theguardian--2020-05-25--Trump spends Memorial Day weekend golfing and insulting female politicians

Even by Donald Trump ’ s standards , it was a wild ride .
On a Memorial Day weekend when coronavirus deaths in the US closed in on 100,000 , and a grateful nation paid respects to its war dead , its president took to the golf course and turned to social media to unleash a barrage of personal attacks on foes old , new and perceived .
On Saturday and Sunday , both days on which Trump visited his golf club in Sterling , Virginia , he followed his time on the links with late-night Twitter sessions tweeting or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The US House speaker , Nancy Pelosi , and Democratic rising star Stacey Abrams were derided for their looks or weight , while Trump ’ s former opponent Hillary Clinton was denounced as a “ skank ” .
He renewed his feud with the former US attorney general Jeff Sessions , who is trying to regain his old US Senate seat in Alabama , and repeated a baseless conspiracy theory accusing the TV host Joe Scarborough of involvement in the death of a young staffer .
On Monday morning , just moments before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Virginia ’ s Arlington National Cemetery , the president was still raging , lashing out on Twitter at Joe Biden , his presumptive Democratic opponent in November ’ s presidential election , and Barack Obama , his predecessor in the White House .
Trump claimed his golf trips , his first in almost three months because of the coronavirus pandemic , were for exercise , and slammed the media as “ sick ” , “ dishonest ” and “ deranged ” for reporting them .
“ The fake and corrupt news makes it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ knew this would happen , ” he tweeted on Monday , keeping attention on himself less than an hour before he appeared with the vice-president , Mike Pence , and defense secretary , Mark Esper , for a ceremony at Arlington ’ s tomb of the Unknown Soldier .
“ They don ’ t mention Sleepy Joe ’ s poor work ethic , or all of the time Obama spent on the golf course , ” he continued .
According to the website trumpgolfcount.com , the president has spent 251 days golfing since @ @ @ @ @ @ @ estimated cost to the US taxpayer of $ 134m .
By contrast , the website says , Obama played golf 306 times during the entire eight years of his two-term presidency .
Absent from Trump ’ s Twitter feed , however , other than a couple of retweeted health advice bulletins from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) , was any mention of the coronavirus pandemic still sweeping the nation .
The feed did feature a small handful of Memorial Day-themed messages .
At midday on Monday , with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ packed across the US , largely in defiance of social distancing guidelines , the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus resource center was showing a death toll of 97,811 .
Some of the president ’ s most insulting retweets were originally sent out on Saturday by John K Stahl , a failed Republican candidate for a 2012 California seat in the House of Representatives and Trump supporter with more than 107,000 followers .
The Clinton tweet calling her a “ skank ” , which also referred to Biden as a racist , was one of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a brief period on Saturday night .
“ The president is using his old playbook , his old grievances against Hillary Clinton and particularly [ going ] after Jeff Sessions , who is fighting in a Senate primary in July and which he is likely going to lose because of all this antipathy the president has for his former attorney general , ” Seung Min Kim , the Washington Post ’ s White House correspondent , told CNN .
“ What we ’ re not hearing from the president right now on his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ method of communication , his preferred megaphone , is any solemn messages about Memorial Day .
”

