thehuffingtonpost--2020-07-03--Maskless Trump Rails Against 'Left-Wing Mob' As Coronavirus Crisis Spirals

Faced with a public health crisis spiraling further out of control as a result of his own governing failures , a maskless President Donald Trump ranted against the “ left-wing mob , ” “ far-left fascism ” and “ cancel culture ” in a disjointed speech delivered at an Independence Day celebration held at South Dakota ’ s Mount Rushmore National Memorial on Friday night .
“ Our nation is witnessing a merciless campaign to defame our history , ” Trump told a cheering crowd , most of whom also appeared to not be wearing masks .
“ Angry mobs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our founders ... and unleash a wave of violent crime in our cities , ” he added .
Trump was referring to protesters who , as part of a national uprising for racial justice , have defaced and removed Confederate monuments and symbols .
He vowed to crack down on “ this attack on our liberty ” by enforcing a federal law to “ arrest the rioters , ” reiterating his earlier promise to imprison anyone who vandalizes such monuments for up to 10 years .
( Trump himself has been accused of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s Bears Ears , which is considered sacred by several Native American tribes . )
A majority of U.S. states are currently grappling with a rise in COVID-19 cases and , on Thursday , the country recorded a record-breaking single-day tally of new infections .
Yet , facial coverings ― which can help mitigate the spread of the disease ― were a rare sight at the event .
None of Trump ’ s entourage , including First Lady Melania Trump and his son Eric Trump , were seen wearing a mask .
Earlier @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Trump ’ s top campaign officials and the girlfriend of his eldest son , Donald Trump Jr. , reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 .
She had traveled to South Dakota with Trump Jr. to attend the Mount Rushmore celebration .
South Dakota Gov .
Kristi Noem ( R ) had said earlier this week that social distancing wouldn ’ t be enforced at the event and that masks would not be required .
Approximately 7,500 attendees were expected at the extravaganza .
Earlier on Friday , dozens of protesters , most of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ road leading to Mount Rushmore .
About 15 of them were arrested after refusing to heed police warnings to disperse , the Associated Press reported .
Demonstrators , holding signs that read “ This Is Stolen Land ” and “ Protect SoDak ’ s First People , ” said they were insulted by Trump ’ s decision to hold the celebratory event at the massive sculpture , which was erected in the Black Hills on land taken by the U.S. government from the Lakota people .
“ The whole Black Hills is sacred @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the presidents , slave owners who have no meaning to us , it was an insult , ” Ricky Gray Grass , a member of the Oglala Sioux tribe ’ s executive council , told The Washington Post .
Protesters had also taken issue with the massive fireworks display , which Trump had championed for , that concluded the Independence Day event .
Fireworks have been banned at Mount Rushmore since 2009 over concerns about wildfires and other environmental impacts .
In an earlier tweet , Trump credited Noem and Interior Secretary David @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .

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Faced with a public health crisis spiraling further out of control as a result of his own governing failures, a maskless President Donald Trump ranted against the “left-wing mob,” “far-left fascism” and “cancel culture” in a disjointed speech delivered at an Independence Day celebration held at South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore National Memorial on Friday night.
“Our nation is witnessing a merciless campaign to defame our history,” Trump told a cheering crowd, most of whom also appeared to not be wearing masks.
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“Angry mobs are trying to tear down statues of our founders ... and unleash a wave of violent crime in our cities,” he added.
Trump was referring to protesters who, as part of a national uprising for racial justice, have defaced and removed Confederate monuments and symbols.
He vowed to crack down on “this attack on our liberty” by enforcing a federal law to “arrest the rioters,” reiterating his earlier promise to imprison anyone who vandalizes such monuments for up to 10 years. (Trump himself has been accused of destroying multiple national monuments including Utah’s Bears Ears, which is considered sacred by several Native American tribes.)
In his speech, Trump also railed against so-called “cancel culture,” calling it the “very definition of totalitarianism.”
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“There is a new far-left fascism that demands absolute allegiance,” he said. “This left-wing cultural revolution is designed to overthrow the American revolution.”
Trump offers some remarkably overheated rhetoric: "There is a new far-left fascism that demands absolute allegiance ... this left-wing cultural revolution is designed to overthrow the American revolution" pic.twitter.com/pZC66T6Mzq — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 4, 2020
A majority of U.S. states are currently grappling with a rise in COVID-19 cases and, on Thursday, the country recorded a record-breaking single-day tally of new infections.
Yet, facial coverings ― which can help mitigate the spread of the disease ― were a rare sight at the event. None of Trump’s entourage, including First Lady Melania Trump and his son Eric Trump, were seen wearing a mask.
Earlier on Friday, Kimberly Guilfoyle, one of Trump’s top campaign officials and the girlfriend of his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., reportedly tested positive for COVID-19. She had traveled to South Dakota with Trump Jr. to attend the Mount Rushmore celebration.
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South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) had said earlier this week that social distancing wouldn’t be enforced at the event and that masks would not be required. Approximately 7,500 attendees were expected at the extravaganza.
Video shows Trump supporters packed tightly together at Mount Rushmore waiting for the president's remarks and fireworks display. pic.twitter.com/RWXf1iJ0iP — The Hill (@thehill) July 4, 2020
Earlier on Friday, dozens of protesters, most of them Native Americans, blocked a main road leading to Mount Rushmore. About 15 of them were arrested after refusing to heed police warnings to disperse, the Associated Press reported.
Demonstrators, holding signs that read “This Is Stolen Land” and “Protect SoDak’s First People,” said they were insulted by Trump’s decision to hold the celebratory event at the massive sculpture, which was erected in the Black Hills on land taken by the U.S. government from the Lakota people.
“The whole Black Hills is sacred. For them to come and carve the presidents, slave owners who have no meaning to us, it was an insult,” Ricky Gray Grass, a member of the Oglala Sioux tribe’s executive council, told The Washington Post.
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A large protest has gathered at the roadblock in front of the path up to Mount Rushmore. pic.twitter.com/xpUnbCmbKg — Erin Bormett (@EEBormett) July 3, 2020
Protesters had also taken issue with the massive fireworks display, which Trump had championed for, that concluded the Independence Day event.
Fireworks have been banned at Mount Rushmore since 2009 over concerns about wildfires and other environmental impacts. In an earlier tweet, Trump credited Noem and Interior Secretary David Bernhardt for making the pyrotechnics show possible.
I am pleased to inform you that THE BIG FIREWORKS, after many years of not having any, are coming back to beautiful Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. Great work @GovKristiNoem and @SecBernhardt! #MAGA — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2019
The faces of four presidents — George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln — are carved into Mount Rushmore.
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Trump has joked that his visage should be added to the massive sculpture.
On Friday, one of his campaign staffers tweeted a doctored image of the monument which included Trump’s face with the caption, “Mt Rushmore, improved.”


thehuffingtonpost--2020-07-04--Ivanka Trump’s ‘Gaslighting’ Fourth of July Coronavirus Advice Backfires

Ivanka Trump was accused of gaslighting after tweeting advice on how to stay safe amid the coronavirus pandemic this Fourth @ @ @ @ @ safe & responsible this holiday weekend .
As we celebrate this 4th of July , @ @ @ @ @ to keep you & your loved ones safe .
Practice proper hygiene , social distancing @ @ @ @ @ in close proximity to others .
🇺🇸 The guidance tweeted by President Donald Trump ’ @ @ @ @ @ Friday ― on wearing masks and social distancing ― was sound enough .
But it @ @ @ @ @ Twitter , where critics noted her father ’ s attendance at an Independence Day celebration @ @ @ @ @ Mount Rushmore National Memorial , where there was little social distancing or wearing of masks @ @ @ @ @ .

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Ivanka Trump was accused of gaslighting after tweeting advice on how to stay safe amid the coronavirus pandemic this Fourth of July:
Please be safe & responsible this holiday weekend. As we celebrate this 4th of July, follow state & local guidelines to keep you & your loved ones safe. Practice proper hygiene, social distancing & wear a mask when in close proximity to others. 🇺🇸 — Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) July 4, 2020
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The guidance tweeted by President Donald Trump’s daughter and adviser late Friday ― on wearing masks and social distancing ― was sound enough.
But it was not well received on Twitter, where critics noted her father’s attendance at an Independence Day celebration at South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore National Memorial, where there was little social distancing or wearing of masks by people in the crowd.
“Gas lighting alert,” tweeted Walter Shaub, the former head of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, in response:
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Other detractors were similarly angered:
DO YOU SPEAK TO YOUR FATHER — rabia O'chaudry (@rabiasquared) July 4, 2020
The president's daughter sent this tweet as her father holds an event with no social distancing and optional masks. https://t.co/OvrXeqkozw — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) July 4, 2020
Who's going to tell her? https://t.co/qMo9C0wiMF — Helen Kennedy (@HelenKennedy) July 4, 2020
Tell your dad. https://t.co/9SVTq0XAXz — Wajahat "Wears a Mask Because of a Pandemic" Ali (@WajahatAli) July 4, 2020
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"Do as I say, not as I do" -- on the evening @POTUS and @FLOTUS star at a paced event with no social distancing and no mandatory masks👇 https://t.co/fhJ9JOInsg — Carla Marinucci (@cmarinucci) July 4, 2020
We can see your father and siblings not practicing any of this on live tv right now. https://t.co/CPjrBCsdGK — Kate Brannen (@K8brannen) July 4, 2020
Tweeted as your dad currently has thousands of people packed against each other at #MtRushmore with no masks in sight. https://t.co/6VgDkI6J3F — James Michael Sama (@JamesMSama) July 4, 2020
Pres. Trump is playing host to a large gathering tonight at Mount Rushmore where little evidence people are wearing masks and they are sitting quite close together. So there's that. https://t.co/giblXlOHLn — lisa mirando (@LisaMirandoCNN) July 4, 2020
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The absolute and total lack of shame is breathtaking. Just an utter inability to hear herself. Repulsive and repugnant villains, the whole wretched bunch. https://t.co/AX35V116a6 — Hussein Ibish (@Ibishblog) July 4, 2020
Unless you're attending a Trump event, of course. https://t.co/22Ttb1vHqS — Max Steele (@maxasteele) July 4, 2020
This surge in coronavirus cases across the country is the result of your profound lack of leadership. Tens of thousands are dead because of you. You will never wash your ha ds of that. — Justin Hendrix (@justinhendrix) July 4, 2020
Your brother's girlfriend just tested positive. They don't wear masks. Neither does your idiot father. — Cheri Jacobus (@CheriJacobus) July 4, 2020
lol okay pic.twitter.com/E58mzM7Cab — Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) July 4, 2020
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thehuffingtonpost--2020-07-04--Donald Trump's 'Put The Wrong Person In Office' Warning Used Against Him In New Ads

