thehuffingtonpost--2020-03-18--Progressive Marie Newman Beats Abortion Rights Foe Rep. Dan Lipinski In Democratic Race

In a major win for the Democratic Party ’ s progressive wing , Marie Newman defeated Democratic Rep. Dan Lipinski in Tuesday ’ s primary in Illinois , according to The Associated Press , toppling one of the last remaining opponents of abortion rights among House Democrats .
It was Newman ’ s second race against Lipinski in Illinois ’ 3rd Congressional District ; she fell about 2,100 short of beating him in the 2018 primary .
Lipinski then went on to easily win an eighth term that November .
She ’ s well-positioned to win the general election , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ district that comprises several suburbs to the south and southwest of Chicago .
A local businesswoman who went on to start a national anti-bullying non-profit , Newman , 55 , has endorsed much of the Sanders-Warren agenda — from a $ 15 federal minimum wage to Medicare For All , a Green New Deal and partial student debt cancellation .
She ousted one of the more conservative House Democrats on social issues , especially abortion .
A devout Catholic , the 53-year-old Lipinski voted against the Affordable Care Act because of its mandate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He has supported defunding Planned Parenthood and clinics that offer abortion services , and has sided with Republicans on bills that would ban abortions at 20 weeks into a woman ’ s pregnancy .
He also joined Republicans in signing a legal briefing urging the Supreme Court to revisit the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion rights case .
He did close ranks with other Democrats to support the 2019 Equality Act that the House passed and which would protect LGBTQ people from discrimination in housing , the workplace , public accommodations and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ record used to have a solid home in his part of Illinois , a historically more conservative region than much of the rest of the Chicago area .
He won his House seat in 2004 , taking it over from his father , who had represented the district for 22 years .
But the district has changed .
It ’ s younger ( the median age is 38 ) and more diverse , with a roughly 30 % Latino population — communities Newman focused on in her campaign .
The district is also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ household income roughly $ 66,800 , according to the latest census numbers .
Newman , who had never run for any office before 2018 , made the case that she was the “ real Democrat ” in the race , painting Lipinski as out of touch with his own party .
Abortion rights groups Emily ’ s List and NARAL backed her , as did Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot .
Lipinski sought to depict Newman as too radical for the district .
He ran ads saying she wanted to repeal Obamacare and strip @ @ @ @ @ @ @ support for “ Medicare for All.
” Newman had to overcome barriers erected by part of her party ’ s establishment .
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee , the official campaign arm for House Democrats , last year said it wouldn ’ t do business with political vendors ― such as pollsters , consultants and direct-mail companies ― that did business with candidates challenging party ’ s House members .
Tuesday ’ s primary was marked by lower turnout than initially expected because of the coronavirus outbreak that election officials said likely scared @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In the last week , Newman ’ s campaign was forced to cancel its planned door-knocking and typical get-out-the-vote operation .
Instead , the campaign focused on its phone-bank operation ing and social media efforts to get people to take advantage of early voting .

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In a major win for the Democratic Party’s progressive wing, Marie Newman defeated Democratic Rep. Dan Lipinski in Tuesday’s primary in Illinois, according to The Associated Press, toppling one of the last remaining opponents of abortion rights among House Democrats.
It was Newman’s second race against Lipinski in Illinois’ 3rd Congressional District; she fell about 2,100 votes short of beating him in the 2018 primary. Lipinski then went on to easily win an eighth term that November.
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This year, aided by a wave of high-profile endorsements that included Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and several progressive House members, Newman prevailed over Lipinski in the rematch by about 2,400 votes.
She’s well-positioned to win the general election, given the strong Democratic tilt of the district that comprises several suburbs to the south and southwest of Chicago.
After her primary win, Marie Newman should be favored to win the general election in Illinois' solidly Democratic 3rd Congressional District. ASSOCIATED PRESS
A local businesswoman who went on to start a national anti-bullying non-profit, Newman, 55, has endorsed much of the Sanders-Warren agenda — from a $15 federal minimum wage to Medicare For All, a Green New Deal and partial student debt cancellation.
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She ousted one of the more conservative House Democrats on social issues, especially abortion. A devout Catholic, the 53-year-old Lipinski voted against the Affordable Care Act because of its mandate that employer insurance plans cover birth control. He has supported defunding Planned Parenthood and clinics that offer abortion services, and has sided with Republicans on bills that would ban abortions at 20 weeks into a woman’s pregnancy.
He also joined Republicans in signing a legal briefing urging the Supreme Court to revisit the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion rights case. He did close ranks with other Democrats to support the 2019 Equality Act that the House passed and which would protect LGBTQ people from discrimination in housing, the workplace, public accommodations and other settings.
Lipinski’s voting record used to have a solid home in his part of Illinois, a historically more conservative region than much of the rest of the Chicago area. He won his House seat in 2004, taking it over from his father, who had represented the district for 22 years.
But the district has changed. It’s younger (the median age is 38) and more diverse, with a roughly 30% Latino population — communities Newman focused on in her campaign. The district is also solidly middle class, with the median household income roughly $66,800, according to the latest census numbers.
Newman, who had never run for any office before 2018, made the case that she was the “real Democrat” in the race, painting Lipinski as out of touch with his own party. Abortion rights groups Emily’s List and NARAL backed her, as did Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
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Lipinski sought to depict Newman as too radical for the district. He ran ads saying she wanted to repeal Obamacare and strip health care from constituents because of her support for “Medicare for All.”
Newman had to overcome barriers erected by part of her party’s establishment. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the official campaign arm for House Democrats, last year said it wouldn’t do business with political vendors ― such as pollsters, consultants and direct-mail companies ― that did business with candidates challenging party’s House members.
As a result, Newman lost several political consultants and several direct mail firms. Despite that, Newman repeatedly out-fundraised Lipinski.
Tuesday’s primary was marked by lower turnout than initially expected because of the coronavirus outbreak that election officials said likely scared voters from going to the polls. In the last week, Newman’s campaign was forced to cancel its planned door-knocking and typical get-out-the-vote operation. Instead, the campaign focused on its phone-bank operation ing and social media efforts to get people to take advantage of early voting.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-03-17--How To Get More Ventilators And What To Do If We Can't

Scaling Up Factories Is The Easy Part They have to be the exact components .
… You can ’ t @ @ @ @ @ at Home Depot and call it good .
An engineer at a medical device company @ @ @ @ @ May Be The Biggest Problem Finding People To Run Ventilators Is An Issue Innovating At @ @ @ @ @ ― May Be Necessary