Even by Donald Trump’s standards, it was a wild ride. On a Memorial Day weekend when coronavirus deaths in the US closed in on 100,000, and a grateful nation paid respects to its war dead, its president took to the golf course and turned to social media to unleash a barrage of personal attacks on foes old, new and perceived.
On Saturday and Sunday, both days on which Trump visited his golf club in Sterling, Virginia, he followed his time on the links with late-night Twitter sessions tweeting or retweeting insults to prominent female politicians.
The US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and Democratic rising star Stacey Abrams were derided for their looks or weight, while Trump’s former opponent Hillary Clinton was denounced as a “skank”.
He renewed his feud with the former US attorney general Jeff Sessions, who is trying to regain his old US Senate seat in Alabama, and repeated a baseless conspiracy theory accusing the TV host Joe Scarborough of involvement in the death of a young staffer.
On Monday morning, just moments before attending the Memorial Day wreath-laying ceremony at Virginia’s Arlington National Cemetery, the president was still raging, lashing out on Twitter at Joe Biden, his presumptive Democratic opponent in November’s presidential election, and Barack Obama, his predecessor in the White House.
Trump claimed his golf trips, his first in almost three months because of the coronavirus pandemic, were for exercise, and slammed the media as “sick”, “dishonest” and “deranged” for reporting them.
“The fake and corrupt news makes it sound like a mortal sin. I knew this would happen,” he tweeted on Monday, keeping attention on himself less than an hour before he appeared with the vice-president, Mike Pence, and defense secretary, Mark Esper, for a ceremony at Arlington’s tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
“They don’t mention Sleepy Joe’s poor work ethic, or all of the time Obama spent on the golf course,” he continued.
According to the website trumpgolfcount.com, the president has spent 251 days golfing since his January 2017 inauguration, at an estimated cost to the US taxpayer of $134m. By contrast, the website says, Obama played golf 306 times during the entire eight years of his two-term presidency.
Absent from Trump’s Twitter feed, however, other than a couple of retweeted health advice bulletins from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), was any mention of the coronavirus pandemic still sweeping the nation. The feed did feature a small handful of Memorial Day-themed messages.
At midday on Monday, with beaches, parks, bars and restaurants packed across the US, largely in defiance of social distancing guidelines, the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus resource center was showing a death toll of 97,811.
Some of the president’s most insulting retweets were originally sent out on Saturday by John K Stahl, a failed Republican candidate for a 2012 California seat in the House of Representatives and Trump supporter with more than 107,000 followers.
The Clinton tweet calling her a “skank”, which also referred to Biden as a racist, was one of eight Stahl messages that Trump retweeted in a brief period on Saturday night.
00:27 Californians pack beaches on Memorial Day weekend, defying social distancing rules – video
“The president is using his old playbook, his old grievances against Hillary Clinton and particularly [going] after Jeff Sessions, who is fighting in a Senate primary in July and which he is likely going to lose because of all this antipathy the president has for his former attorney general,” Seung Min Kim, the Washington Post’s White House correspondent, told CNN.
“What we’re not hearing from the president right now on his Twitter feed, which is his preferred method of communication, his preferred megaphone, is any solemn messages about Memorial Day.”


theguardian--2020-05-25--Trump threatens to move Republican convention if North Carolina won't allow packed arena

Donald Trump has threatened to move the Republican party ’ s national convention from Charlotte , North Carolina , if the state is unable to commit to “ full attendance ” at the gathering due to Covid-19 restrictions .
In a series of tweets on Monday morning .
Trump said the state ’ s Democratic governor , Roy Cooper , was “ still in Shutdown mood & unable to guarantee ” that the party would be able to fill the arena with supporters .
“ I love the Great State of North Carolina so much so that I insisted on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the end of August , ” the US president wrote .
“ We would be spending millions of dollars building the Arena to a very high standard without even knowing if the Democratic Governor would allow the Republican Party to fully occupy the space.
” Trump added : “ If not , we will be reluctantly forced … to find , with all of the jobs and economic development it brings , another Republican National Convention site.
” Trump ’ s tweets came just two days after North Carolina recorded its largest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus so far .
On Friday , Cooper permitted some further loosening of restrictions on hair salons , barbers and restaurants .
But he said the state must continue to closely watch virus trends and has ordered entertainment venues , gyms and bars to remain closed .
Cooper did not immediately respond to the president ’ s threat .
The vice-president , Mike Pence , echoed Trump ’ s threat .
“ It ’ s an issue we ’ ve been talking about because these national conventions literally take many months to organize @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are states around the country — we think of Texas , we think of Florida , Georgia – the last two states I visited last week that have made tremendous progress on reopening their communities and reopening their economies , ” Pence told Fox News .
Trump ’ s threat built on previous antagonism with Cooper .
On 15 May , he accused Cooper of “ playing politics ” with a cautious reopening of the state and said it would be “ bad for them ” if the state delayed the convention .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I ’ m a traditionalist , but we ’ ll have to see , like everything else , but I think we ’ ll be in good shape by that time , ” he told the Washington Examiner .
The Republican national convention , scheduled for 24-27 August , is the centerpiece of Trump ’ s re-election campaign .
Prior to the pandemic , the RNC was expected to bring 50,000 people to the city .
But North Carolina is currently in phase two of its coronavirus reopening plan and gatherings are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ outdoors .
Cooper , who narrowly won election over an incumbent Republican in 2016 , faces a challenge in November ’ s gubernatorial race from the Republican lieutenant governor , Dan Forest , who has urged a faster reopening of businesses .
Trump ’ s tweets come a day after approximately 4,000 residents bucked Cooper ’ s restrictions to watch auto racing in Alamance county .
Plans to outfit the Spectrum Center , an indoor arena owned by the city of Charlotte and operated by its main tenant , the NBA ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have been thrown into chaos by the lockdown .
The Republican National Committee chair , Ronna McDaniel , has said that the convention would be held at least partly in person and vowed not to hold “ a virtual convention ” .
McDaniel said the RNC had enlisted a medical adviser and that the party was consulting with Charlotte ’ s mayor , Vi Lyles , and the governor .
The US health secretary , Alex Azar , said increasing testing capacity would be important but did not say a traditional convention was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a convention in Charlotte .
It ’ s a matter of what it looks like , ” the US senator Thom Tillis , a North Carolina Republican who is up for re-election in 2020 , told the Charlotte Observer last week .
But Cal Cunningham , the Democratic nominee for the Senate seat , countered that the state should adhere to public health experts ’ recommendations .
“ We ’ re certainly not ready to have large gatherings in North Carolina at this point .
We can be hopeful that this virus will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s convention time , ” Cunningham told the paper .
“ But that ’ s not what the public health experts seem to be suggesting .
I strongly urge them to be listening.
” Democrats have already delayed their own convention , which is preparing to nominate the former vice-president Joe Biden to face off against Trump .
It is planned for Milwaukee , Wisconsin , but there is considerable debate over whether it will be a mostly virtual meeting .