President Donald Trump ’ s warning this week against putting “ the wrong person in office ” has already come back to haunt him in the form of two attack ads .
“ You put the wrong person in office , you ’ ll see things that you would not have believed are possible , ” Trump cautioned about the economy at the “ Spirit of America ” business showcase event at the White House on Thursday .
Trump ’ s rhetoric was turned against him in spots released separately Friday by presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden ’ s campaign @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ads brought to attention the Trump administration ’ s fumbled handling of the coronavirus pandemic , with new cases spiking in multiple states , and the president ’ s vitriolic rhetoric about anti-racism protests that spread nationwide following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May .
“ If you put the wrong person in office , you 'll see things that you would not have believed are possible . ''
pic.twitter.com/8gDSbOJbeS — Joe Biden ( @ JoeBiden ) July 3 , 2020 The MeidasTouch ad also asked viewers to declare @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : 🇺🇸 NEW VIDEO This Independence Day , it ’ s time we take back life , liberty , and happiness .
It 's time we declare # IndependenceFromTrump .
pic.twitter.com/BtEeNcHfXI — MeidasTouch.com ( @ MeidasTouch ) July 3 , 2020 Important conversations are happening now .
Add your voice !
Join HuffPost Today !

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President Donald Trump’s warning this week against putting “the wrong person in office” has already come back to haunt him in the form of two attack ads.
“You put the wrong person in office, you’ll see things that you would not have believed are possible,” Trump cautioned about the economy at the “Spirit of America” business showcase event at the White House on Thursday.
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Trump’s rhetoric was turned against him in spots released separately Friday by presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s campaign and the progressive PAC MeidasTouch.
Both ads brought to attention the Trump administration’s fumbled handling of the coronavirus pandemic, with new cases spiking in multiple states, and the president’s vitriolic rhetoric about anti-racism protests that spread nationwide following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May.
“If you put the wrong person in office, you'll see things that you would not have believed are possible." pic.twitter.com/8gDSbOJbeS — Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 3, 2020
The MeidasTouch ad also asked viewers to declare independence from Trump this Fourth of July:
🇺🇸 NEW VIDEO
This Independence Day, it’s time we take back life, liberty, and happiness. It's time we declare #IndependenceFromTrump. pic.twitter.com/BtEeNcHfXI — MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch) July 3, 2020


thehuffingtonpost--2020-07-04--Donald Trump Is Now 'America's No. 1 Traitor,' Says Veterans Group

Donald Trump has taken over from Benedict Arnold as “ America ’ s number one traitor , ” according to a group of veterans seeking to vote the president out of office this November .
“ No one has betrayed those in uniform like Donald Trump , ” said the voiceover in the latest ad released by the VoteVets organization on Friday .
The 65-second spot references Trump ’ s siding with Russia ’ s President Vladimir Putin over U.S. intelligence on Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and his dismissal of reports that U.S. officials knew Russia allegedly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ This July Fourth , Benedict Arnold can step aside , because Benedict Donald is America ’ s number one traitor , ” the voiceover concluded .
This July 4th , there is a new name synonymous with traitor .
Move over Benedict Arnold .
Meet ... # BenedictDonald # TRE45ON pic.twitter.com/zH0TgMf0Rb — VoteVets ( @ votevets ) July 3 , 2020 The # BenedictDonald and # TRE45ON hashtags trended on Twitter as the ad was viewed more than 2 million times in its first 12 hours online .
VoteVets last month @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reports with this scathing video : It also slammed Trump in May over what it described as “ the most inappropriate ” Memorial Day comment that a president has ever made : This is the most inappropriate # MemorialDay comment that a @ POTUS has ever made .
Self-promotion on a day to remember the fallen , and wishing those remembering their deceased loved ones a “ happy ” holiday is appalling .
# CadetBoneSpurs pic.twitter.com/kRse4dnwiu — VoteVets ( @ votevets ) May 28 , 2018 Important conversations are happening now .
Add @ @ @ @ @ @ @

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Donald Trump has taken over from Benedict Arnold as “America’s number one traitor,” according to a group of veterans seeking to vote the president out of office this November.
“No one has betrayed those in uniform like Donald Trump,” said the voiceover in the latest ad released by the progressive PAC VoteVets on Friday.
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The 65-second spot references Trump’s siding with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin over U.S. intelligence on Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and his dismissal of reports that U.S. officials knew Russia allegedly paid Taliban members to kill American troops.
“This July Fourth, Benedict Arnold can step aside, because Benedict Donald is America’s number one traitor,” the voiceover concluded.
This July 4th, there is a new name synonymous with traitor. Move over Benedict Arnold. Meet...#BenedictDonald #TRE45ON pic.twitter.com/zH0TgMf0Rb — VoteVets (@votevets) July 3, 2020
The #BenedictDonald and #TRE45ON hashtags trended on Twitter as the ad was viewed more than 2 million times in its first 12 hours online.
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VoteVets last month tore into Trump over the Russian bounty reports with this scathing video:
It also slammed Trump in May over what it described as “the most inappropriate” Memorial Day comment that a president has ever made:


thehuffingtonpost--2020-07-04--Presidents Of Mount Rushmore Look Highly Concerned On New York Daily News Cover

The four presidents carved into the face of Mount Rushmore look extremely concerned on the front page of the New York Daily News ’ Saturday edition .
“ HAPPY FOURTH ?
” the tabloid asked alongside the edited image in a dig at President Donald Trump ’ s Independence Day celebration at South Dakota ’ s Mount Rushmore National Memorial on Friday night .
“ Don in Mt .
Rushmore madness , ” the newspaper wrote of Trump ’ s speech , during which he railed against “ cancel culture ” and “ far-left fascism ” in front of supporters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to social distancing measures aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus .
HAPPY FOURTH ?
Trump ’ s visit to Mt .
Rushmore ignites fireworks - both real and political : https : //t.co/bSCtVCCqMS America marks 244 years of independence in troubled times ... once more : https : //t.co/2Y97vfcjYs ‘ What to the Slave is the Fourth of July ?
’ : https : //t.co/nSGIaDMqFK pic.twitter.com/cG13GgOxH9 — New York Daily News ( @ NYDailyNews ) July 4 , 2020 The Daily News has used multiple eye-catching front pages to call out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the pandemic that ’ s now claimed the lives of more than 130,000 people nationwide .
The paper ’ s previous covers have called Trump a “ bleach bum ” for pondering injecting disinfectant to treat COVID-19 ( which he later claimed was a sarcastic suggestion ) ; muzzled him with a mask over his refusal to wear one in public ; and given him bunny ears over his plan to reopen the economy by Easter .
YOU SON OF A MITCH !
Cuomo : ‘ I dare you ’ to let states @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on GOPhttps : //t.co/cpmXavGwiC pic.twitter.com/aLMqFxc7W7 — New York Daily News ( @ NYDailyNews ) April 25 , 2020 IF ONLY IT WERE A MUZZLE Trump urges Americans to wear face masks in public to fight coronavirus — but says he ‘ won ’ t be doing it ’ https : //t.co/K4YxYt58O7 pic.twitter.com/6Mzy5GT7tG — New York Daily News ( @ NYDailyNews ) April 4 , 2020 Easter basket case Trump wants U.S. up and running by Easter or thousands could commit suicide — https : //t.co/anf7nY67DV Noah Syndergaard needs Tommy John surgery — https @ @ @ @ @ @ @ News ( @ NYDailyNews ) March 25 , 2020 Important conversations are happening now .
Add your voice !
Join HuffPost Today !

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The four presidents carved into the face of Mount Rushmore look extremely concerned on the front page of the New York Daily News’ Saturday edition.
“HAPPY FOURTH?” the tabloid asked alongside the edited image in a dig at President Donald Trump’s Independence Day celebration at South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore National Memorial on Friday night.
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“Don in Mt. Rushmore madness,” the newspaper wrote of Trump’s speech, during which he railed against “cancel culture” and “far-left fascism” in front of supporters, many not wearing masks or adhering to social distancing measures aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus.
HAPPY FOURTH?
Trump’s visit to Mt. Rushmore ignites fireworks - both real and political: https://t.co/bSCtVCCqMS
America marks 244 years of independence in troubled times ... once more: https://t.co/2Y97vfcjYs
‘What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?’: https://t.co/nSGIaDMqFK pic.twitter.com/cG13GgOxH9 — New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) July 4, 2020
The Daily News has used multiple eye-catching front pages to call out the Trump administration’s handling of the pandemic that’s now claimed the lives of more than 130,000 people nationwide.
The paper’s previous covers have called Trump a “bleach bum” for pondering injecting disinfectant to treat COVID-19 (which he later claimed was a sarcastic suggestion); muzzled him with a mask over his refusal to wear one in public; and given him bunny ears over his plan to reopen the economy by Easter.
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YOU SON OF A MITCH!
Cuomo: ‘I dare you’ to let states declare coronavirus bankruptcy in scathing new attack on GOPhttps://t.co/cpmXavGwiC pic.twitter.com/aLMqFxc7W7 — New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) April 25, 2020
IF ONLY IT WERE A MUZZLE
Trump urges Americans to wear face masks in public to fight coronavirus — but says he ‘won’t be doing it’https://t.co/K4YxYt58O7 pic.twitter.com/6Mzy5GT7tG — New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) April 4, 2020
Easter basket case
Trump wants U.S. up and running by Easter or thousands could commit suicide — https://t.co/anf7nY67DV
Noah Syndergaard needs Tommy John surgery — https://t.co/xnTE1k69bm pic.twitter.com/ey6gWxzk3O — New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) March 25, 2020


thehuffingtonpost--2020-07-04--Is Congress Ready For QAnon?