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The coronavirus pandemic could cause a dramatic upsurge of hospital patients in the U.S., creating unprecedented demand for ventilators. And it’s not clear hospitals have enough of them.
Ventilators are the machines that push and pull air through a tube connected to the lungs, allowing people with compromised pulmonary capacity to breathe. For people with severe infections from this coronavirus, which attacks respiratory cells, these machines can literally be the difference between life and death.
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Nobody is quite sure how many of the devices are available in the U.S. because there’s no central system of accounting for them. And nobody knows how many will be required because that depends on the course of the pandemic and whether efforts to slow its spread are successful.
The consequences of a shortage would be dire. Doctors would have to make harrowing decisions about who gets the ventilators and who doesn’t, decisions that doctors in coronavirus-ravaged China, Iran and Italy say they are making already.
Public officials like New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) have been warning about this possibility with increasing urgency and begging the federal government for help. “We are looking for ventilators desperately,” Cuomo said in a press conference on Tuesday.
“The industry has shifted into overtime. ... There’s a limit, however, to how much capacity it can ramp up on its own.” - Mark Van Sumeren, managing director of Health Industry Advisor
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President Donald Trump and his advisers say they are on the case. At their own daily briefing, hours after Cuomo’s, they said they were taking a complete inventory of available ventilators while also ordering more. A day earlier, Trump had told governors to obtain them on their own, as The New York Times reported. The president on Tuesday said he never intended to suggest that federal authorities wouldn’t also take action.
Whatever the Trump administration is or isn’t doing already, it’s clear that the availability of ventilators depends in part on what steps the federal government takes and when it takes them.
Over the past week, HuffPost talked to about a dozen engineers, current and former executives in the medical device industry, and critical care physicians about how to make the most of the country’s existing ventilator stock and how to increase the supply as quickly as possible. Several asked that HuffPost not use their names because they still work in the industry.
None felt comfortable making firm pronouncements about what was possible. They cited the many unknowns, from the availability of electronic components to the severity and timing of the pandemic itself.
But they all said the federal government could make a big difference by making advance purchases, rushing the regulatory process, financing or even providing transportation, and making sure ventilators get to the places that need them most. Factories are already speeding up, they said, but there’s a chance to do even more.
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“The industry has shifted into overtime to produce much-needed medical supplies, devices and equipment, such as ventilators,” Mark Van Sumeren, a device industry veteran who is managing director of the firm Health Industry Advisor, told HuffPost. “There’s a limit, however, to how much capacity it can ramp up on its own. Government can be a key partner here.”
Assessing The Current Ventilator Supply Is Difficult
Precise, reliable counts of available ventilators do not exist yet. The estimate most people cite comes from a 2009 survey that said 62,000 units were scattered across hospitals and clinics around the country. The number today is probably at least a few thousand higher, if only because that figure is a decade old and the population has grown significantly since then.
So that sounds like a lot. But it’s not as if those machines are just sitting there waiting for somebody to use them. On a normal day, the majority of working ventilators are already in use for patients with everything from cancer to heart disease. Usage rises even more during flu season.
“The need for ventilation services during a severe pandemic could quickly overwhelm these day-to-day operational capabilities,” a February report from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security warned.
Hospitals can free up ventilators by cutting back on certain elective surgeries, as they are already, and by switching patients to alternative forms of breathing assistance that would not be appropriate for COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. (Some breathing devices can disperse droplets from the patient’s airway, potentially spreading infection.)
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And there are other ventilators, possibly quite a lot of them, that could be put to use. The federal government keeps an emergency stockpile and officials have indicated it’s about 10,000 units, although the precise number and location are classified because it is part of the government’s defense plans against bioterrorism and biological warfare.
On Tuesday, the Defense Department announced it was releasing 2,000 ventilators to the Department of Health and Human Services.
Nobody is quite sure how many ventilators the U.S. has ― or how many it will need. Bibiz1 via Getty Images
Older, technically obsolete ventilators are also stored in warehouses and other facilities around the country, perhaps as many as 100,000 of them, according to the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM), which represents doctors, nurses and other health professionals who work with patients who need intensive care.
Nobody is confident of the number or the reliability of those old units, but they could make a big difference if the crisis gets severe.
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“Many patients would do fine with older ventilators,” said Craig Coopersmith, former president of SCCM and current interim director for the Emory University Critical Care Center in Atlanta. “These would represent patients who are sick enough to require mechanical ventilation but do not have the most severe form of respiratory failure.”
Overall, SCCM estimates, up to 200,000 ventilators could be available right now. The worry is that even that might not be enough to handle surges, which is why hospital administrators and public officials all over the country are trying to figure out if there are ways to get more.
Scaling Up Factories Is The Easy Part
The idea of American factories going on a wartime footing to churn out breathing machines the way they churned out tanks, planes and ships for World War II has a certain romance to it.
A version of that may be happening already. Ventilator production is a global enterprise, with companies operating across Europe and Asia. But several large producers, including General Electric, ResMed and Vyaire, are either based in the U.S. or have large assembly operations here.
Normally these factories run relatively close to capacity. Orders for new machines started increasing in December and January, according to industry sources, as soon as the coronavirus started spreading. Many are at or even above their normal production levels now, they said, with some running extra shifts.
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Adding even more shifts wouldn’t be out of the question. In theory, factories could run 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They could give extra hours to current workers or hire new ones, depending on their circumstances, though new workers would require training.
That strategy does have its limits. Production of medical devices requires sterile rooms that need daily cleaning, forcing a pause in the process, and a third shift might involve less-experienced workers or workers who are tired from laboring through other shifts. In either case, they might be less productive.
“When you add a third shift to a factory running two, you can’t think it as adding 50% capacity,” an executive said.
Still, assembly plants could dial up their output quickly, industry sources said, if the government is willing to guarantee purchases. One way to do that would be through the Defense Production Act, which authorizes the federal government to make “loans, loan guarantees, purchases, and purchase commitments, to improve, expand, and maintain domestic production capabilities needed to support national defense and homeland security procurement requirements.”
Several members of Congress, led by Rep. Andy Levin (D-Mich.), sent the White House a letter on Monday urging Trump to do just that. Trump on Tuesday said the option was under consideration.
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At some point, increasing capacity would require getting manufacturers to build new factories or signing contracts with different manufacturers. In either case, federal regulators who watch over the production process for quality assurance would have to “validate” the new facilities, meaning they would have to certify them as producing ventilators with almost no chance of error or failure.
“They have to be the exact components. … You can’t just pick up different screws at Home Depot and call it good.” - An engineer at a medical device company that manufactures ventilators
The federal government could expedite those reviews. Certifying a new factory or manufacturing process can take up to 180 days, industry executives said. But there are ways to reduce that time, especially if it’s a company that already manufactures ventilators adding factories rather than new entrants trying to build them for the first time.
“I could build a facility and have a clean room up and running ― I can do that in 90 days or less,” one executive said. “It would normally be another 6 to 9 months after that before I could get [Food and Drug Administration] approval for that facility. If we could have the FDA to fast-track that approval, it’d obviously make a big difference.”
Gathering the materials that factories need to build ventilators is a bit more complicated since many of the essential parts come from other countries. Both cargo carriers and passenger airlines (which still carry cargo) have been reducing overseas flights.
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But this is another place where the federal government could help, by chartering some of the planes that carriers have idled or having the military run airlifts, and using similar strategies to transport goods by sea when appropriate. The government can also speed up the customs process, to make sure parts get to factories as soon as they arrive in the U.S.
“Government clearly has a role in facilitating the physical transportation of the vital supplies to U.S. hospitals from across the globe,” said Van Sumeren, “by relaxing importation and customs delays and addressing the certain backlogs we should expect at our nation’s ports.”
Sourcing Components May Be The Biggest Problem
But in order to transport component parts, there have to be component parts to transport. And there may not be, at least in the quantities that ventilator producers need right away. The sources HuffPost consulted all thought this would ultimately be the biggest factor limiting production.
“The biggest challenge on the pure supply chain side is just getting more parts so that you can build these ventilators,” one executive said. “They’re complex devices. They easily will have bills of material [that is, lists of components] with hundreds and hundreds of parts.”
These parts include everything from plastic casings to circuit boards, and they come from all over the world. But the majority are single-source: They come from one company and are custom designed for particular ventilator producers.
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“They have to be the exact components. … You can’t just pick up different screws at Home Depot and call it good,” one engineer said. “They have to be tested and validated.”
Making matters worse, electronic components in particular frequently come from China, which has been reeling from the initial COVID-19 outbreak.
So far, the industry executives said, the supply chain from China doesn’t seem to be slowing down. But they worry that it’s only a matter of time. Existing inventories may have allowed the flow of parts from China to continue even while many workers were in isolation and quarantine. At some point, those inventories will be depleted.
In theory, manufacturers could get their parts from elsewhere, including within the U.S. But anytime a manufacturer wants to switch suppliers, it has to get approval from regulators, who have to make sure the new parts ― like the old ones ― will have reliably high quality with minimal failure rates.
Another problem with finding new parts suppliers, or even extracting more production from existing ones, is that the entire world is looking to buy more ventilators right now. The companies that know how to make the parts are already running at or over capacity.
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Finding People To Run Ventilators Is An Issue
In a normal medical setting, ventilators require attention from several health care professionals. A physician makes the decision to use a ventilator and “intubate” a patient ― meaning, to put a tube down the patient’s throat so that the ventilator can deliver air. Then respiratory therapists have to monitor the machine to make sure the patient is getting the oxygen they need.
As with every other health care worker involved with coronavirus treatment, the worry is that the respiratory therapists will be exposed to COVID-19, forcing them into isolation or quarantine, which could mean there won’t be enough respiratory therapists to handle the machines.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says his state is desperate for ventilators and wants federal help. Spencer Platt via Getty Images
That’s a scary proposition, although perhaps not as cataclysmic as it sounds. Anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists can operate ventilators. Typically they are too busy with other work to monitor ventilators, but delays in elective procedures would give them extra time.
In theory, other medical professionals could also step in with extra training. At Tuesday’s press conference, Cuomo talked about calling up retired health workers, which could include retired respiratory care experts.
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Yet another option would be the employees of the ventilator manufacturers ― in particular, their training and repair staff typically include respiratory therapists who worked previously in clinical settings. If interested, and given incentive, they could move to the front lines.
“These are people who go out and either train hospital personnel to use the products, or they repair them,” an executive said. “Well, guess what, they know how to run the machines too.”
Innovating At The Factory ― And Bedside ― May Be Necessary
So in the end, how many more ventilators could the industry produce ― and how quickly? Forbes quoted one manufacturing executive who said that normal worldwide output is 40,000 to 50,000 units a year. That executive said that his company, one of the smaller ones, could increase its production five-fold within 90 to 120 days.
The sources HuffPost consulted were skeptical that the industry as a whole could replicate that figure. They speculated that quickly increasing capacity by 20% or 30% was possible, and maybe with an all-hands-on-deck approach 50% or even 100% within a few months. “But if you’re talking like five times the number we have now, I mean that’s just a huge undertaking that would take time,” said Larry Smith, a retired medical device executive who is now director of graduate business programs at Rider University.
Another executive still in the industry recalled the story of World War II factories ramping up production of “Liberty ships” and compressing the build time to just a few weeks and eventually a few days. But the executive also gave a warning: It took about two years to develop that capacity.
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“It’s the quintessential American story, but they weren’t pumping them out that quickly in 1941,” the executive said. “There was a ramp-up period for that as well.”
Desperate circumstances sometimes lead to unexpected innovations. A few days ago, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson pleaded with British manufacturers to start building ventilators. Companies like Rolls Royce are reportedly going over blueprints to see what they can do. Maybe they will discover they can retool and mass-produce more quickly than they realized.
The same could happen here, whether it’s existing manufacturers finding ways to increase production, new entrants getting into the business, or the U.S. turning to producers abroad. “You might be able to cut through the red tape and do something to get new manufacturers approved that are already making ventilators, but they weren’t selling in the USA,” Smith said.
And then there is always the possibility of creativity, sometimes very close to the patient’s bedside. A widely publicized example comes from Italy, where a hospital ran out of valves to connect patients with breathing machines and a local business with a 3D printer figured out a way to manufacture them. It probably saved dozens of lives.
The solution was far from ideal. Medical devices are intricate machines on which people’s lives depend. Every step of the production process has to be precise. In normal times, one device failure would be too many. But these are not normal times.
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The surest solution to the ventilator shortage is to slow the spread of the pandemic, to “flatten the curve” of the infected population, so that the shortages never happen. But the surge of patients is likely to test the U.S. health care system’s capacity even under the best of circumstances, which is why the federal government should be acting now to increase that capacity as much as possible.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-03-17--Biden Overwhelms Sanders With Florida, Illinois, Arizona Victories