Donald Trump has threatened to move the Republican party’s national convention from Charlotte, North Carolina, if the state is unable to commit to “full attendance” at the gathering due to Covid-19 restrictions.
In a series of tweets on Monday morning. Trump said the state’s Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, was “still in Shutdown mood & unable to guarantee” that the party would be able to fill the arena with supporters.
“I love the Great State of North Carolina so much so that I insisted on having the Republican National Convention in Charlotte at the end of August,” the US president wrote.
“We would be spending millions of dollars building the Arena to a very high standard without even knowing if the Democratic Governor would allow the Republican Party to fully occupy the space.”
Trump added: “If not, we will be reluctantly forced … to find, with all of the jobs and economic development it brings, another Republican National Convention site.”
Trump’s tweets came just two days after North Carolina recorded its largest daily increase in positive cases of the coronavirus so far.
On Friday, Cooper permitted some further loosening of restrictions on hair salons, barbers and restaurants. But he said the state must continue to closely watch virus trends and has ordered entertainment venues, gyms and bars to remain closed.
Cooper did not immediately respond to the president’s threat.
The vice-president, Mike Pence, echoed Trump’s threat. “It’s an issue we’ve been talking about because these national conventions literally take many months to organize and prepare and there are, there are states around the country — we think of Texas, we think of Florida, Georgia – the last two states I visited last week that have made tremendous progress on reopening their communities and reopening their economies,” Pence told Fox News.
Trump’s threat built on previous antagonism with Cooper. On 15 May, he accused Cooper of “playing politics” with a cautious reopening of the state and said it would be “bad for them” if the state delayed the convention.
“We’ll have a convention. I’m a traditionalist, but we’ll have to see, like everything else, but I think we’ll be in good shape by that time,” he told the Washington Examiner.
The Republican national convention, scheduled for 24-27 August, is the centerpiece of Trump’s re-election campaign. Prior to the pandemic, the RNC was expected to bring 50,000 people to the city.
But North Carolina is currently in phase two of its coronavirus reopening plan and gatherings are limited to 10 people indoors or 25 outdoors.
Cooper, who narrowly won election over an incumbent Republican in 2016, faces a challenge in November’s gubernatorial race from the Republican lieutenant governor, Dan Forest, who has urged a faster reopening of businesses.
Trump’s tweets come a day after approximately 4,000 residents bucked Cooper’s restrictions to watch auto racing in Alamance county.
Plans to outfit the Spectrum Center, an indoor arena owned by the city of Charlotte and operated by its main tenant, the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets, and arrange accommodations, have been thrown into chaos by the lockdown.
The Republican National Committee chair, Ronna McDaniel, has said that the convention would be held at least partly in person and vowed not to hold “a virtual convention”.
McDaniel said the RNC had enlisted a medical adviser and that the party was consulting with Charlotte’s mayor, Vi Lyles, and the governor.
The US health secretary, Alex Azar, said increasing testing capacity would be important but did not say a traditional convention was a certainty.
“There will be a convention in Charlotte. It’s a matter of what it looks like,” the US senator Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who is up for re-election in 2020, told the Charlotte Observer last week.
But Cal Cunningham, the Democratic nominee for the Senate seat, countered that the state should adhere to public health experts’ recommendations.
“We’re certainly not ready to have large gatherings in North Carolina at this point. We can be hopeful that this virus will burn out and disappear before it’s convention time,” Cunningham told the paper. “But that’s not what the public health experts seem to be suggesting. I strongly urge them to be listening.”
Democrats have already delayed their own convention, which is preparing to nominate the former vice-president Joe Biden to face off against Trump. It is planned for Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but there is considerable debate over whether it will be a mostly virtual meeting.


theguardian--2020-05-26--Coronavirus US live: Trump and Biden at heart of war over mask-wearing as deaths near 100,000