Is Congress Ready For QAnon?

John Rudoff/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images A QAnon conspiracy theorist demonstrates at an anti-quarantine protest in Salem , Oregon , on May 2 .
It is a struggle that QAnoners hope will culminate in an authoritarian moment they call “ The Storm.
” This is when the military will round up and imprison ― or perhaps execute ― Trump ’ s antagonists , who usually tend to be Democratic politicians , members of the media , Hollywood celebrities and other types targeted by the political right .
No lunacy is too far-fetched for QAnon , no contravening fact worthy of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the GOP might not be able to avoid much longer .
In addition to the candidates who have qualified for the general election , several of whom are longshots in their Democratic districts , more than 50 other Republican candidates “ have endorsed or given credence ” to QAnon or promoted its content , according to a report by the liberal research outlet Media Matters .
Around half of those have lost their primaries or dropped out already .
But their numbers show how easily delusional thinking can take hold in the Republican @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when boosted by a dishonest president and his family members .
Politically , it ’ s a fascinating success story .
It started in 2017 , and now in 2020 , they are possibly going to have more than one activist be elected .
That would be a stunning result for any movement .
Travis View , a conspiracy theory researcher and the host of the “ QAnon Anonymous ” podcast In recent months , QAnon ’ s growth only appears to be accelerating .
As HuffPost reported last week , the coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of QAnon ’ s disinformation and the movement ’ s ability to recruit .
A HuffPost analysis of dozens of the biggest QAnon accounts on social media revealed a hockey-stick-graph increase in followers and subscribers starting in mid-March .
Most accounts have tripled their follower numbers .
One Facebook group saw an increase in membership of more than 5,000 % .
Many QAnoners , for example , believe that elite Democratic pedophiles are torturing children in satanic dungeons to extract a chemical called adrenochrome from their blood or glands or brains for use @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also be sacrificed to Moloch , a Canaanite god .
Others will languish as mole children in underground bunkers beneath Central Park , awaiting rescue in a military operation that will never come to pass .
Some QAnoners also believe that a COVID-19 vaccine , when it finally arrives , will be used for mind control , whereas a type of industrial bleach used on wood pulp offers a cure when imbibed .
Some think that American banker J.P. Morgan sank the Titanic .
Or that German Chancellor Angela Merkel is the granddaughter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of antifa super soldiers are being bused into Palookaville to burn down the Starbucks .
“ Q is a patriot .
He is someone that very much loves his country , and he ’ s on the same page as us , and he is very pro-Trump , ” she said .
“ I ’ m very excited about that now there ’ s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take this global cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles out , and I think we have the president to do it.
” But McCormick is an emergency @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the Medical Association of Georgia , along with the PAC for the Club for Growth , a major Republican free-market organization based in Washington .
The PAC pumped $ 1 million into the primary to help him win , according to Politico .
With McCormick ’ s background and establishment trappings , it ’ s hard not to see a Trumpian version of a 2010 Tea Party astroturfer when he posts a video of himself doing pushups in a shirt with the “ Punisher ” skull logo that is wildly popular among @ @ @

A QAnon conspiracy theorist demonstrates at an anti-quarantine protest in Salem, Oregon, on May 2. John Rudoff/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
On the day Jo Rae Perkins won Oregon’s Republican primary for U.S. Senate this May, she tweeted a catchphrase that a select group of people would instantly recognize: “Where we go one, we go all.” It was the signature slogan of QAnon, a far-right conspiracy movement.
Perkins has little chance of defeating incumbent Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley in November, but her primary win signaled something strange and troubling moving beneath the political waves.
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Then Marjorie Taylor Greene, another vocal QAnon follower, trounced her opponents in a June primary in Georgia in a heavily Republican district, finishing 20 percentage points ahead of her closest competitor. If Greene, who has expressed racist views, maintains her current level of support, she’ll win a runoff in August and will likely be elected to the House this fall.
On Tuesday, Lauren Boebert, a pistol-packing rookie candidate who claims to be “very familiar” with QAnon and hopes that it “is real,” ousted a five-term Republican Congressman in a Colorado primary. With her victory, 11 GOP candidates in the general election have embraced or flirted with a conspiracy movement that the FBI considers a potential domestic terrorism threat.
QAnon is, put simply, an ever-mutating cluster of baseless conspiracy theories. Its foundational belief is that a high-ranking government official known only as “Q” has been using cryptic posts on internet message boards to transmit clues about nefarious elites and so-called deep state bad actors who are waging a secret spiritual war against President Donald Trump.
It is a struggle that QAnoners hope will culminate in an authoritarian moment they call “The Storm.” This is when the military will round up and imprison ― or perhaps execute ― Trump’s antagonists, who usually tend to be Democratic politicians, members of the media, Hollywood celebrities and other types targeted by the political right. No lunacy is too far-fetched for QAnon, no contravening fact worthy of consideration.
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“QAnon really preys on people with mental health issues,” said Travis View, a conspiracy theory researcher and the host of the “QAnon Anonymous” podcast.
View pointed to Alpalus Slyman, a 29-year-old Massachusetts man who last month — in the apparent belief that police were part of a deep state conspiracy — led law enforcement on a high-speed chase in his minivan with his five children inside, including an 8-month-old baby. Earlier that day, Slyman posted on Facebook about COVID-19 being man-made, a common belief among QAnoners.
Hitting speeds of 110 mph, Slyman live-streamed the chase on Facebook with his children in the background, pleading with him to stop.
“Donald Trump, I need a miracle or something. Somebody. QAnon, help me!” Slyman said before allegedly ramming a police car and hitting a tree. (The children were unharmed.)
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Nevertheless, Republican leaders have refused to address QAnon, even as its adherents plot potentially successful courses for Congress. The GOP refuses to address the possibility that its caucus might soon include adherents of an anti-democratic movement whose members believe Bill Gates is trying to implant microchips in humans in order to depopulate the planet.
After Boebert’s win, the National Republican Congressional Committee dodged questions about QAnon and tried to portray Democrats as the real conspiracists.
“We’ll get back to you when [Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairwoman] Cheri Bustos and the DCCC disavow dangerous conspiracy theorists like Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff who have pushed without evidence their wild-eyed claims that the president of the United States of America is actually a secret Russian double agent under control of the Kremlin,” said Bob Salera, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee.
But QAnon is an issue the GOP might not be able to avoid much longer. In addition to the candidates who have qualified for the general election, several of whom are longshots in their Democratic districts, more than 50 other Republican candidates “have endorsed or given credence” to QAnon or promoted its content, according to a report by the liberal research outlet Media Matters. Around half of those have lost their primaries or dropped out already. But their numbers show how easily delusional thinking can take hold in the Republican base during the Trump era, especially when boosted by a dishonest president and his family members.
“Politically, it’s a fascinating success story. It started in 2017, and now in 2020, they are possibly going to have more than one activist be elected. That would be a stunning result for any movement.” - Travis View, a conspiracy theory researcher and the host of the “QAnon Anonymous” podcast
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QAnon has expanded exponentially in the three years since it debuted on 4chan, an online message board teeming with neo-Nazis. Its growth was aided by the permissiveness and complicity of Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, which have little incentive to crack down on an always-online community of users who hyperactively generate content.
In recent months, QAnon’s growth only appears to be accelerating. As HuffPost reported last week, the coronavirus pandemic has “turbocharged” the reach of QAnon’s disinformation and the movement’s ability to recruit. A HuffPost analysis of dozens of the biggest QAnon accounts on social media revealed a hockey-stick-graph increase in followers and subscribers starting in mid-March. Most accounts have tripled their follower numbers. One Facebook group saw an increase in membership of more than 5,000%.
“There’s nothing other than growth,” said Brian Friedberg, the senior researcher of the Technology and Social Change Research Project at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. Friedberg has studied QAnon extensively. “By any stretch we have to measure online social movements, it has grown.”
Once relegated to the online fever swamps of the political right, QAnon has now infected the 2020 election cycle.
“Politically, it’s a fascinating success story,” View said. “It started in 2017, and now in 2020, they are possibly going to have more than one activist be elected. That would be a stunning result for any movement.”
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What this means for America is that by next year, Congress might have some members with extreme views wholly untethered from reality.
Many QAnoners, for example, believe that elite Democratic pedophiles are torturing children in satanic dungeons to extract a chemical called adrenochrome from their blood or glands or brains for use as a drug. Some kids might also be sacrificed to Moloch, a Canaanite god. Others will languish as mole children in underground bunkers beneath Central Park, awaiting rescue in a military operation that will never come to pass.
Some QAnoners also believe that a COVID-19 vaccine, when it finally arrives, will be used for mind control, whereas a type of industrial bleach used on wood pulp offers a cure when imbibed. Some think that American banker J.P. Morgan sank the Titanic. Or that German Chancellor Angela Merkel is the granddaughter of Adolf Hitler. Or that platoons of antifa super soldiers are being bused into Palookaville to burn down the Starbucks.
Republican Congressional candidate and QAnon conspiracy cultist Marjorie Taylor Greene brandishes an AR-15 assault rifle while defending property against antifa activists who never appeared. Marjorie Taylor Greene/YouTube
In a 2017 YouTube video during which she talked about an “awakening” that would expose corruption, Greene, the QAnon candidate with the best chance of making it to Congress, sounded the part of a true believer. Or a cultist.
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“Q is a patriot. He is someone that very much loves his country, and he’s on the same page as us, and he is very pro-Trump,” she said. “I’m very excited about that now there’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take this global cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles out, and I think we have the president to do it.”
Greene has received endorsements from ultraconservative members of Congress such as Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and has taken money from a political action committee connected to former GOP Rep. Mark Meadows (N.C.), who is now Trump’s chief of staff. She was exposed in May as having ties to both an anti-government militia leader and a longtime member of the white power movement.
But it was only in June, after Politico revealed Greene’s history of racist, Islamophobic and anti-Semitic remarks, that Republican leaders disavowed her bigoted views. Still, they said nothing about QAnon.
With the GOP striving to cling to minority rule in a nation that largely rejects both its policies and its current leader, the party seems willing to tolerate a radicalized and growing constituency of conspiracy theorists in its hunt for votes.
And some Republican candidates who might not be naturally drawn to QAnon appear to be opportunistically milking the community for support.
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Consider Rich McCormick, who is running for a toss-up open seat in Georgia’s 7th Congressional District and has been retweeted multiple times by Trump. McCormick has appeared twice on a livestreamed YouTube program that is part of the Patriots’ Soapbox News Network, a QAnon hub. In one appearance, he promoted a debunked racist and anti-Semitic far-right conspiracy theory about George Soros and Democrats’ laundering money through a front group to fund Black Lives Matter. A version of this false claim was first circulated by a QAnon account.
McCormick has also promoted COVID-19 misinformation popular in QAnon circles. At the beginning of the pandemic, he repeatedly minimized the threat of the virus. In April, he hyped hydroxychloroquine, which last month the FDA revoked as a treatment, citing dangerous side effects. On Friday, his campaign’s Twitter account again promoted hydroxychloroquine.
But McCormick is an emergency room physician whose candidacy has been endorsed by the Medical Association of Georgia, along with the PAC for the Club for Growth, a major Republican free-market organization based in Washington. The PAC pumped $1 million into the primary to help him win, according to Politico. With McCormick’s background and establishment trappings, it’s hard not to see a Trumpian version of a 2010 Tea Party astroturfer when he posts a video of himself doing pushups in a shirt with the “Punisher” skull logo that is wildly popular among QAnon followers.
“Dr. McCormick does not embrace, nor is he ‘open’ to, the QAnon conspiracy theory,” said McCormick’s spokesman, John Simpson, on Friday. “He wasn’t even aware of the term until the DCCC began trying to link him to it.”
When HuffPost asked Simpson how McCormick could have been unaware of QAnon after appearing on a QAnon-centric program, Simpson said, “Dr. McCormick talks to a variety of outlets, some with agendas or viewpoints he doesn’t agree with, including the Huffington Post.”
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McCormick did not speak to HuffPost for this story.
Nearly 150 years ago, Nietzsche declared “God is dead,” killed off by the scientific rationality of the Enlightenment. Today on the American political right, it is scientific rationality that is the victim, murdered by the Republican Party as it courts those who venerate a false prophet spouting gibberish in the benighted echo chambers of the internet.
“A lot of this is the chickens coming home to roost for Trump and other Republicans for pushing conspiracy theories and making promises they couldn’t fulfill,” View said.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-07-04--Mike Pence Calls Donald Trump 'My Father' In Facebook Campaign Ad