Former Vice President Joe Biden won smashing victories in Democratic presidential primaries in Florida , Illinois and Arizona on Tuesday night , further cementing his advantage over Sen. Bernie Sanders ( I-Vt. ) in a nomination race soon to be frozen in place for weeks as growing fears over the coronavirus pandemic cause voters to lose interest and states to delay primaries .
The status of a fourth primary , Ohio ’ s , scheduled for Tuesday is up in the air .
Voters there did not cast ballots in person after GOP Gov .
Mike DeWine and the state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the election would be a threat to public health , causing the primary to be postponed .
Biden now has an advantage of nearly 300 delegates over Sanders and has won 19 of the last 24 states to vote in the race .
He was on track to win Florida by close to an astounding 40 percentage points , and he held strong double-digit leads in Illinois and Arizona .
By the end of the night , he was projected to have more than half of the 1,991 delegates needed to secure the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ campaign has had a very good night .
And we ’ ve moved closer to securing the Democratic party ’ s nomination for president , ” Biden said in a speech live-streamed from his home in Wilmington , Delaware .
“ We ’ re doing it by building the broad coalition that we will need to win in November.
” The Biden campaign , in a memo released before polls closed , said , “ We held elections during the Civil War , the 1918 flu pandemic , and World War II .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ that same challenge today and continue to uphold the core functions and values of our democracy.
” In the memo , deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield continued , “ While voter turnout on Election Day itself may be lower due to COVID-19 concerns , we believe that , with early vote and vote by mail , overall turnout will be roughly on pace for 2016 in Arizona and Florida and roughly on pace for 2018 in Illinois , and that voter turnout in all three states will reflect the population at large.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s coalition .
He won both white and non-white voters in Florida by more than 30 percentage points , and won both groups by more than 20 percentage points in Illinois .
He was winning voters both with and without college diplomas in both states .
In Florida , he even had a slight edge over Sanders among self-identified “ very liberal ” voters and was winning in every single county .
Sanders retained his advantage among younger voters , but it did him little good .
He won among voters younger @ @ @ @ @ @ @ % margin over Biden in Florida , according to exit polls , by a 63 % -to-31 % margin in Illinois and by a 71 % -to-19 % margin in Arizona .
But Biden ’ s margins among voters older than 45 were even greater in Florida and Illinois , and those voters made up 70 % of the electorate in retiree-rich Florida , 65 % in Arizona and 62 % in Illinois .
Sanders is running low on opportunities to turn the race around .
Georgia , where Biden was heavily favored @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 24 , but has opted to delay its primary until June .
That means the next election will be Puerto Rico ’ s March 29 primary , followed by Alaska , Hawaii and Wyoming on April 4 and Wisconsin ― which could function as a last stand for Sanders ― on April 7 .
That ’ s followed by another three-week break , at which point voters in a host of northeastern states will cast ballots on April 28 .
“ Senator Sanders and I may disagree on tactics , but we share @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ Senator Sanders and his supporters have brought remarkable passion and tenacity to these issues , and together , they have shifted the fundamental conversation in the country .
And let me say , especially to the young voters who have been inspired by Senator Sanders : I hear you .
I know what is at stake .
And I know what we have to do.
” His address focused on his $ 2 trillion plan to respond to the recession economists believe the pandemic is likely to cause and included a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ embrace , including a $ 2,000-a-month stipend for all Americans , empowering Medicare to cover all medical costs during the pandemic and the suspension of mortgage and student loan payments .

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Former Vice President Joe Biden won smashing victories in Democratic presidential primaries in Florida, Illinois and Arizona on Tuesday night, further cementing his advantage over Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in a nomination race soon to be frozen in place for weeks as growing fears over the coronavirus pandemic cause voters to lose interest and states to delay primaries.
The status of a fourth primary, Ohio’s, scheduled for Tuesday is up in the air. Voters there did not cast ballots in person after GOP Gov. Mike DeWine and the state’s health commissioner ruled that conducting the election would be a threat to public health, causing the primary to be postponed.
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Biden’s wins add to his significant advantage in delegates over Sanders and showed his coalition of older voters, Black voters and ideological moderates expanding as the Democratic rank and file appear eager to end the primary battle and begin focusing on a November showdown with President Donald Trump.
Biden now has an advantage of nearly 300 delegates over Sanders and has won 19 of the last 24 states to vote in the race. He was on track to win Florida by close to an astounding 40 percentage points, and he held strong double-digit leads in Illinois and Arizona. By the end of the night, he was projected to have more than half of the 1,991 delegates needed to secure the right to challenge Trump.
“Our campaign has had a very good night. And we’ve moved closer to securing the Democratic party’s nomination for president,” Biden said in a speech live-streamed from his home in Wilmington, Delaware. “We’re doing it by building the broad coalition that we will need to win in November.”
From left, Democratic presidential candidates, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., former Vice President Joe Biden, talks before a Democratic presidential primary debate, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Earlier this month, both Biden and Sanders stopped holding rallies or primary night parties because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Turnout in all three states was boosted significantly by absentee and early ballots, with fears about COVID-19, the diseased caused by the coronavirus, lowering turnout on Election Day.
The Biden campaign, in a memo released before polls closed, said, “We held elections during the Civil War, the 1918 flu pandemic, and World War II. We are confident that we can meet that same challenge today and continue to uphold the core functions and values of our democracy.”
In the memo, deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield continued, “While voter turnout on Election Day itself may be lower due to COVID-19 concerns, we believe that, with early vote and vote by mail, overall turnout will be roughly on pace for 2016 in Arizona and Florida and roughly on pace for 2018 in Illinois, and that voter turnout in all three states will reflect the population at large.”
Sanders aides, meanwhile, posted videos of voters having to wait in long lines and suggested holding the election was risking lives.
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At the Thurgood Marshall Public Library a predominately black senior population is waiting on average 2 hrs to vote in crowded rooms. This is not safe! #COVID19 #IllinoisPrimary pic.twitter.com/q4Fav9h1nW — Abshir Omar (@AbshirDSM) March 17, 2020
Exit polls show few weaknesses in Biden’s coalition. He won both white and non-white voters in Florida by more than 30 percentage points, and won both groups by more than 20 percentage points in Illinois. He was winning voters both with and without college diplomas in both states. In Florida, he even had a slight edge over Sanders among self-identified “very liberal” voters and was winning in every single county.
Sanders retained his advantage among younger voters, but it did him little good. He won among voters younger than 45 by a 58%-to-37% margin over Biden in Florida, according to exit polls, by a 63%-to-31% margin in Illinois and by a 71%-to-19% margin in Arizona. But Biden’s margins among voters older than 45 were even greater in Florida and Illinois, and those voters made up 70% of the electorate in retiree-rich Florida, 65% in Arizona and 62% in Illinois.
Arizona painted a somewhat different picture. Sanders and Biden essentially tied among non-white voters because of Sanders’ strength with Latino voters of Mexican and Central American descent. (Biden performed stronger with Latino voters in Florida, many of whom trace their families back to Cuba or South America.)
Sanders is running low on opportunities to turn the race around. Georgia, where Biden was heavily favored, was set to vote on March 24, but has opted to delay its primary until June. That means the next election will be Puerto Rico’s March 29 primary, followed by Alaska, Hawaii and Wyoming on April 4 and Wisconsin ― which could function as a last stand for Sanders ― on April 7. That’s followed by another three-week break, at which point voters in a host of northeastern states will cast ballots on April 28.
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The long gap between primaries, along with the pandemic’s rightful domination of the news cycle, means it could be near-impossible for Sanders to change the race’s narrative or its delegate math.
In his speech on Tuesday night, Biden began reaching out, at least rhetorically, to Sanders’s base of young and progressive voters and praising the senator for shifting the American political conversation to the left.
“Senator Sanders and I may disagree on tactics, but we share a common vision,” he said. “Senator Sanders and his supporters have brought remarkable passion and tenacity to these issues, and together, they have shifted the fundamental conversation in the country. And let me say, especially to the young voters who have been inspired by Senator Sanders: I hear you. I know what is at stake. And I know what we have to do.”
His olive branch was rejected by at least on Sanders staffer.
The gap between Sanders’s and Biden’s vision for the country was put on display when Sanders spoke at 7:15 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, before all polls had closed in any state.
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His address focused on his $2 trillion plan to respond to the recession economists believe the pandemic is likely to cause and included a plethora of provisions Biden is unlikely to embrace, including a $2,000-a-month stipend for all Americans, empowering Medicare to cover all medical costs during the pandemic and the suspension of mortgage and student loan payments.
“In this moment of crisis, it is imperative that we stand together,” Sanders said toward the start of the address.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-03-18--Don Lemon Shreds Donald Trump's Coronavirus Reversal: 'Gaslighting, Pure And Simple'

“ CNN Tonight ” host Don Lemon delivered a blistering critique of President Donald Trump ’ s sudden change in @ @ @ @ @ the coronavirus pandemic .
Trump has for weeks peddled misinformation and downplayed the threat of @ @ @ @ @ sickened almost 200,000 people worldwide and killed more than 7,900 .
The president claimed on @ @ @ @ @ he ’ d “ always ” known about the threat it posed and had actually @ @ @ @ @ pandemic long before it was called a pandemic.
” “ That is gaslighting , pure @ @ @ @ @ of the United States is gaslighting you and you deserve to know , ” he @ @ @ @ @ step-by-step through Trump ’ s reversal .

