.
In New York City, honoring fallen military members will be done with car convoys and small ceremonies this year instead of parades to conform with coronavirus lockdown restrictions.
“It’s something we’re upset about, but we understand,” said Raymond Aalbue, chairman of the United Military Veterans of Kings County, which usually puts on a parade in Brooklyn.
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There’s “no reason to put anybody in harm’s way,” he said, adding “it’s really cutting quick to the heart of all the veterans.”
Veterans, along with nursing home residents, have made up a significant portion of those who died in the U.S. outbreak.
After two days of playing golf, President Donald Trump is scheduled to make Memorial Day appearances at Arlington National Cemetery, where he will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and then heads off to speak at a historic fort in Baltimore.
Baltimore Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young has criticized Trump’s visit, saying the city can’t afford the costs and the trip sends the wrong message about stay-at-home directives.
The Dome of the U.S. Capitol Building and the Washington Monument are visible behind the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial on Memorial Day, Monday, May 25, 2020, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) ASSOCIATED PRESS
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The White House, meanwhile, slapped a travel ban on Latin America’s most populous nation, saying it would deny admission to foreigners who have recently been in Brazil. The ban, which takes effect Thursday, does not apply to U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents. With over 363,000 reported infections, Brazil is second only to the U.S. despite limited testing.
Greece’s low COVID-19 infection rate allowed the government to restart the summer holiday season three weeks earlier than previously planned. In addition to resuming ferries with new passenger limits, it allowed cafes and restaurants to reopen under new social distancing rules. All this, of course, was for Greek holidaymakers as foreign tourists aren’t expected until after June 15.
“We will implement exactly what the state has told us, whatever the doctors have told us, first and foremost for the safety of our customers,” said Spiros Bairaktaris, owner of an Athens restaurant that was reducing capacity from 100 customers to 30.
“Many will come to Greece because we had the fewest number of deaths compared to other countries. And thank God for that,” he added.
Passengers wearing mask to reduce the spread of the coronavirus board a ferry at the Piraeus port near Athens on Monday, May 25, 2020. Greece restarted Monday regular ferry services to the islands as the country accelerated efforts to salvage its tourism season.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Greece, which shut down quickly, has only 171 of Europe’s nearly 170,000 coronavirus deaths and depends on tourism for 10% of its economy.
Islands such as Santorini, Mykonos, Corfu and Samos are major draws for tourists but have been mostly off-limits since late March when the country’s lockdown took effect.
Hard-hit Spain reached a milestone Monday as half the population — including those in the two biggest cities, Madrid and Barcelona — were finally allowed to gather, albeit in limited numbers. Outdoor seating at bars and restaurants also reopened.
Madrid coffee bar owner Roberto Fernández said the mood was bittersweet.
“We are also a little sad today, as we have lost two of our more elderly regular customers,” Fernández said. “They use to come every day but now they have left us.”
Relaxations went a step further in the rest of Spain, where people can now visit beaches and nursing homes and hold weddings. Spain has recorded 28,700 virus deaths.
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Police officers ask people to not sit while patrolling at the beach in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, May 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) ASSOCIATED PRESS
But as lockdown restrictions were rolled back across Europe, fresh outbreaks were reported in a Czech coal mine and a Dutch slaughterhouse.
The Darkov mine near the Czech Republic’s border with Poland halted operations after 212 people — mostly miners and family members — tested positive for coronavirus. Testing was carried out on 2,400 people.
Meanwhile, an outbreak among 657 employees of a meat processing plant in the Dutch city of Groenlo has spilled over into Germany. Dutch authorities said Monday that 19 of the 147 employees who had tested positive live in Germany.
After seeing several coronavirus clusters among abattoir employees in Germany, the government has pledged to crack down on poor working conditions.
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In Russia, infections topped 350,000 — the third highest in the world — as health officials reported 9,000 new cases and 92 new deaths, bringing the overall death toll to 3,633. Russia denies allegations that its death rate is suspiciously low, insisting that’s due to its effective containment measures.
As millions of Australian children returned to school, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said Monday that students and teachers had to observe one key message: Stay home if you are sick.
“We’re not out of the woods yet. We have to take each day as it comes, each week as it comes and we keep our fingers crossed that Queenslanders will continue to flatten that curve,” Palaszczuk said.
Chinese state media reported Monday that more than 6.5 million coronavirus tests were conducted in the city of Wuhan — the country’s virus epicenter — over a 10-day period in a bid to test all its 11 million residents.
No new COVID-19 cases have been reported since the 10-day campaign started, although some people with no symptoms tested positive. More than 3 million people had been tested prior to the campaign, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
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Boaters and paddle boarders use a harbor Sunday, May 24, 2020, in Newport Beach, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) ASSOCIATED PRESS
The U.S. Memorial Day weekend saw tens of thousands of Americans head to beaches and parks, relieved to shake off some pandemic restrictions.
But Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, said she was “very concerned” about scenes of people crowding together. In the Tampa area along Florida’s Gulf Coast, the crowds were so big that authorities closed parking lots to stem the flood. In Missouri, people packed bars and restaurants at the Lake of the Ozarks.
Officials in California said most people were covering their faces and keeping their distance as they ventured out. Many Southern California beaches were open only for swimming, running and other activities, not sunbathing.
At New York’s Orchard Beach in the Bronx, kids played with toys and people sat in folding chairs, wrapped up in sweaters and masks.
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“Fresh air. Just good to enjoy the outdoors,” said Danovan Clacken.
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Hadjicostis reported from Nicosia, Cyprus. Associated Press writers around the world contributed to this report.
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