A campaign ad for President Donald Trump that appeared on Vice President Mike Pence ’ s social media accounts Friday referred to Trump as “ my father.
” In messages posted on Pence ’ s verified Facebook and Instagram profiles , the vice president urged “ EVERY Patriot ” to step up and donate money if they want to defeat presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden in November .
“ I convinced my father to give you another chance , which is why he ’ s decided to EXTEND your PERSONAL 500 % -MATCH OFFER FOR 1 MORE HOUR , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ listing on Facebook ’ s library of political ads , less than $ 100 was spent on the post that largely targeted voters in Florida and Texas .
It is now “ inactive , ” per the library .
The Trump campaign paid for the ad .
Twitter users put the description of Trump as “ my father ” down to a botched copy-and-paste effort , noting how the same wording has been used in messages sent out by the president ’ s sons , Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the text from a Trump son ad onto Mike Pence ’ s ad account and I can ’ t stop thinking of Pence calling Trump , “ my father.
” pic.twitter.com/1xTKXQKP6d — Brandy Zadrozny ( @ BrandyZadrozny ) July 3 , 2020 Bahaha they are so careless .
That is the exact wording in an email from Eric Trump .
I get emails from the entire trump family , and they are desperate .
pic.twitter.com/dcd2YrDYFU — Samantha ⚖ Sheppard ( @ ASamSheppard ) July 3 , 2020 Here is the original by Donny @ @ @ @ @ @ @ father ” .
Naturally they blew the proof read for the Pence plea .
pic.twitter.com/nV0ay87TUu — Larry K ( @ Getsmart4 ) July 3 , 2020 But the theory did nothing to stop wits on Twitter from poking fun at the gaffe : A reminder that everyone in this regime , from the top all the way to the bottom , sucks mightily at what they do .
https : //t.co/Ssy2qnk5Hs — Ron Hogan ( @ RonHogan ) July 3 , 2020 Eh .
Pence called Trump “ father ” is just as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
https : //t.co/gGSVGLygJs — Mr. Mark Potts ( @ mrmarkpotts ) July 3 , 2020

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A campaign ad for President Donald Trump that appeared on Vice President Mike Pence’s social media accounts Friday referred to Trump as “my father.”
In messages posted on Pence’s verified Facebook and Instagram profiles, the vice president urged “EVERY Patriot” to step up and donate money if they want to defeat presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden in November.
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“I convinced my father to give you another chance, which is why he’s decided to EXTEND your PERSONAL 500%-MATCH OFFER FOR 1 MORE HOUR,” the ad added:
Facebook.com
According to a listing on Facebook’s library of political ads, less than $100 was spent on the post that largely targeted voters in Florida and Texas.
It is now “inactive,” per the library.
The Trump campaign paid for the ad.
Twitter users put the description of Trump as “my father” down to a botched copy-and-paste effort, noting how the same wording has been used in messages sent out by the president’s sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.
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The Trump campaign seems to have copy pasted the text from a Trump son ad onto Mike Pence’s ad account and I can’t stop thinking of Pence calling Trump, “my father.” pic.twitter.com/1xTKXQKP6d — Brandy Zadrozny (@BrandyZadrozny) July 3, 2020
Bahaha they are so careless. That is the exact wording in an email from Eric Trump. I get emails from the entire trump family, and they are desperate. pic.twitter.com/dcd2YrDYFU — Samantha ⚖ Sheppard (@ASamSheppard) July 3, 2020
Here is the original by Donny boy in which it reads “My father”.
Naturally they blew the proof read for the Pence plea. pic.twitter.com/nV0ay87TUu — Larry K (@Getsmart4) July 3, 2020
But the theory did nothing to stop wits on Twitter from poking fun at the gaffe:
A reminder that everyone in this regime, from the top all the way to the bottom, sucks mightily at what they do. https://t.co/Ssy2qnk5Hs — Ron Hogan (@RonHogan) July 3, 2020
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I wonder what Mother thinks. https://t.co/YjaEavrsTI — Ed Bott (@edbott) July 3, 2020
Eh. Pence called Trump “father” is just as believable as this being copy and pasted. https://t.co/gGSVGLygJs — Mr. Mark Potts (@mrmarkpotts) July 3, 2020


thehuffingtonpost--2020-07-04--Neil Young Condemns Donald Trump’s Use Of His Music At Mount Rushmore Event

Neil Young had to remind President Donald Trump yet again that he is definitely not down with his songs being played at Trump ’ s events .
Three of the rock icon ’ s tracks — “ Like A Hurricane , ” “ Rockin ’ in the Free World ” and “ Cowgirl in the Sand ” ― were played during Trump ’ s Independence Day celebration at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial on Friday night .
Young ― who has called out Trump for using his music on multiple previous occasions ― responded via the Neil Young Archives account @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the platform since 2019 .
“ I stand in solidarity with the Lakota Sioux & this is NOT ok with me , ” said a second post : Young became a U.S. citizen in January .
The following month , he criticized the Trump campaign ’ s use of his music at rallies in an open letter posted on his website .
In it , he called the president “ a disgrace to my country.
” “ ‘ Keep on Rockin ’ in the Free World ’ is not a song you can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” Young wrote .
“ Perhaps you could have been a bass player and played in a rock and roll band .
That way you could be on stage at a rally every night in front of your fans , if you were any good , and you might be… ” “ Every time ‘ Keep on Rockin ’ in the Free World ’ or one of my songs is played at your rallies , I hope you hear my voice , ” Young added .
“ Remember it is the voice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ support you .
Me.
” Young also publicly objected to Trump ’ s use of his songs in his 2016 campaign .
Adele , The Rolling Stones , Elton John , Village People , R.E.M .
and the estates of Tom Petty and Prince are among a raft of other artists to demand Trump stop using their tracks at his rallies .