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“CNN Tonight” host Don Lemon delivered a blistering critique of President Donald Trump’s sudden change of heart on the severity of the coronavirus pandemic.
For weeks, Trump has peddled misinformation and downplayed the threat of the virus that has now sickened almost 200,000 people worldwide and killed more than 7,900.
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The president claimed on Tuesday, however, that he’d “always” known about the threat it posed and had actually “felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic.”
Lemon wasn’t having it.
“That is gaslighting, pure and simple. The president of the United States is gaslighting you, and you deserve to know,” he said, before walking viewers step by step through Trump’s reversal.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-03-17--Florida’s AG Contracted With Trump Doral In Violation Of U.S. Constitution

Cassedy , though , would not explain why Moody , a Republican who was elected to the statewide job in 2018 after receiving Trump ’ s endorsement , chose to award the contract to Trump ’ s resort in the first place .
Under its terms , some $ 70,000 of Florida taxpayer money likely would have gone to Trump National Doral .
Nonprofit groups , local governments and others attending the event that had been set for late May likely would have spent an additional $ 600,000 .
“ If the state of Florida is paying money to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and profit from , then it would appear to be a pretty clear violation of the Constitution ’ s domestic emoluments clause , ” said Jordan Libowitz with Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington , a watchdog group that has criticized federal payments flowing to Trump since he took office three years ago .
“ This isn ’ t some obscure local law , this is literally the Constitution .
Everyone needs to follow it .
A state ’ s highest law enforcement official should know better.
” The U.S. Constitution states @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shall , at stated Times , receive for his Services , a Compensation which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected , and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States , or any of them.
” Cathy Ennis , who signed the April 19 , 2019 , contract as the representative for Trump ’ s golf resort , told HuffPost : “ The money is not going to the president , it is going to Trump Doral @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Her assertion , however , is not correct .
Trump Doral is owned by the Trump Organization , which in turn is owned by a revocable trust Trump set up just before taking office in 2017 .
Trump is the sole beneficiary of that trust , meaning he is the only one who reaps the profits from all of Trump Organization ’ s income streams , including his various golf courses , his Mar-a-Lago country club in Palm Beach and Trump Tower in Manhattan .
Under the terms of the contract , obtained @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Florida ’ s public records laws , the state Attorney General ’ s office had agreed to rent an average of 250 rooms at Doral each night for six nights , at a cost of $ 129 per night for the 2020 “ National Conference on Preventing Crime.
” Meeting rooms are included in the contract , but meals are not — meaning the 1,500 expected guests would likely spend close to $ 100 per day each for food at the resort ’ s restaurants .
Also included , according to the contract @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a golf practice area and a free shuttle bus each day to “ exclusive beach access ” in Miami Beach – even though , under Florida law , all beaches are public .
Cassedy said that bids were solicited and accepted by the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau , and that Moody ’ s office chose the lowest bidder , which was Trump Doral .
She did not respond , despite repeated queries , why the resort was allowed to bid at all , given its ownership and the U.S. Constitution @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first time since Trump bought the resort in 2012 that that conference would be held there .
Previous conferences were held in Tampa , Jacksonville , Orlando and Miami — none at a Trump property .
Doral , like most of Trump ’ s properties with the exception of Mar-a-Lago , his golf club in Bedminster and his hotel a few blocks from the White House , has reportedly suffered financially since Trump took office because of his unpopularity with most Americans .
Exactly how well or poorly Doral is doing , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s personal bank account , however , can not be determined because he has refused to release his tax returns .
His latest financial disclosure statement claims he earned $ 75,962,848 from Mar-a-Lago in calendar year 2018 , but Trump appears to conflate net profit with gross revenues , based on a HuffPost analysis of figures he has filed on the document compared to other official filings .
During the Republican National Committee meeting there in 2018 , the property appeared to be skimping on maintenance costs .
At least one of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ did its guest rooms , while the restaurant on the lower floor in the main lodge had a mustiness mixed with the fraternity house odor of spilled alcohol .

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Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, the state’s top legal officer, contracted with President Donald Trump’s Miami golf resort to host a crime prevention conference, despite the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition against his accepting money from a state.
The conference, set for late May, has been indefinitely postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic before any payments “were made or due,” said Lauren Cassedy, a spokesperson in Moody’s office.
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Cassedy, though, would not explain why Moody, a Republican who was elected to the statewide job in 2018 after receiving Trump’s endorsement, chose to award the contract to Trump’s resort in the first place. Under its terms, some $70,000 of Florida taxpayer money likely would have gone to Trump National Doral. Nonprofit groups, local governments and others attending the event that had been set for late May likely would have spent an additional $600,000.
“If the state of Florida is paying money to the business that the president continues to own and profit from, then it would appear to be a pretty clear violation of the Constitution’s domestic emoluments clause,” said Jordan Libowitz with Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog group that has criticized federal payments flowing to Trump since he took office three years ago. “This isn’t some obscure local law, this is literally the Constitution. Everyone needs to follow it. A state’s highest law enforcement official should know better.”
The U.S. Constitution states in Article II: “The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.”
Cathy Ennis, who signed the April 19, 2019, contract as the representative for Trump’s golf resort, told HuffPost: “The money is not going to the president, it is going to Trump Doral,” and then hung up.
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Her assertion, however, is not correct. Trump Doral is owned by the Trump Organization, which in turn is owned by a revocable trust Trump set up just before taking office in 2017. Trump is the sole beneficiary of that trust, meaning he is the only one who reaps the profits from all of Trump Organization’s income streams, including his various golf courses, his Mar-a-Lago country club in Palm Beach and Trump Tower in Manhattan.
Under the terms of the contract, obtained by the Democratic group American Bridge under Florida’s public records laws, the state Attorney General’s office had agreed to rent an average of 250 rooms at Doral each night for six nights, at a cost of $129 per night for the 2020 “National Conference on Preventing Crime.”
Meeting rooms are included in the contract, but meals are not — meaning the 1,500 expected guests would likely spend close to $100 per day each for food at the resort’s restaurants.
Also included, according to the contract, was access to a golf clinic, a golf practice area and a free shuttle bus each day to “exclusive beach access” in Miami Beach – even though, under Florida law, all beaches are public.
Cassedy said that bids were solicited and accepted by the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, and that Moody’s office chose the lowest bidder, which was Trump Doral. She did not respond, despite repeated queries, why the resort was allowed to bid at all, given its ownership and the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition.
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This would be first time since Trump bought the resort in 2012 that that conference would be held there. Previous conferences were held in Tampa, Jacksonville, Orlando and Miami — none at a Trump property.
Doral, like most of Trump’s properties with the exception of Mar-a-Lago, his golf club in Bedminster and his hotel a few blocks from the White House, has reportedly suffered financially since Trump took office because of his unpopularity with most Americans.
Exactly how well or poorly Doral is doing, and how much it puts into Trump’s personal bank account, however, cannot be determined because he has refused to release his tax returns. His latest financial disclosure statement claims he earned $75,962,848 from Mar-a-Lago in calendar year 2018, but Trump appears to conflate net profit with gross revenues, based on a HuffPost analysis of figures he has filed on the document compared to other official filings.
During the Republican National Committee meeting there in 2018, the property appeared to be skimping on maintenance costs. At least one of the guest buildings smelled of mildew, as did its guest rooms, while the restaurant on the lower floor in the main lodge had a mustiness mixed with the fraternity house odor of spilled alcohol.
Nearly two years later, at this January’s RNC meeting, the mustiness appears to remain, at least in some areas. The downstairs restaurant, however, seems to have eliminated the stale beer odor.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-03-17--Coronavirus Misinformation Is Spreading Through Bogus Texts And Group Chats

In New York City , false information spread through text messages and group chats about claims that the city was going into quarantine , that the New York Police Department planned containment operations or that the subways were shutting down .
One city official told HuffPost they received about 10 calls or texts from family and friends either forwarding the false information or urgently trying to clarify what they ’ d seen in messages .
A similar misinformation campaign spread nationwide in recent days with texts falsely claiming that President Donald Trump was preparing to use a law known as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ quarantine .
The texts were not true , and such an order would likely be unconstitutional .
But like the New York texts , lawmakers and agencies such as the National Security Council ultimately had to put out statements refuting the claims .
The wave of bogus messages about coronavirus isn ’ t just an American problem either .
Researchers say they ’ ve seen the same type of rumors proliferating in countries around the world .
Misinformation about liquor stores closing and changing visa requirements in Canada , army deployments in Ireland @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on lockdown all circulated to the point where officials had to step in to debunk the claims .
There are scenarios in which this coronavirus misinformation could lead to dangerous real-world actions .
If they aren ’ t countered fast enough , rumors of medical and food shortages could instill panic or violence .
A false text about capital controls or financial collapse could mean people take rapid action to protect their savings .
“ We ’ ve made some jokes about toilet roll shortages , but I think we don ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ start sharing rumors that make people take action because they ’ re terrified , ” said Claire Wardle , co-founder of First Draft News , an organization that monitors misinformation .
Many of the false text messages followed a similar form .
Often the misinformation references someone in a position of authority as the provider of the information ― texts have cited the CIA , “ military friends ” and even Michael Bloomberg ’ s daughter as their source .
Some were simply copy-and-pastes of texts that were then forwarded , while other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ own words with the rumors .
Although it ’ s extremely difficult to find the original source of misinformation and whether it is being spread maliciously , misinformation researchers don ’ t believe the texts are necessarily the result of an intentional disinformation campaign or a foreign actor trying to sow discord .
Instead , the coronavirus has created an ideal situation for misinformation to spread among the public and may not be coordinated .
The outbreak is an incredibly fast-moving event , which journalists are racing to keep up with while governments @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to contain the virus give a sense that anything is possible .
The result is a fearful public that is turning to those closest to them with information they hope will give warning or preparation time , and even people with good news judgment who would normally be credible sources may share sketchy messages if they believe they might give loved ones an advantage .
That the texts come directly from friends and family make them more believable than if a stranger posts them online .
Rumors through texts and messaging apps create @ @ @ @ @ @ @ falsehoods on social media .
Facebook and Twitter have been more proactive than usual about removing coronavirus falsehoods from their platforms , and , though far from perfect , they are at least able to moderate the content people are sharing .
There ’ s no regulation of what people text each other or share on encrypted messaging apps for good reason , but it makes it harder to stop viral hoaxes or even know when misinformation is being shared until it reaches a wide enough audience to cause alarm .
The offline @ @ @ @ @ @ @ already played out dramatically in Ukraine , where BuzzFeed reported that a disinformation campaign led to riots that tore apart a small town .
Residents of Novi Sanzhary , believing false information on a messaging app about coronavirus patients being bused to their town , set fire to barricades and violently clashed with riot police .
The Ukraine rumor wasn ’ t conjured out of thin air ― there was indeed a group of evacuees heading for the town for quarantine , but they had all been tested and found negative for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the messages allowed the disinformation to seem rooted in some reality , which is another reason why false rumors are gaining ground : At a time when unprecedented policies are being issued around the world , many of the rumors seem hard to distinguish from real actions being considered to stop the virus .
“ A lot of the things that are taking off like wildfire are not a million miles away from where we think we might be in a couple of days anyway , ” Wardle said .
“ We ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because things are so scary and things change so quickly , it ’ s not out of bounds to think it might happen .
”

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Text messages and group chats have become a hotbed of misinformation about the coronavirus outbreak.
In New York City, false information spread through text messages and group chats about claims that the city was going into quarantine, that the New York Police Department planned containment operations or that the subways were shutting down. One city official told HuffPost they received about 10 calls or texts from family and friends either forwarding the false information or urgently trying to clarify what they’d seen in messages.
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None of it was true, but the claims were widespread enough that city officials and Mayor Bill de Blasio had to publicly refute them.
NO, there is NO TRUTH to rumors about Manhattan being quarantined. Whoever is spreading this misinformation, PLEASE STOP NOW! — Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) March 12, 2020
A similar misinformation campaign spread nationwide in recent days with texts falsely claiming that President Donald Trump was preparing to use a law known as the Stafford Act to implement a nationwide quarantine. The texts were not true, and such an order would likely be unconstitutional. But like the New York texts, lawmakers and agencies such as the National Security Council ultimately had to put out statements refuting the claims.
Text message rumors of a national #quarantine are FAKE. There is no national lockdown. @CDCgov has and will continue to post the latest guidance on #COVID19. #coronavirus — NSC (@WHNSC) March 16, 2020
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The wave of bogus messages about coronavirus isn’t just an American problem either. Researchers say they’ve seen the same type of rumors proliferating in countries around the world. Misinformation about liquor stores closing and changing visa requirements in Canada, army deployments in Ireland and Hungary’s capital being put on lockdown all circulated to the point where officials had to step in to debunk the claims.
There are scenarios in which this coronavirus misinformation could lead to dangerous real-world actions. If they aren’t countered fast enough, rumors of medical and food shortages could instill panic or violence. A false text about capital controls or financial collapse could mean people take rapid action to protect their savings.
“We’ve made some jokes about toilet roll shortages, but I think we don’t know what it looks like if people start sharing rumors that make people take action because they’re terrified,” said Claire Wardle, co-founder of First Draft News, an organization that monitors misinformation.
Many of the false text messages followed a similar form. Often the misinformation references someone in a position of authority as the provider of the information ― texts have cited the CIA, “military friends” and even Michael Bloomberg’s daughter as their source. Some were simply copy-and-pastes of texts that were then forwarded, while other times people have messaged friends in their own words with the rumors.
Although it’s extremely difficult to find the original source of misinformation and whether it is being spread maliciously, misinformation researchers don’t believe the texts are necessarily the result of an intentional disinformation campaign or a foreign actor trying to sow discord. Instead, the coronavirus has created an ideal situation for misinformation to spread among the public and may not be coordinated. The outbreak is an incredibly fast-moving event, which journalists are racing to keep up with while governments issued only intermittent updates and drastic measures to contain the virus give a sense that anything is possible.
Advertisement
The result is a fearful public that is turning to those closest to them with information they hope will give warning or preparation time, and even people with good news judgment who would normally be credible sources may share sketchy messages if they believe they might give loved ones an advantage. That the texts come directly from friends and family make them more believable than if a stranger posts them online.
“We’ve always known that people share things when they’re trying to be helpful and protect one another. That’s why misinformation spreads,” Wardle said.
A woman wears a face mask while using her cellphone as she enters a Moscow Underground station during the coronavirus pandemic. Mikhail Tereshchenko via Getty Images
Rumors through texts and messaging apps create unique problems for stopping misinformation compared with falsehoods on social media. Facebook and Twitter have been more proactive than usual about removing coronavirus falsehoods from their platforms, and, though far from perfect, they are at least able to moderate the content people are sharing. There’s no regulation of what people text each other or share on encrypted messaging apps for good reason, but it makes it harder to stop viral hoaxes or even know when misinformation is being shared until it reaches a wide enough audience to cause alarm.
The offline consequences of false information around coronavirus have already played out dramatically in Ukraine, where BuzzFeed reported that a disinformation campaign led to riots that tore apart a small town. Residents of Novi Sanzhary, believing false information on a messaging app about coronavirus patients being bused to their town, set fire to barricades and violently clashed with riot police.
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The Ukraine rumor wasn’t conjured out of thin air ― there was indeed a group of evacuees heading for the town for quarantine, but they had all been tested and found negative for the virus. The kernel of truth to the messages allowed the disinformation to seem rooted in some reality, which is another reason why false rumors are gaining ground: At a time when unprecedented policies are being issued around the world, many of the rumors seem hard to distinguish from real actions being considered to stop the virus.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-03-17--Florida Megachurch Reluctant To Cancel Services Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

South Florida pastor Guillermo Maldonado painted a stark picture for congregants at his megachurch last Sunday .
People who had skipped services that day were caving in to fear of the new coronavirus , he suggested , while the folks who came to services were true and faithful believers .
“ I just want to tell you , I ’ m so proud of you , that you don ’ t let the devil and fear cripple you , ” Maldonado told congregants gathered at King Jesus International Ministry , according to a video captured by the progressive website Right @ @ @ @ @ @ @ God would bring his people to his house to be contagious with the virus ?
Of course not ... in the presence of God , no virus can stand.
” As one of the most prominent Hispanic evangelical leaders in the nation , Maldonado ’ s challenge for faithful people to attend church amid a global pandemic carries weight .
He is a televangelist and the lead pastor of a 7,000-seat megachurch in a Miami suburb that draws even more attendees at nine satellite campuses .
As of Tuesday evening , it doesn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ planning to cancel in-person worship , despite requests from local and federal authorities to avoid large gatherings to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus .
The pastor ’ s Sunday observations came as houses of worship across the country took unprecedented steps to curb the spread of COVID-19 , the illness resulting from the novel coronavirus .
Churches , mosques , synagogues and temples canceled services this weekend and moved meetings online in order to promote social distancing in their communities .
In Miami , Catholic Archbishop Thomas Wenski issued a memo @ @ @ @ @ @ @ extraordinary circumstances , ” he is releasing Catholics from the obligation of going to Mass .
On Monday , the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church has suspended worship through the end of March .
Before Sunday ’ s meeting , Maldonado used social media to urge his congregants to come to church in person on March 15 , the Miami Herald reports .
At least two assistant leaders also echoed that call .
“ We will be meeting because now more than ever God is empowering his church to show the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Pastor Frank Hechevarria said in an Instagram video Saturday .
King Jesus Church announced on Monday that it was taking extra steps to disinfect its buildings .
It encouraged older adults or those with underlying medical conditions to stay at home and self-quarantine .
And during a live-streamed “ night of prayer and intercession against COVID-19 , ” Maldonado and his team read out recent guidelines suggested by President Donald Trump on how to prevent the virus from spreading — including by avoiding groups of over 10 people .
But as of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the church ’ s website that upcoming Sunday services have been canceled .
King Jesus International Ministry did not respond to HuffPost ’ s request for comment .
The church ’ s online calendar also suggests that Sunday services will be going forward as planned .
“ This world is in turmoil , in anxiety .
The Bible says this , that we will not conform to this world , ” he said , quoting a verse from the book of Romans .
He compared the spread of COVID-19 to stories of plagues @ @ @ @ @ @ @ saved the Jewish people from a plague afflicting the ancient Egyptians , God will exempt true believers from the new coronavirus , Maldonado said .
This teaching ― that God guarantees health , wealth and blessings to true believers and that these things are signs of God ’ s favor ― is often referred to as the “ prosperity gospel.
” While it has been criticized as heresy in many branches of American Christianity , it has attracted some members of Trump ’ s inner circle .
The president ’ s spiritual adviser @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be a proponent of prosperity gospel .
In January , Trump paid a visit to Maldonado ’ s church to rally his evangelical base .
In the days leading up to the visit , Maldonado sought to reassure undocumented members of his congregation that they wouldn ’ t risk deportation by coming to see the president .