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Neil Young had to remind President Donald Trump yet again that he is definitely not down with his songs being played at Trump’s events.
Three of the rock icon’s tracks — “Like A Hurricane,” “Rockin’ in the Free World” and “Cowgirl in the Sand” ― were played during Trump’s Independence Day celebration at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial on Friday night.
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Young ― who has called out Trump for using his music on multiple previous occasions ― responded via the Neil Young Archives account on Twitter, his sole presence on the platform since 2019.
“This is NOT ok with me,” read one tweet:
This is NOT ok with me... https://t.co/Q9j9NRPMhi — Neil Young Archives (@NeilYoungNYA) July 4, 2020
“I stand in solidarity with the Lakota Sioux & this is NOT ok with me,” said a second post:
I stand in solidarity with the Lakota Sioux & this is NOT ok with me https://t.co/iPVcFplOHa — Neil Young Archives (@NeilYoungNYA) July 4, 2020
Young became a U.S. citizen in January. The following month, he criticized the Trump campaign’s use of his music at rallies in an open letter posted on his website. In it, he called the president “a disgrace to my country.”
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“‘Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World’ is not a song you can trot out at one of your rallies,” Young wrote. “Perhaps you could have been a bass player and played in a rock and roll band. That way you could be on stage at a rally every night in front of your fans, if you were any good, and you might be…”
“Every time ‘Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World’ or one of my songs is played at your rallies, I hope you hear my voice,” Young added. “Remember it is the voice of a tax-paying citizen who does not support you. Me.”
Young also publicly objected to Trump’s use of his songs in his 2016 campaign.
Adele, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Village People, R.E.M. and the estates of Tom Petty and Prince are among a raft of other artists to demand Trump stop using their tracks at his rallies.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-07-04--Cleveland Indians Look Into Changing Name Amid Pressure

Amid new pressure sparked by a national movement to correct racial wrongdoings , the Indians said Friday night they will review their long-debated nickname which has been in place for 105 years .
“ We are committed to making a positive impact in our community and embrace our responsibility to advance social justice and equality , ” the team said in a statement that came just hours after the NFL ’ s Washington Redskins announced a similar move .
“ Our organization fully recognizes our team name is among the most visible ways in which we connect with the community.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the Redskins , who are embarking on a “ thorough review ” of their name , which has been deemed as offensive by Native American groups for decades .
The Redskins ’ decision came in the wake of FedEx , which paid $ 205 million for naming rights to the team ’ s stadium , and other corporate partners calling for the team to change its nickname .
There have been previous efforts to get the Indians to rename themselves .
But following the death of George Floyd in Minnesota and other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the U.S. , there has been a major move nationwide to eradicate racially insensitive material .
In 2018 , the Indians removed the contentious Chief Wahoo logo from their game jerseys and caps .
The grinning , red-faced mascot , however , is still present on merchandise that can be purchased at Progressive Field and other team shops in Northeast Ohio .
Nothing has been decided , but the Indians ’ decision to at least discuss the possibility of a name change is new .
There will certainly be backlash from some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sensitive to doing the right thing in these changing times .
“ We have had ongoing discussions organizationally on these issues , ” the Indians said .
“ The recent social unrest in our community and our country has only underscored the need for us to keep improving as an organization on issues of social justice .
With that in mind , we are committed to engaging our community and appropriate stakeholders to determine the best path forward with regard to our team name.
” “ While the focus of the baseball world @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2020 season , we recognize our unique place in the community and are committed to listening , learning , and acting in the manner that can best unite and inspire our city and all those who support our team , ” the club said .
Before their named was changed in 1915 to Indians — a nickname picked after sports writers solicited readers — Cleveland ’ s baseball team was called the Forest Citys , the Spiders , Blues , Bronchos and Naps , a name to honor Hall of Famer Nap Lajoie @

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CLEVELAND (AP) — They’ve been known as the Cleveland Indians since 1915, but that could finally change.
Amid new pressure sparked by a national movement to correct racial wrongdoings, the Indians said Friday night they will review their long-debated nickname which has been in place for 105 years.
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“We are committed to making a positive impact in our community and embrace our responsibility to advance social justice and equality,” the team said in a statement that came just hours after the NFL’s Washington Redskins announced a similar move. “Our organization fully recognizes our team name is among the most visible ways in which we connect with the community.”
The move mirrors the one made by the Redskins, who are embarking on a “thorough review” of their name, which has been deemed as offensive by Native American groups for decades. The Redskins’ decision came in the wake of FedEx, which paid $205 million for naming rights to the team’s stadium, and other corporate partners calling for the team to change its nickname.
There have been previous efforts to get the Indians to rename themselves. But following the death of George Floyd in Minnesota and other examples of police brutality against Black people in the U.S., there has been a major move nationwide to eradicate racially insensitive material.
In 2018, the Indians removed the contentious Chief Wahoo logo from their game jerseys and caps. The grinning, red-faced mascot, however, is still present on merchandise that can be purchased at Progressive Field and other team shops in Northeast Ohio.
Advertisement
Nothing has been decided, but the Indians’ decision to at least discuss the possibility of a name change is new. There will certainly be backlash from some Cleveland fans, but the team is sensitive to doing the right thing in these changing times.
“We have had ongoing discussions organizationally on these issues,” the Indians said. “The recent social unrest in our community and our country has only underscored the need for us to keep improving as an organization on issues of social justice. With that in mind, we are committed to engaging our community and appropriate stakeholders to determine the best path forward with regard to our team name.”
“While the focus of the baseball world shifts to the excitement of an unprecedented 2020 season, we recognize our unique place in the community and are committed to listening, learning, and acting in the manner that can best unite and inspire our city and all those who support our team,” the club said.
Before their named was changed in 1915 to Indians — a nickname picked after sports writers solicited readers — Cleveland’s baseball team was called the Forest Citys, the Spiders, Blues, Bronchos and Naps, a name to honor Hall of Famer Nap Lajoie.
___


thehuffingtonpost--2020-07-03--Top Trump Campaign Official Kimberly Guilfoyle Tests Positive For COVID-19: Reports

Kimberly Guilfoyle , a top Trump campaign official and the girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr. , tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday , according to reports by CNN and The New York Times .
Though Guilfoyle was reportedly not experiencing symptoms , she underwent a test in South Dakota as part of a routine testing process for people with contact with the president .
She ’ d traveled to South Dakota with Trump ’ s eldest son to attend an Independence Day celebration held at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial .
The president and First Lady Melania Trump , as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Eric Trump , attended the event .
It appeared that Guilfoyle did not end up attending .
Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle on ABC 's `` The View '' last year .
The Times , citing a person familiar with Guilfoyle ’ s condition , said neither she nor Trump Jr. traveled to South Dakota aboard Air Force One .
The couple did not meet up with Trump ’ s entourage , the source added , and planned to drive back to the East Coast after receiving her diagnosis .
Sergio Gor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Victory Finance Committee , on which Guilfoyle serves as national chair , told the Times in a statement that Guilfoyle “ was immediately isolated to limit any exposure ” following her diagnosis and would be retested .
Gor added that both Guilfoyle and Trump Jr. , who tested negative , were canceling upcoming public events .
Multiple people close to the president have now tested positive for the coronavirus in recent months .
Trump ’ s personal valet and Vice President Mike Pence ’ s press secretary both tested positive for the virus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ staffers who worked on Trump ’ s Tulsa , Oklahoma , rally also tested positive for the virus .

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Kimberly Guilfoyle, a top Trump campaign official and the girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr., tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, according to reports by CNN and The New York Times.
Though Guilfoyle was reportedly not experiencing symptoms, she underwent a test in South Dakota as part of a routine testing process for people with contact with the president.
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She’d traveled to South Dakota with Trump’s eldest son to attend an Independence Day celebration held at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial. The president and First Lady Melania Trump, as well as Trump’s second son Eric Trump, attended the event. It appeared that Guilfoyle did not end up attending.
Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle on ABC's "The View" last year. Lou Rocco via Getty Images
The Times, citing a person familiar with Guilfoyle’s condition, said neither she nor Trump Jr. traveled to South Dakota aboard Air Force One. The couple did not meet up with Trump’s entourage, the source added, and planned to drive back to the East Coast after receiving her diagnosis.
Sergio Gor, chief of staff for the Trump Victory Finance Committee, on which Guilfoyle serves as national chair, told the Times in a statement that Guilfoyle “was immediately isolated to limit any exposure” following her diagnosis and would be retested.
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Gor added that both Guilfoyle and Trump Jr., who tested negative, were canceling upcoming public events.
Multiple people close to the president have now tested positive for the coronavirus in recent months. Trump’s personal valet and Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary both tested positive for the virus in May.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-07-04--Trump Blames China For COVID-19 Spread At Crowded Independence Day Celebration

Continuing to ignore the advice of scientists and public health experts who ’ ve urged Americans to remain socially distanced as COVID-19 cases continue to surge nationwide , President Donald Trump hosted a crowded Independence Day celebration at the National Mall in Washington on Saturday night .
Trump , who did not wear a mask despite evidence that facial coverings can help to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus , blamed China and its “ secrecy , deceptions and cover-up ” for the global spread of COVID-19 .
China must be held “ fully accountable , ” he said , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have a treatment or a vaccine for the virus “ long before the end of the year.
” Trump added that the U.S. has tested nearly 40 million people for COVID-19 .
This effort “ showcases , 99 % of which are totally harmless , ” he claimed without evidence .
Trump administration officials said they ’ d give out 300,000 face coverings to attendees of the celebration .
The Associated Press reported , however , that there was no indication that masks or social distancing was mandatory .
The large gathering came @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 11 million and as a majority of U.S. states grappled with a surge in infections .
“ You should avoid whenever possible gathering in crowds where people can not maintain physical distance , ” Dr. Anthony Fauci , the nation ’ s top infectious disease expert , said earlier this week .
“ Avoid crowds , wear a mask , keep physical distance .
It doesn ’ t matter what the reason for the congregation , whether it ’ s a celebration here , the demonstration there .
It doesn ’ t make @ @ @ @ @ @ @ On Friday , Kimberly Guilfoyle , one of Trump ’ s top campaign officials and the girlfriend of his eldest son , Donald Trump Jr. , reportedly tested positive for the coronavirus .
She ’ s at least the third person close to Trump who has been diagnosed with the disease in recent months .
Guilfoyle was tested in South Dakota , where she ’ d traveled to attend an early Independence Day celebration held at South Dakota ’ s Mount Rushmore National Memorial .
Trump officials said she didn ’ t have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ entourage .
Trump , who was again sans mask , addressed a cheering crowd at Mount Rushmore before a massive fireworks display concluded the event .
Fireworks were banned at the site since 2009 over concerns of wildfires and other environmental effects ― but Trump pushed for the pyrotechnics extravaganza .
In his Friday speech , Trump ranted against the “ left-wing mob ” and “ far-left fascism ” — a reference to protesters who , as part of a national uprising for racial justice , have vandalized and removed Confederate monuments and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to tear down statues of our founders ... and unleash a wave of violent crime in our cities , ” he said .
“ We are now in the process of defeating the radical left , the Marxists , the anarchists , the agitators , the looters and people who in many instances have absolutely no clue what they are doing , ” he said .
″ [ They ] want us to be ashamed of who we are , [ they ’ re ] not interested in justice or healing .
Their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ The more you lie , the more you slander , ... .
the more we will work hard to tell the truth , and we will win , ” he said of the press .
Trump 's July 4 message to the nation : `` We are now in the process of defeating the radical left , the Marxists , the anarchists , the agitators , the looters , and people who in many instances have absolutely no clue what they are doing . ''
pic.twitter.com/zh7wPYmT3z — Aaron Rupar ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @