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UPDATE: March 18 — King Jesus International Ministry has suspended public gatherings until further notice in response to “specific requests of the CDC,” a notice on the church’s website announced.
“Our faith remains in Jesus, and we know that these are times for faith and not fear, so we encourage you to spend time with God daily, read the Word and encourage one another,” the church said in its update. “Join us in praying for an end to this pandemic. We will resume normal weekend services at our campuses as soon as we are able.”
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PREVIOUSLY:
South Florida pastor Guillermo Maldonado painted a stark picture for congregants at his megachurch last Sunday. People who had skipped services that day were caving in to fear of the new coronavirus, he suggested, while the folks who came to services were true and faithful believers.
“I just want to tell you, I’m so proud of you, that you don’t let the devil and fear cripple you,” Maldonado told congregants gathered at King Jesus International Ministry, according to a video captured by the progressive website Right Wing Watch. “Do you believe God would bring his people to his house to be contagious with the virus? Of course not ... in the presence of God, no virus can stand.”
As one of the most prominent Hispanic evangelical leaders in the nation, Maldonado’s challenge for faithful people to attend church amid a global pandemic carries weight. He is a televangelist and the lead pastor of a 7,000-seat megachurch in a Miami suburb that draws even more attendees at nine satellite campuses.
As of Tuesday evening, it doesn’t appear that the church is planning to cancel in-person worship, despite requests from local and federal authorities to avoid large gatherings to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.
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Guillermo Maldonado speaks to evangelical supporters in Miami on Jan. 3, 2020. REUTERS/Eva Marie Uzcategui
The pastor’s Sunday observations came as houses of worship across the country took unprecedented steps to curb the spread of COVID-19, the illness resulting from the novel coronavirus. Churches, mosques, synagogues and temples canceled services this weekend and moved meetings online in order to promote social distancing in their communities.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced new restrictions for bars, restaurants and universities on Tuesday. There are now over 190 cases of coronavirus in the state, the Miami Herald reported, including 35 cases tied to Miami-Dade County.
In Miami, Catholic Archbishop Thomas Wenski issued a memo last week stating that “given these extraordinary circumstances,” he is releasing Catholics from the obligation of going to Mass. On Monday, the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church has suspended worship through the end of March.
Before Sunday’s meeting, Maldonado used social media to urge his congregants to come to church in person on March 15, the Miami Herald reports. At least two assistant leaders also echoed that call.
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“We will be meeting because now more than ever God is empowering his church to show the world the power of Jesus Christ,” Pastor Frank Hechevarria said in an Instagram video Saturday.
King Jesus Church announced on Monday that it was taking extra steps to disinfect its buildings. It encouraged older adults or those with underlying medical conditions to stay at home and self-quarantine. And during a live-streamed “night of prayer and intercession against COVID-19,” Maldonado and his team read out recent guidelines suggested by President Donald Trump on how to prevent the virus from spreading — including by avoiding groups of over 10 people.
Maldonado said his church is paying attention and will follow what the authorities are suggesting.
But as of Tuesday, there was no indication on the church’s website that upcoming Sunday services have been canceled. King Jesus International Ministry did not respond to HuffPost’s request for comment. The church’s online calendar also suggests that Sunday services will be going forward as planned.
On Tuesday afternoon, a receptionist who picked up the phone at the megachurch’s Miami campus told HuffPost that services will take place as scheduled on Sunday.
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“This is what the government is recommending,” Maldonado said on Monday about the president’s guidelines. “But now, let’s go back to what God is saying.”
“This world is in turmoil, in anxiety. The Bible says this, that we will not conform to this world,” he said, quoting a verse from the book of Romans.
He compared the spread of COVID-19 to stories of plagues in the Bible. Just as God saved the Jewish people from a plague afflicting the ancient Egyptians, God will exempt true believers from the new coronavirus, Maldonado said.
“If somebody says, ‘I’m Christian and I have the virus,’ again, where is your faith?” he said. “Do you believe the promises?”
Guillermo Maldonado (left) and other evangelical leaders pray for President Donald Trump at an evangelical rally in Miami on Jan. 3, 2020. Eva Marie Uzcategui / Reuters
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This teaching ― that God guarantees health, wealth and blessings to true believers and that these things are signs of God’s favor ― is often referred to as the “prosperity gospel.” While it has been criticized as heresy in many branches of American Christianity, it has attracted some members of Trump’s inner circle. The president’s spiritual adviser, Paula White, is widely considered to be a proponent of prosperity gospel.
In January, Trump paid a visit to Maldonado’s church to rally his evangelical base. In the days leading up to the visit, Maldonado sought to reassure undocumented members of his congregation that they wouldn’t risk deportation by coming to see the president.
“I ask you: Do you think I would do something where I would endanger my people? I’m not that dumb,” the pastor said in December.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-03-18--Trump Adviser Paula White Wants Money For Her Fake Coronavirus 'Hospital’

Paula White , the evangelical pastor and spiritual adviser to President Donald Trump , says her ministry is like a hospital and is asking people to send her money for it .
“ We are a hospital to the sick , ” White said over piano music during an online coronavirus prayer session , quickly adding that it ’ s for “ not necessarily the physically sick.
” “ We are a hospital for those who are soul-sick , those who are spiritually sick , ” she said .
White , who leads Trump ’ s Faith and Opportunity Initiative @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” money .
For those who espouse the so-called prosperity gospel , that typically means giving money in the belief that some form of larger prosperity will then be returned to the giver .
“ Maybe you ’ d like to send a $ 91 seed , and that ’ s just putting your faith with Psalm 91 , ” she said .
That psalm refers to being saved from “ deadly pestilence ” and “ plague.
” White also suggested sending $ 9 or “ whatever God tells you to do , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forget , now is not the time to abandon your covenant with God .
It ’ s a time that you go deeper .
Stand with your pastor.
” The clip was posted online by the Friendly Atheist blog :

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Paula White, the evangelical pastor and spiritual adviser to President Donald Trump, says her ministry is like a hospital and is asking people to send her money for it.
Except it’s not a real hospital.
“We are a hospital to the sick,” White said over piano music during an online coronavirus prayer session, quickly adding that it’s for “not necessarily the physically sick.”
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“We are a hospital for those who are soul-sick, those who are spiritually sick,” she said.
White, who leads Trump’s Faith and Opportunity Initiative, then asked followers for “seed” money. For those who espouse the so-called prosperity gospel, that typically means giving money in the belief that some form of larger prosperity will then be returned to the giver.
“Maybe you’d like to send a $91 seed, and that’s just putting your faith with Psalm 91,” she said. That psalm refers to being saved from “deadly pestilence” and “plague.”
White also suggested sending $9 or “whatever God tells you to do,” adding: “Don’t forget, now is not the time to abandon your covenant with God. It’s a time that you go deeper. Stand with your pastor.”
The clip was posted online by the Friendly Atheist blog:


thehuffingtonpost--2020-03-18--New York Times Editorial: America Must Mobilize Against Coronavirus Like It's A War

The New York Times editorial board called for the U.S. to be put a wartime footing to fight the coronavirus pandemic in an editorial published Tuesday .
The editorial ― titled “ Stop Saying That Everything Is Under Control .
It Isn ’ t. ” — said tackling the crisis that ’ s sickened almost 200,000 people worldwide will “ require a new , collective way of thinking about public health and society as a whole.
” It noted how President Franklin D. Roosevelt “ compelled and inspired industries and individuals to rally for the greater good ” during World @ @ @ @ @ @ @ similar is called for today.
” “ The United States is again faced with a crisis that calls for a national response , demanding a mobilization of resources that the free market or individual states can not achieve on their own , ” the editorial said .
It proposed the creation of new public works programs , the use of the Defense Production Act to allow President Donald Trump to “ mobilize domestic industries in times of crisis ” and the increase in production of medical equipment , just like the federal government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ World War II.
” During WWII , the government “ raised corporate and personal income taxes , pushed the business community onto a wartime footing , drafted millions into the military or civilian defense forces , rationed civilian goods in service of military goals and drastically reorganized society by offering jobs to women and minorities who had long been excluded from them , ” the editorial board wrote .
“ The society that emerged from the war was different — stronger — than the one that went into it , ” it concluded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ country can do when the lives of its citizens are in peril , and the final outcome is uncertain .
What it takes is leadership to summon that spirit to act in the national interest .
”