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Continuing to ignore the advice of scientists and public health experts who’ve urged Americans to remain socially distanced as COVID-19 cases continue to surge nationwide, President Donald Trump hosted a crowded Independence Day celebration at the National Mall in Washington on Saturday night.
Trump, who did not wear a mask despite evidence that facial coverings can help to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, blamed China and its “secrecy, deceptions and cover-up” for the global spread of COVID-19.
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China must be held “fully accountable,” he said, adding without evidence that the U.S. would have a treatment or a vaccine for the virus “long before the end of the year.”
Trump added that the U.S. has tested nearly 40 million people for COVID-19. This effort shows that “99% ... are totally harmless,” he claimed without evidence.
The U.S. reported more than 2.8 million coronavirus cases and almost 130,000 deaths to date. That’s a fatality rate of about 4%.
People actually applaud after Trump mentions that "we got hit by the virus that came from China" pic.twitter.com/uXhSwsd4Ke — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 4, 2020
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Tens of thousands of people were expected to attend the Washington event. Few appeared to be wearing masks.
Trump administration officials said they’d give out 300,000 face coverings to attendees of the celebration. The Associated Press reported, however, that there was no indication that masks or social distancing was mandatory.
The large gathering came as global cases of the coronavirus surpassed 11 million and as a majority of U.S. states grappled with a surge in infections.
Leading members of Trump’s own coronavirus task force urged Americans to avoid crowds over the holiday weekend.
“You should avoid whenever possible gathering in crowds where people cannot maintain physical distance,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said earlier this week. “Avoid crowds, wear a mask, keep physical distance. It doesn’t matter what the reason for the congregation, whether it’s a celebration here, the demonstration there. It doesn’t make any difference — wear a mask.”
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On Friday, Kimberly Guilfoyle, one of Trump’s top campaign officials and the girlfriend of his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., reportedly tested positive for the coronavirus. She’s at least the third person close to Trump who has been diagnosed with the disease in recent months.
Guilfoyle was tested in South Dakota, where she’d traveled to attend an early Independence Day celebration held at South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Trump officials said she didn’t have any contact with the president’s entourage.
Trump, who was also sans mask on Friday, addressed a cheering crowd at Mount Rushmore before a massive fireworks display concluded the event. Fireworks had been banned at the site since 2009 over concerns of wildfires and other environmental effects ― but Trump pushed for the pyrotechnics extravaganza.
In his Friday speech, Trump ranted against the “left-wing mob” and “far-left fascism” — an apparent reference to protesters who, as part of a national uprising for racial justice, have pushed for the removal of Confederate monuments and symbols.
“Angry mobs are trying to tear down statues of our founders ... and unleash a wave of violent crime in our cities,” he said.
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ABC News said 3,700 people attended the Rushmore event. Few were seen wearing masks.
On the National Mall, Trump reiterated his inflammatory rhetoric.
“We are now in the process of defeating the radical left, the Marxists, the anarchists, the agitators, the looters and people who in many instances have absolutely no clue what they are doing,” he said.
He lambasted protesters for “lying about our history.”
″[They] want us to be ashamed of who we are, [they’re] not interested in justice or healing. Their goal is demolition,” he said.
Trump also dug into the media, whom he described as condemning “patriotic citizens.”
“The more you lie, the more you slander ... the more we will work hard to tell the truth, and we will win,” he said of the press.
Trump's July 4 message to the nation: "We are now in the process of defeating the radical left, the Marxists, the anarchists, the agitators, the looters, and people who in many instances have absolutely no clue what they are doing." pic.twitter.com/zh7wPYmT3z — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 4, 2020
Trump also touted a sculpture garden that he hopes to establish, dubbed the “National Garden of American Heroes.”
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The garden would pay tribute to some of the most prominent figures in U.S. history, including Betsy Ross, Jackie Robinson, Susan B. Anthony, Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, Frederick Douglass and ultra-conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-07-04--Florida Coronavirus Cases Spike To New Daily Record

( Reuters ) - Florida ’ s confirmed coronavirus cases rose by a record 11,458 on Saturday , the state ’ s health department said , the second time in three days that its caseload increased by more than 10,000 .
In just the first four days of July , 14 states have posted a daily record increase in cases of COVID-19 , the disease caused by the coronavirus that has killed nearly 130,000 Americans .
The recent surge , most pronounced in southern and western states , has alarmed public health officials , who urged caution ahead of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Independence of the United States in 1776 .
Florida ’ s record rise in cases was more than any European country ’ s daily peak at the height of the outbreak there .
Despite the jump in infections , the average daily death toll in the United States has gradually declined in recent weeks , a reflection of the growing proportion of positive tests among younger , healthier people who are less prone to severe outcomes .
Evidence the surge is not simply due to expanded testing , the percentage of tests coming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ % in the past two weeks compared to 8.3 % the two weeks prior , according to a Reuters analysis .
The World Health Organization says a rate over 5 % is concerning .
Against that backdrop , Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez imposed an indefinite nightly curfew starting Friday and halted the reopenings of entertainment venues such as casinos and strip clubs .
Earlier this week , Miami-Dade and neighboring Broward County , the state ’ s two most populous counties , required residents to wear face coverings in public .
Arkansas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mask-wearing in public , with Governor Asa Hutchinson authorized the state ’ s cities and towns to enact a “ model ordinance ” requiring the wearing of face coverings if they choose to do so .
The move came a day after Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered that face masks be worn in most public places , reversing his stance following an alarming rise in infections in the state , which on Friday marked a new high for hospitalizations at 7,652 .
President Donald Trump has repeatedly sought to dismiss the jump in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tests and again this week predicted that the virus would “ disappear.
” “ If you test 40,000,000 people , you are going to have many cases that , without the testing ( like other countries ) , would not show up every night on the Fake Evening News , ” Trump wrote on Twitter on Saturday .

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(Reuters) - Florida’s confirmed coronavirus cases rose by a record 11,458 on Saturday, the state’s health department said, the second time in three days that its caseload increased by more than 10,000.
In just the first four days of July, 14 states have posted a daily record increase in cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus that has killed nearly 130,000 Americans.
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The recent surge, most pronounced in southern and western states, has alarmed public health officials, who urged caution ahead of the holiday weekend to celebrate the Declaration of Independence of the United States in 1776.
Florida’s record rise in cases was more than any European country’s daily peak at the height of the outbreak there.
North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alaska, Missouri, Idaho and Alabama all registered new daily highs on Friday, while Texas hit a new peak for hospitalizations.
The daily U.S. tally of cases stood at 53,483 late on Friday, below the previous day’s record 55,405.
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Despite the jump in infections, the average daily death toll in the United States has gradually declined in recent weeks, a reflection of the growing proportion of positive tests among younger, healthier people who are less prone to severe outcomes.
Evidence the surge is not simply due to expanded testing, the percentage of tests coming back positive in Florida rose to 14.8% in the past two weeks compared to 8.3% the two weeks prior, according to a Reuters analysis. The World Health Organization says a rate over 5% is concerning.
Against that backdrop, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez imposed an indefinite nightly curfew starting Friday and halted the reopenings of entertainment venues such as casinos and strip clubs. Earlier this week, Miami-Dade and neighboring Broward County, the state’s two most populous counties, required residents to wear face coverings in public.
Arkansas on Friday joined a push toward mandating mask-wearing in public, with Governor Asa Hutchinson authorized the state’s cities and towns to enact a “model ordinance” requiring the wearing of face coverings if they choose to do so.
The move came a day after Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered that face masks be worn in most public places, reversing his stance following an alarming rise in infections in the state, which on Friday marked a new high for hospitalizations at 7,652.
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President Donald Trump has repeatedly sought to dismiss the jump in confirmed cases as a function of more tests and again this week predicted that the virus would “disappear.”
“If you test 40,000,000 people, you are going to have many cases that, without the testing (like other countries), would not show up every night on the Fake Evening News,” Trump wrote on Twitter on Saturday.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-07-04--Much Of U.S. Scales Back On Holiday, But Trump Plans To Go Big

WASHINGTON ( AP ) — As coronavirus cases spike , public health officials are pleading with Americans to avoid large crowds and hold more muted Independence Day celebrations , but subdued is not President Donald Trump ’ s style , and he aimed to go big , promising a “ special evening ” in Washington that could bring tens of thousands to the National Mall .
Trump ’ s “ Salute for America ” celebration on Saturday evening was to include a speech from the White House South Lawn that he said would celebrate American heritage , as well as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an enormous fireworks display that could pack people downtown .
The president kicked off the holiday weekend by traveling to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota for a fireworks display Friday night near the mountain carvings of George Washington , Thomas Jefferson , Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt .
In his remarks , he accused protesters who have pushed for racial justice of engaging in a “ merciless campaign to wipe out our history.
” His participation in big gatherings comes as many communities have decided to scrap fireworks , parades and other holiday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to prevent further spread of the coronavirus , which large gatherings could spur .
Confirmed cases are climbing in 40 states , and the U.S. set another record Friday with 52,300 newly reported infections , according to the tally kept by Johns Hopkins University .
Trump ’ s surgeon general , Jerome Adams , who has stepped up his call for Americans to wear a mask in public , sidestepped when asked during an interview Friday whether he would caution a loved one from attending such large gatherings .
“ It ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Adams told NBC ’ s “ Today Show.
” “ Every single person has to make up their own mind.
” Trump has been aching to see the nation return to normalcy , and has been willing to push the envelope further than many state and big city mayors are willing to go .
Last month , he held his first campaign rally since early March in Tulsa , Oklahoma .
Trump is accustomed to jam-packed crowds , but the BOK Center was only about one-third full for the president ’ s first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ later , he addressed a packed megachurch for a Students for Trump event in Arizona .
Few attendees at either event wore masks .
Interior officials said they would hand out 300,000 face coverings to spectators who gather on the National Mall .
Interior Department Secretary David Bernhardt said visitors would be encouraged to wear masks and keep a six-foot distance from one another .
There was no indication that would be mandatory , despite the recommendations of health officials .
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser , who said she didn ’ t have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spectacle because it ’ s on federal land , warned the federal government about the obvious dangers of such a large crowd .
On Friday , she urged the city ’ s residents to be smart about how they spend the holiday .
“ Just because someone invites you to a party doesn ’ t mean you have to go , ” Bowser tweeted .
—California ’ s governor , Gavin Newsom , warned counties that they risked losing state money if they failed to enforce health orders heading into the holiday weekend @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with people they don ’ t live with and to avoid crowds .
Fireworks shows in Los Angeles , San Francisco , San Diego and elsewhere in the state were canceled .
—Beach closures in prime locations are a pandemic fallout .
Florida ’ s most populous county , Miami-Dade , was closing down again , imposing a curfew and shuttering the sand .
In California , beach closures went from Los Angeles County northward through Ventura and Santa Barbara counties .
To the south in Orange County , hugely popular beaches such @ @ @ @ @ @ @ —Even with large public festivities scrapped , sales of consumer fireworks have boomed .
Some officials are concerned about fires and injuries with more pyrotechnics going off in backyards and at block parties .
At Casey ’ s Fireworks Friday in Columbia , South Carolina , mostly masked shoppers wove through aisles .
The shop , like many around the country , has been an unexpected beneficiary as more Americans have decided to put on their own shows .
“ This whole COVID thing has been really bad all around , ” said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the family-owned shop .
“ But for whatever reason it makes people really want to buy fireworks.
” —Four East Coast cities were to get their own mini-displays of air power before the extensive U.S. military air show over Washington , The “ Salute to the Great Cities of the American Revolution ” involves flyovers in Boston , New York City , Philadelphia and Baltimore .
—About 150 preachers , rabbis and imams intended to frame holiday sermons around “ What to the Slave is the Fourth of July ” on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ abolitionist Frederick Douglass .
The former slave gave his speech at an Independence Day celebration on July 5 , 1852 , in Rochester , New York .
The address challenged the Founding Fathers and the hypocrisy of their ideals with the existence of slavery on American soil .

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WASHINGTON (AP) — As coronavirus cases spike, public health officials are pleading with Americans to avoid large crowds and hold more muted Independence Day celebrations, but subdued is not President Donald Trump’s style, and he aimed to go big, promising a “special evening” in Washington that could bring tens of thousands to the National Mall.
Trump’s “Salute for America” celebration on Saturday evening was to include a speech from the White House South Lawn that he said would celebrate American heritage, as well as a military flyover over the city and an enormous fireworks display that could pack people downtown.
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The president kicked off the holiday weekend by traveling to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota for a fireworks display Friday night near the mountain carvings of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. In his remarks, he accused protesters who have pushed for racial justice of engaging in a “merciless campaign to wipe out our history.”
In a presidential message Saturday on the 244th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, Trump acknowledged that “over the past months, the American spirit has undoubtedly been tested by many challenges.”
His participation in big gatherings comes as many communities have decided to scrap fireworks, parades and other holiday traditions. The goal is to try to prevent further spread of the coronavirus, which large gatherings could spur. Confirmed cases are climbing in 40 states, and the U.S. set another record Friday with 52,300 newly reported infections, according to the tally kept by Johns Hopkins University.
For the Mount Rushmore event, GOP Gov. Kristi Noem, a Trump ally, insisted social distancing wasn’t necessary and masks were optional. Trump spent little time in his Mount Rushmore address reflecting on pandemic, which has killed more than 129,000 Americans.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cautions that mass gatherings like the one scheduled for Washington present a high risk for spread of the virus.
Trump’s surgeon general, Jerome Adams, who has stepped up his call for Americans to wear a mask in public, sidestepped when asked during an interview Friday whether he would caution a loved one from attending such large gatherings. “It’s not a yes or no,” Adams told NBC’s “Today Show.” “Every single person has to make up their own mind.”
Trump has been aching to see the nation return to normalcy, and has been willing to push the envelope further than many state and big city mayors are willing to go.
Last month, he held his first campaign rally since early March in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Trump is accustomed to jam-packed crowds, but the BOK Center was only about one-third full for the president’s first rally of the coronavirus era. Days later, he addressed a packed megachurch for a Students for Trump event in Arizona. Few attendees at either event wore masks.
Interior officials said they would hand out 300,000 face coverings to spectators who gather on the National Mall. Interior Department Secretary David Bernhardt said visitors would be encouraged to wear masks and keep a six-foot distance from one another. There was no indication that would be mandatory, despite the recommendations of health officials.
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Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser, who said she didn’t have the right to shut down the holiday spectacle because it’s on federal land, warned the federal government about the obvious dangers of such a large crowd. On Friday, she urged the city’s residents to be smart about how they spend the holiday. “Just because someone invites you to a party doesn’t mean you have to go,” Bowser tweeted.
In other holiday weekend developments:
—California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, warned counties that they risked losing state money if they failed to enforce health orders heading into the holiday weekend. He urged residents not to gather with people they don’t live with and to avoid crowds. Fireworks shows in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and elsewhere in the state were canceled.
—Gov. J.B. Pritzker, D-Ill., said he would not hesitate to close down businesses that don’t abide by capacity requirements, and he encouraged people to avoid large crowds.
—Beach closures in prime locations are a pandemic fallout. Florida’s most populous county, Miami-Dade, was closing down again, imposing a curfew and shuttering the sand. In California, beach closures went from Los Angeles County northward through Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. To the south in Orange County, hugely popular beaches such as Huntington and Newport were affected.
—Even with large public festivities scrapped, sales of consumer fireworks have boomed. Some officials are concerned about fires and injuries with more pyrotechnics going off in backyards and at block parties. At Casey’s Fireworks Friday in Columbia, South Carolina, mostly masked shoppers wove through aisles. The shop, like many around the country, has been an unexpected beneficiary as more Americans have decided to put on their own shows. “This whole COVID thing has been really bad all around,” said Forest Casey, a fourth-generation fireworks salesman at the family-owned shop. “But for whatever reason it makes people really want to buy fireworks.”
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—Four East Coast cities were to get their own mini-displays of air power before the extensive U.S. military air show over Washington, The “Salute to the Great Cities of the American Revolution” involves flyovers in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and Baltimore.
—About 150 preachers, rabbis and imams intended to frame holiday sermons around “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July” on the 168th anniversary of that speech by Black abolitionist Frederick Douglass. The former slave gave his speech at an Independence Day celebration on July 5, 1852, in Rochester, New York. The address challenged the Founding Fathers and the hypocrisy of their ideals with the existence of slavery on American soil.
—-


thehuffingtonpost--2020-07-04--Betsy Ross, Jackie Robinson And Antonin Scalia — Trump Seeks "Garden of American Heroes”

WASHINGTON ( AP ) — President Donald Trump has a vision for his second term , if he wins one , of establishing a “ National Garden of American Heroes ” that will pay tribute to some of the most prominent figures in U.S. history , a collection of “ the greatest Americans to ever live.
” His idea , conveyed in a speech Friday night at Mount Rushmore and expanded on in an executive order , comes as elected officials and institutions are reckoning with whether it is appropriate to continue to honor people , including past presidents , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ views , with monuments or buildings and streets named after them .
To be certain , the monument is far from a done deal and Trump ’ s plan could be dashed if presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden denies him a second term in November or Congress balks at allocating funding for the project .
Trump ’ s list includes George Washington , Thomas Jefferson , Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. , all already represented on or near the National Mall in Washington , along with Susan B. Anthony , Daniel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Amelia Earhart , Billy Graham , Douglas MacArthur , Christa McAuliffe , Jackie Robinson , Betsy Ross , Harriet Beecher Stowe , Harriet Tubman , Booker T. Washington and Orville and Wilbur Wright .
But Trump also is looking to put an ideological stamp on the idea of American greatness with the inclusion of conservative stalwart Antonin Scalia , the late Supreme Court Justice .
Trump in recent weeks has repeatedly condemned the desecration and toppling of historic statues by demonstrators during protests over racial injustice and police brutality following the death @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We will raise the next generation of American patriots , ” Trump said at Mount Rushmore .
“ We will write the next thrilling chapter of the American adventure .
And we will teach our children to know that they live in a land of legends , that nothing can stop them , and that no one can hold them down.
” His executive order says the garden should open before July 4 , 2024 , and he leaves it up to a federal task force to make recommendations about the use of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The order specifies “ a site of natural beauty ” that is near at least one major population center .
The order says priority should be given to monuments to former presidents , to individuals and events relating to the discovery of America , the founding of the United States , and the abolition of slavery .
“ None will have lived perfect lives , but all will be worth honoring , remembering , and studying , ” according to the order .
As examples of individuals who made substantive contributions to America @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a substantive effect on America ’ s history , it cites : Italian explorer Christopher Columbus ; Junipero Serra , a Roman Catholic priest who established Spanish missions in California ; and the Marquis de La Fayette , a French officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War .
A statue of Columbus , who has been criticized for brutal treatment of Native Americans , was removed this past week from outside the city hall in Columbus , Ohio .
Last month , protesters toppled a statue of Serra in San Francisco ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ say that Serra , who was canonized by the Catholic Church , had a mixed history that included him acting as an agent of the Spanish Empire ’ s colonization efforts in the 18th Century .
Trump on Friday again lashed out against a “ left-wing cultural revolution ” that he says is teaching American children “ that the men and women who built ” the country “ were not heroes , but that were villains.
” “ The radical view of American history is a web of lies — all perspective is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ every motive is twisted , every fact is distorted , and every flaw is magnified until the history is purged and the record is disfigured beyond all recognition , ” Trump said .