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The New York Times editorial board called for the U.S. to be put a wartime footing to fight the coronavirus pandemic in an editorial published Tuesday.
The editorial ― titled “Stop Saying That Everything Is Under Control. It Isn’t.” — said tackling the crisis that’s sickened almost 200,000 people worldwide will “require a new, collective way of thinking about public health and society as a whole.”
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It noted how President Franklin D. Roosevelt “compelled and inspired industries and individuals to rally for the greater good” during World War II and suggested that “something similar is called for today.”
“The United States is again faced with a crisis that calls for a national response, demanding a mobilization of resources that the free market or individual states cannot achieve on their own,” the editorial said.
It proposed the creation of new public works programs, the use of the Defense Production Act to allow President Donald Trump to “mobilize domestic industries in times of crisis” and the increase in production of medical equipment, just like the federal government “ramped up production of munitions during World War II.”
During WWII, the government “raised corporate and personal income taxes, pushed the business community onto a wartime footing, drafted millions into the military or civilian defense forces, rationed civilian goods in service of military goals and drastically reorganized society by offering jobs to women and minorities who had long been excluded from them,” the editorial board wrote.
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thehuffingtonpost--2020-03-17--Bernie Sanders Proposes $2 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Effort

Sen. Bernie Sanders ( I-Vt. ) announced a host of ideas to address the human and economic fallout from the spread of coronavirus on Tuesday night , including having the federal government send each U.S. household $ 2,000 for every month that the COVID-19 outbreak persists and empowering Medicare to cover all medical needs during the pandemic .
Sanders estimated that the emergency policy package would cost $ 2 trillion .
“ Our country and , in fact , the world are facing an unprecedented series of crises , ” Sanders said in an address live-streamed from Washington .
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is that in this moment of crisis it is imperative that we stand together.
” In addition to the cash payments to all households , the Democratic presidential hopeful proposed short-term assistance for struggling small- and medium-sized businesses to help them meet payroll and an expansion of unemployment insurance to cover 100 % of pay up to $ 75,000 a year .
And he would halt evictions , foreclosures and utility shutoffs , as well as suspend mortgage payments for primary residences , utility bill payments and student loan payments for the length @ @ @ @ @ @ @ make certain that the government is getting this money into the hands of working families and the most vulnerable as quickly as possible , ” he said .
“ In other words , we don ’ t want some kind of bureaucratic arrangement where we ’ re talking about this for weeks and months , and people do not get the help that they need.
” Sen. Bernie Sanders ( I-Vt. ) introduced an ambitious package of policies to confront the pandemic even as he acknowledged that Congress might not get behind all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ envisions creating another temporary agency to prevent the public health crisis from becoming a “ moneymaking opportunity for Corporate America and Wall Street.
” The agency would enforce a ban on the use of any bailout money for bonuses and stock buybacks , police a ban on pharmaceutical price gouging and investigate violations of those policies .
Sanders has for days been emphasizing how the pandemic had made more obvious the need to enact his signature policy of “ Medicare for All ” in order to eliminate people ’ s reluctance to seek @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he focused on the immediate relief the federal government can provide by empowering Medicare to cover the cost of any medical care during the COVID-19 outbreak , including testing , treatment and an eventual vaccine .
“ This is kind of a no-brainer ― something that should have happened in our country many , many years ago , ” he said .
“ But in the midst of this crisis , what I believe we must do is empower Medicare to cover all medical bills.
” Sanders also called for a series of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s capacity to absorb a spike in demand for urgent medical attention .
He would expand community health centers that provide care for low-income Americans ― a longstanding priority of his ― and invoke the federal government ’ s wartime powers to scale up production of essential materials in short supply , such as ventilators and protective gear for medical workers .
And Sanders joined former Vice President Joe Biden in backing the immediate mobilization of the U.S. military to assist in relief and medical infrastructure construction efforts , calling for use @ @ @ @ @ @ @ particular .
The speech on Tuesday , delivered moments before it became clear that Biden had scored another series of primary victories against Sanders in key states including Illinois and Florida , expanded on remarks Sanders had made in a Thursday speech about the pandemic .
For example , Sanders had outlined an unemployment insurance expansion that would cover annual pre-pandemic pay of $ 60,000 ― a lower threshold than he announced Tuesday .
Earlier on Tuesday , Sen. Elizabeth Warren ( D-Mass . )
, who dropped out of the presidential race @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for any federal bailout money for corporations .
Last week she rolled out a plan to allot $ 400 billion in funding for safety net providers , paid sick leave and an economic stimulus .

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Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced a host of ideas to address the human and economic fallout from the spread of coronavirus on Tuesday night, including having the federal government send each U.S. household $2,000 for every month that the COVID-19 outbreak persists and empowering Medicare to cover all medical needs during the pandemic. Sanders estimated that the emergency policy package would cost $2 trillion.
“Our country and, in fact, the world are facing an unprecedented series of crises,” Sanders said in an address live-streamed from Washington. ”The main point to be made tonight is that in this moment of crisis it is imperative that we stand together.”
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In addition to the cash payments to all households, the Democratic presidential hopeful proposed short-term assistance for struggling small- and medium-sized businesses to help them meet payroll and an expansion of unemployment insurance to cover 100% of pay up to $75,000 a year. And he would halt evictions, foreclosures and utility shutoffs, as well as suspend mortgage payments for primary residences, utility bill payments and student loan payments for the length of the pandemic.
“We must make certain that the government is getting this money into the hands of working families and the most vulnerable as quickly as possible,” he said. “In other words, we don’t want some kind of bureaucratic arrangement where we’re talking about this for weeks and months, and people do not get the help that they need.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced an ambitious package of policies to confront the pandemic even as he acknowledged that Congress might not get behind all of them. MANDEL NGAN/Getty Images
The payment plan drew praise from entrepreneur Andrew Yang, a former Democratic presidential contender who has championed the idea of a universal basic income. “I like where Bernie’s head is,” he wrote on Twitter. (Yang endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden last Tuesday.)
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Sanders would centralize the authority for performing these functions under a new federal agency he is calling the Emergency Economic Crisis Finance Agency.
“This is kind of a no-brainer ― something that should have happened in our country many, many years ago.” - Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)
The senator from Vermont envisions creating another temporary agency to prevent the public health crisis from becoming a “moneymaking opportunity for Corporate America and Wall Street.” The agency would enforce a ban on the use of any bailout money for bonuses and stock buybacks, police a ban on pharmaceutical price gouging and investigate violations of those policies.
Sanders has for days been emphasizing how the pandemic had made more obvious the need to enact his signature policy of “Medicare for All” in order to eliminate people’s reluctance to seek medical attention.
On Tuesday night, he focused on the immediate relief the federal government can provide by empowering Medicare to cover the cost of any medical care during the COVID-19 outbreak, including testing, treatment and an eventual vaccine.
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“This is kind of a no-brainer ― something that should have happened in our country many, many years ago,” he said. “But in the midst of this crisis, what I believe we must do is empower Medicare to cover all medical bills.”
Sanders also called for a series of measures aimed at shoring up the country’s capacity to absorb a spike in demand for urgent medical attention. He would expand community health centers that provide care for low-income Americans ― a longstanding priority of his ― and invoke the federal government’s wartime powers to scale up production of essential materials in short supply, such as ventilators and protective gear for medical workers. And Sanders joined former Vice President Joe Biden in backing the immediate mobilization of the U.S. military to assist in relief and medical infrastructure construction efforts, calling for use of the Army Corps of Engineers in particular.
The speech on Tuesday, delivered moments before it became clear that Biden had scored another series of primary victories against Sanders in key states including Illinois and Florida, expanded on remarks Sanders had made in a Thursday speech about the pandemic. For example, Sanders had outlined an unemployment insurance expansion that would cover annual pre-pandemic pay of $60,000 ― a lower threshold than he announced Tuesday.
Sanders’s remarks are part of a burst of activity by Republican and Democratic lawmakers seeking to limit the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has sent many Americans into self-isolation.
Earlier on Tuesday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who dropped out of the presidential race earlier this month, outlined stiff conditions for any federal bailout money for corporations. Last week she rolled out a plan to allot $400 billion in funding for safety net providers, paid sick leave and an economic stimulus.
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In addition, Democratic Sens. Cory Booker (N.J.), Michael Bennet (Colo.) and Sherrod Brown (Ohio) have introduced a proposal to immediately provide the vast majority of households $2,000 a month until employment rebounds to close to what it was before the pandemic.
As a presidential candidate, Sanders has insisted that his grassroots movement is capable of pressuring Congress into adopting ambitious policies.
But on Tuesday night, he flashed a bit of the legislative realism that has characterized his three-decade career in Congress. He suggested that not every idea he proposed would pass.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-03-18--Rush Limbaugh Stand-In: S.F. In Coronavirus Lockdown Because It’s 'A Big Gay Town’

Mark Steyn filled in for Rush Limbaugh on his radio show on Tuesday and picked up where the right-wing host had left off with offensive and false comments about the coronavirus pandemic .
Steyn , who frequently appears on and guest-hosts Tucker Carlson ’ s primetime Fox News show , suggested the San Francisco Bay Area was among the first locations to implement a shelter-in-place order to tackle the spread of the virus because “ they ’ ve got all the gay guys there.
” It ’ s a big gay town , San Francisco , and they ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ systems from all the protease inhibitors and all the other stuff .
And they don ’ t want all the gays dropping dead on the San Francisco mayor ’ s watch .
So that ’ s why they ’ ve got all that sheltering in place there .
Steyn , who has previously defended white supremacists , also claimed President Donald Trump “ would get blamed ” if there was “ a big gay apocalypse.
” “ He ’ d be .
It would be his homophobia that would have struck down all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he added .
“ So that ’ s why they ’ ve all been ordered to stay home .
And it ’ s not easy staying home .
“ Check out the audio , courtesy of Media Matters , here :

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Mark Steyn filled in for Rush Limbaugh on his radio show on Tuesday and picked up where the right-wing host had left off with offensive and false comments about the coronavirus pandemic.
Steyn, who frequently appears on and guest-hosts Tucker Carlson’s prime-time Fox News show, suggested the San Francisco Bay Area was among the first locations to implement a shelter-in-place order to tackle the spread of the virus because “they’ve got all the gay guys there.”
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He continued:
It’s a big gay town, San Francisco, and they’re the ones with all the compromised immune systems from all the protease inhibitors and all the other stuff. And they don’t want all the gays dropping dead on the San Francisco mayor’s watch. So that’s why they’ve got all that sheltering in place there.
Steyn, who has previously defended white supremacists, also claimed President Donald Trump “would get blamed” if there was “a big gay apocalypse.”
“He’d be. It would be his homophobia that would have struck down all these people in San Francisco,” he added. “So that’s why they’ve all been ordered to stay home. And it’s not easy staying home.”
Check out the audio, courtesy of Media Matters, here:


thehuffingtonpost--2020-03-17--Chicago Chief Prosecutor Kim Foxx Wins Democratic Primary Amid Jussie Smollett Controversy

“ There was an effort to make this election about one big case involving a celebrity .
The voters have overwhelmingly put that fallacy to rest , ” Foxx said in her victory speech late Tuesday night .
In-person voter turnout was at a historic low on Tuesday as the government implemented social distancing and quarantine guidelines amid the COVID-19 outbreak .
Several states postponed their primaries due to the pandemic , including Louisiana , Kentucky , Georgia , Maryland and Ohio .
Foxx , 47 , became the first Black woman to serve as chief prosecutor in Cook County @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cook County , which includes Chicago , is the second-largest prosecutor ’ s office in the U.S. , overseeing about 800 attorneys .
Though incumbents usually hold a heavy advantage in elections , Foxx faced an tough battle heading into the primary .
Foxx had three challengers : Conway , former Assistant Cook County State ’ s Attorney and Assistant U.S. Attorney Donna Moore , and civil rights attorney Bob Fioretti .
Conway was her biggest contender by far , with much deeper pockets after his billionaire father donated $ 10 million to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ alone , the two candidates raised almost $ 16 million combined , making it the most expensive Cook County state ’ s attorney race in history .
Last year , Foxx came under heavy criticism for choosing to drop charges against actor Jussie Smollett , who was accused of staging a racist and homophobic hate attack against himself last year in Chicago .
Foxx , widely known as a criminal justice reformer , dropped the 16 felony charges against Smollett in keeping with her overall promise to send fewer nonviolent offenders to prison @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , denounced Foxx ’ s decision , claiming she let Smollett off the hook because he ’ s famous .
“ That we are continuing to talk about this in a city that continues to deal with gun violence , in a city that is continuing to reckon with police accountability , ” Foxx told the Chicago Sun-Times earlier this month , “ that somehow this case has been elevated to one of the greatest criminal injustices in our time feels disingenuous.
” In the wake of the criticism , Foxx acknowledged some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more transparent .
She later recused herself from the Smollett case .
In an unprecedented move , a local judge reversed Foxx ’ s judgment last month and appointed an outside prosecutor to reexamine the case .
Some have suggested that Foxx faced attempts to undermine her authority and discredit her judgment because she is a Black woman in a position of power .
After the Smollett dismissal , several white nationalist groups , including the Proud Boys and the American Guard , sent her racist threats and showed up for a protest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ She has no margin for error , ” Tanya Watkins , who runs SOUL in Action , a PAC that supports Black candidates , told The Associated Press last week .
“ The things I ’ ve heard said about this Black woman have reminded me how much more difficult it is to be a Black woman in the public arena.
” Two Republicans , Christopher Pfannkuche and Patrick O ’ Brien , faced off in Tuesday ’ s Republican primary .
Late Tuesday night , O ’ Brien was in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Foxx in the general election in November .
The county , however , hasn ’ t had a Republican chief prosecutor in nearly 30 years .

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Incumbent Kim Foxx declared victory after the Democratic primary for Illinois’ Cook County state’s attorney race on Tuesday, beating out three other contenders, including her biggest challenger, former Assistant State’s Attorney Bill Conway, a Navy veteran.
“There was an effort to make this election about one big case involving a celebrity. The voters have overwhelmingly put that fallacy to rest,” Foxx said in her victory speech late Tuesday night.
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In-person voter turnout was at a historic low on Tuesday as the government implemented social distancing and quarantine guidelines amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Several states postponed their primaries due to the pandemic, including Louisiana, Kentucky, Georgia, Maryland and Ohio.
Foxx, 47, became the first Black woman to serve as chief prosecutor in Cook County when she was elected in 2016. Cook County, which includes Chicago, is the second-largest prosecutor’s office in the U.S., overseeing about 800 attorneys.
Though incumbents usually hold a heavy advantage in elections, Foxx faced an tough battle heading into the primary. Foxx had three challengers: Conway, former Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney and Assistant U.S. Attorney Donna Moore, and civil rights attorney Bob Fioretti.
Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx arrives to speak with reporters about R. Kelly's first court appearance on Feb. 23 in Chicago. Nuccio DiNuzzo via Getty Images
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Conway was her biggest contender by far, with much deeper pockets after his billionaire father donated $10 million to his campaign. Between Foxx and Conway alone, the two candidates raised almost $16 million combined, making it the most expensive Cook County state’s attorney race in history.
Last year, Foxx came under heavy criticism for choosing to drop charges against actor Jussie Smollett, who was accused of staging a racist and homophobic hate attack against himself last year in Chicago. Foxx, widely known as a criminal justice reformer, dropped the 16 felony charges against Smollett in keeping with her overall promise to send fewer nonviolent offenders to prison. Critics, including President Donald Trump, denounced Foxx’s decision, claiming she let Smollett off the hook because he’s famous.
“That we are continuing to talk about this in a city that continues to deal with gun violence, in a city that is continuing to reckon with police accountability,” Foxx told the Chicago Sun-Times earlier this month, “that somehow this case has been elevated to one of the greatest criminal injustices in our time feels disingenuous.”
In the wake of the criticism, Foxx acknowledged some mistakes and admitted she could have been more transparent. She later recused herself from the Smollett case. In an unprecedented move, a local judge reversed Foxx’s judgment last month and appointed an outside prosecutor to reexamine the case.
Some have suggested that Foxx faced attempts to undermine her authority and discredit her judgment because she is a Black woman in a position of power. After the Smollett dismissal, several white nationalist groups, including the Proud Boys and the American Guard, sent her racist threats and showed up for a protest organized by a local police union.
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“She has no margin for error,” Tanya Watkins, who runs SOUL in Action, a PAC that supports Black candidates, told The Associated Press last week. “The things I’ve heard said about this Black woman have reminded me how much more difficult it is to be a Black woman in the public arena.”
Foxx had a long list of progressive endorsements, including presidential contender Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), as well as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.).


thehuffingtonpost--2020-03-18--Katrina Commander Rips Trump's 'Slow And Not Decisive' Coronavirus Response

The Trump administration ’ s response to the coronavirus pandemic has been slammed as “ slow and not decisive ” by the retired lieutenant general who righted the initially-dismal federal recovery effort following Hurricane Katrina .
“ It ’ s hard to get the speed you need to save lives if you ’ re slow at making decisions and you ’ re not decisive , ” Russel Honoré said on MSNBC Tuesday .
Honoré acknowledged “ we are facing an invisible enemy ” with the virus that has now sickened almost 200,000 people worldwide and said “ we ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , so in that regard , the things they have to do is going to be a little bit harder.
” But he then questioned why members of President Donald Trump ’ s government ― who have faced widespread criticism over its haphazard handling of the crisis ― had not been using models “ we ’ ve been having for years that would show from day one , patient number one out in Washington , in 30 days , the projected number of people that might be infected.
” “ They also could @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” added Honoré , who in 2017 famously swore on live TV while criticizing the Trump White House ’ s response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico .

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The Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has been slammed as “slow and not decisive” by the retired lieutenant general who righted the initially dismal federal recovery effort following Hurricane Katrina.
“It’s hard to get the speed you need to save lives if you’re slow at making decisions and you’re not decisive,” Russel Honoré said Tuesday on MSNBC.
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Honoré acknowledged “we are facing an invisible enemy” with the virus, which has now sickened almost 200,000 people worldwide, and said “we’re not quite sure how bad it is, so in that regard, the things they have to do is going to be a little bit harder.”
But he then questioned why members of President Donald Trump’s government ― who have faced widespread criticism over its haphazard handling of the crisis ― had not been using models “we’ve been having for years that would show from day one, patient number one out in Washington, in 30 days, the projected number of people that might be infected.”
“They also could have done better and can do better,” added Honoré, who in 2017 famously swore on live TV while criticizing the Trump White House’s response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.
Check out the clip here:
Gen. Russel Honoré characterized Trump's action on the coronavirus as slow and indecisive. pic.twitter.com/2rjbE3oKHt — Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) March 17, 2020