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has a vision for his second term, if he wins one, of establishing a “National Garden of American Heroes” that will pay tribute to some of the most prominent figures in U.S. history, a collection of “the greatest Americans to ever live.”
His idea, conveyed in a speech Friday night at Mount Rushmore and expanded on in an executive order, comes as elected officials and institutions are reckoning with whether it is appropriate to continue to honor people, including past presidents, who benefited from slavery or espoused racist views, with monuments or buildings and streets named after them.
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The group of 30-plus features Founding Fathers and presidents, civil rights pioneers and aviation innovators, explorers and generals.
Absent from Trump’s initial list are any Native American, Hispanic or Asian-American individuals. The White House and Interior Department declined to comment on how the list was assembled.
To be certain, the monument is far from a done deal and Trump’s plan could be dashed if presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden denies him a second term in November or Congress balks at allocating funding for the project.
Trump’s list includes George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr., all already represented on or near the National Mall in Washington, along with Susan B. Anthony, Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, Frederick Douglass, Amelia Earhart, Billy Graham, Douglas MacArthur, Christa McAuliffe, Jackie Robinson, Betsy Ross, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Harriet Tubman, Booker T. Washington and Orville and Wilbur Wright.
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But Trump also is looking to put an ideological stamp on the idea of American greatness with the inclusion of conservative stalwart Antonin Scalia, the late Supreme Court Justice.
Trump in recent weeks has repeatedly condemned the desecration and toppling of historic statues by demonstrators during protests over racial injustice and police brutality following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
“We will raise the next generation of American patriots,” Trump said at Mount Rushmore. “We will write the next thrilling chapter of the American adventure. And we will teach our children to know that they live in a land of legends, that nothing can stop them, and that no one can hold them down.”
His executive order says the garden should open before July 4, 2024, and he leaves it up to a federal task force to make recommendations about the use of federal money and a proposed site. The order specifies “a site of natural beauty” that is near at least one major population center.
The order says priority should be given to monuments to former presidents, to individuals and events relating to the discovery of America, the founding of the United States, and the abolition of slavery. “None will have lived perfect lives, but all will be worth honoring, remembering, and studying,” according to the order.
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The order includes language to make clear that non-U.S. citizens who played significant roles in American history also could be honored in the garden.
As examples of individuals who made substantive contributions to America’s public life or otherwise had a substantive effect on America’s history, it cites: Italian explorer Christopher Columbus; Junipero Serra, a Roman Catholic priest who established Spanish missions in California; and the Marquis de La Fayette, a French officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War.
A statue of Columbus, who has been criticized for brutal treatment of Native Americans, was removed this past week from outside the city hall in Columbus, Ohio. Last month, protesters toppled a statue of Serra in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Some historians say that Serra, who was canonized by the Catholic Church, had a mixed history that included him acting as an agent of the Spanish Empire’s colonization efforts in the 18th Century.
Trump on Friday again lashed out against a “left-wing cultural revolution” that he says is teaching American children “that the men and women who built” the country “were not heroes, but that were villains.”


thehuffingtonpost--2020-07-04--Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest Gets A Coronavirus Makeover

ASSOCIATED PRESS Competitors separated by translucent panels eat in the women 's division of the Nathan 's Famous July Fourth hot dog eating contest during the coronavirus pandemic , Saturday , July 4 , 2020 , in the Brooklyn borough of New York .
( AP Photo/John Minchillo ) NEW YORK ( AP ) — The coronavirus outbreak moved the Nathan ’ s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest from the Coney Island boardwalk to an undisclosed indoor location but the results were familiar : Joey Chestnut and Miki Sudo repeated as men ’ s and women ’ s champions of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Competitive eater Miki Sudo , second right , eats a women 's world record of 48 and a half hot dogs to win the women 's division of the Nathan 's Famous July Fourth hot dog eating contest , Saturday , July 4 , 2020 , in the Brooklyn borough of New York .
( AP Photo/John Minchillo ) Chestnut downed 75 wieners and buns in 10 minutes and Sudo downed 48 1/2 in the same span , setting new world records for both the men ’ s and women ’ s events @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for a record , ” Chestnut said before the contest started .
“ I know that ’ s what the fans want.
” The annual Fourth of July hot dog contest normally takes place outside Nathan ’ s flagship shop in Brooklyn but was held indoors without in-person spectators on Saturday .
Just five women and five men competed , and clear plastic barriers separated them as they chowed down .
Competitive eaters Joey Chestnut , left , and Miki Sudo , right , pose for a photograph after winning their respective divisions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's Famous July Fourth hot dog eating contest , Saturday , July 4 , 2020 , in the Brooklyn borough of New York .
AP Photo/John Minchillo ) “ Minute six is where I really missed the crowd , ” Chestnut said on ESPN , which broadcast the competition , “ and I hit a wall , and it took me a little bit more work to get through it.
” It was Chestnut ’ s 13th Nathan ’ s Famous win and Sudo ’ s seventh .
They will each take home @ @ @

Competitors separated by translucent panels eat in the women's division of the Nathan's Famous July Fourth hot dog eating contest during the coronavirus pandemic, Saturday, July 4, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK (AP) — The coronavirus outbreak moved the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest from the Coney Island boardwalk to an undisclosed indoor location but the results were familiar: Joey Chestnut and Miki Sudo repeated as men’s and women’s champions of the annual gluttony fest on Saturday.
Competitive eater Miki Sudo, second right, eats a women's world record of 48 and a half hot dogs to win the women's division of the Nathan's Famous July Fourth hot dog eating contest, Saturday, July 4, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Chestnut downed 75 wieners and buns in 10 minutes and Sudo downed 48 1/2 in the same span, setting new world records for both the men’s and women’s events. “I’m always pushing for a record,” Chestnut said before the contest started. “I know that’s what the fans want.”
The annual Fourth of July hot dog contest normally takes place outside Nathan’s flagship shop in Brooklyn but was held indoors without in-person spectators on Saturday. Just five women and five men competed, and clear plastic barriers separated them as they chowed down.
Competitive eaters Joey Chestnut, left, and Miki Sudo, right, pose for a photograph after winning their respective divisions with new world records after the Nathan's Famous July Fourth hot dog eating contest, Saturday, July 4, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. AP Photo/John Minchillo) ASSOCIATED PRESS
“Minute six is where I really missed the crowd,” Chestnut said on ESPN, which broadcast the competition, “and I hit a wall, and it took me a little bit more work to get through it.”
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thehuffingtonpost--2020-07-04--More Than 11 Million Coronavirus Cases Confirmed Worldwide

More than 11 million people worldwide have been confirmed to have the coronavirus , according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University .
It ’ s been less than one week since confirmed cases worldwide hit the 10 million mark .
The latest grim milestone follows several record-setting days in the U.S. , with major spikes in cases prompting some governors to stall reopening plans .
The U.S. leads the world with almost 130,000 COVID-19 deaths so far .
The country ’ s response to the virus has caused concern among other world leaders , with the European Union temporarily @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as it opens back up to other international visitors , and England keeping a 14-day quarantine period in place for Americans .
Top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci , a member of the White House ’ s coronavirus task force , said it ’ s been a “ very disturbing week ” in the U.S. “ We ’ re setting records , practically every day , of new cases in the numbers that are reported , ” Fauci said during a livestream with the American Medical Association on Thursday .
“ That @ @ @ @ @ @ @ President Donald Trump has continued to defy guidance from health experts , shunning a mask and participating in large gatherings .
He attended Independence Day festivities at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota on Friday .
Masks were not required at the event , and many of his supporters were seen without them .
There have also been recent increases in coronavirus cases in Germany , South Korea , Italy , China and New Zealand .

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More than 11 million people worldwide have been confirmed to have the coronavirus, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.
It’s been less than one week since confirmed cases worldwide hit the 10 million mark. The latest grim milestone follows several record-setting days in the U.S., with major spikes in cases prompting some governors to stall reopening plans.
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The U.S. leads the world with almost 130,000 COVID-19 deaths so far. The country’s response to the virus has caused concern among other world leaders, with the European Union temporarily banning most travelers from the U.S. even as it opens back up to other international visitors, and England keeping a 14-day quarantine period in place for Americans.
Top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House’s coronavirus task force, said it’s been a “very disturbing week” in the U.S.
“We’re setting records, practically every day, of new cases in the numbers that are reported,” Fauci said during a livestream with the American Medical Association on Thursday. “That clearly is not the right direction.”
President Donald Trump has continued to defy guidance from health experts, shunning a mask and participating in large gatherings. He attended Independence Day festivities at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota on Friday. Masks were not required at the event, and many of his supporters were seen without them.
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