There ’ s a press briefing on the White House schedule today , with Kayleigh McEnany in the Brady Briefing Room at 2pm .
Trump ’ s fourth press secretary is at loggerheads with some reporters already .
On Friday , McEnany pushed back at questions about Trump ’ s attempt to order states to reopen houses of worship .
On Sunday Fox News host Chris Wallace , not one of the president ’ s favourites , said : “ I spent six years in the White House briefing room covering Ronald Reagan .
I have to say , I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ too , I never saw a White House press secretary act like that.
” Jonah Goldberg , editor of The Dispatch , added : “ What Donald Trump wants in a press secretary is a Twitter troll who goes on attack .
Doesn ’ t actually care about doing the job they have , and instead wants to impress really an audience of one and make another part of official Washington another one of these essentially cable news and Twitter gladiatorial arenas.
” For schadenfreude fans , here ’ s our report on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ room on Friday : At 4pm today , meanwhile , Trump is due to deliver remarks in the Rose Garden , “ on Protecting Seniors with Diabetes ” .
To be minorly and possibly inappropriately facetious , it ’ s not yet clear if he thinks hydroxychloroquine can help .
At lunchtime , meanwhile , Trump will carry out the swearing-in of John Ratcliffe , the former Republican congressman who is his new Director of National Intelligence and whose confirmation to the role , in the Senate , was … not exactly bipartisan @

26 May 2020 00.56 BST Summary Trump again criticized vote by mail, repeating baseless claims that the mailed-in ballots would be particularly vulnerable to voter fraud, which is very rare. Twitter added a fact check feature to some of the president’s recent misleading tweets about mail-in ballots.
repeating baseless claims that the mailed-in ballots would be particularly vulnerable to voter fraud, which is very rare. Twitter added a fact check feature to some of the president’s recent misleading tweets about mail-in ballots. Trump said he thought it was “very unusual” that Joe Biden wore a face mask yesterday while attending a Memorial Day ceremony. The president has resisted wearing a mask in public, even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that Americans cover their faces while out in public and around other people. Biden called Trump a “fool” for discouraging citizens from wearing masks and changed his Twitter avatar to a picture of himself wearing a mask and aviators.
while attending a Memorial Day ceremony. The president has resisted wearing a mask in public, even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that Americans cover their faces while out in public and around other people. Biden called Trump a “fool” for discouraging citizens from wearing masks and changed his Twitter avatar to a picture of himself wearing a mask and aviators. Trump will meet with New York governor Andrew Cuomo in Washington tomorrow. Cuomo said he and the president would discuss his proposal to ramp up infrastructure spending to get more New Yorkers back to work amid the coronavirus crisis.
Cuomo said he and the president would discuss his proposal to ramp up infrastructure spending to get more New Yorkers back to work amid the coronavirus crisis. The Pentagon’s deputy inspector general resigned. Recently, the president effectively removed Glenn Fine from his role leading a coronavirus relief spending oversight committee, and the defense department official has now become the latest inspector general to step down in recent weeks.
Recently, the president effectively removed from his role leading a coronavirus relief spending oversight committee, and the defense department official has now become the latest inspector general to step down in recent weeks. The trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange was reopened after two months. Cuomo rang the opening bell to cheers from traders, who will still have to wear masks and stay six feet apart from each other when they’re on the floor.
26 May 2020 00.46 BST Fact checks: Voter fraud In a series of misleading tweets, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany presented misleading tweets about mail-in ballots. In Los Angeles, 100,000 inaccurate voter-registration records were generated after a technical glitch.
The system inaccurately enrolled some voters for vote-by-mail, and 1,500 non-citizens were allowed to register to vote. https://t.co/QJaa2x9ib0 — Kayleigh McEnany (@PressSec) May 26, 2020 Above McEnany is linking to a story about a 2019 settlement between California election officials and a conservative legal group that resulted in LA officials to remove the inactive records of voters who hadn’t voted in repeated elections and were not part of active voter rolls. There was no admission of wrongdoing int he settlement, but the county agreed to update old records. At the time, Paul Mitchell of the nonpartisan research firm Political Data Inc. told the. AP that this was an insignificant case because it involved inactive voters who “are not getting voting materials, they are not casting ballots, they are not showing up in precincts.” Just LAST WEEK, @TheJusticeDept announced the U.S. Attorney’s Office & FBI in Philadelphia secured a guilty plea of an elections judge, who admitted to accepting
BRIBES
FOR
BALLOTS. https://t.co/9At5ZcAXRd — Kayleigh McEnany (@PressSec) May 26, 2020 In Philly, a former judge of elections pleaded guilty to conspiracy to deprive Philadelphia voters of their civil rights by stuffing the ballot boxes for certain judicial candidates. This had nothing to do with mail-in voting. The former judge conducted voter fraud at the voting booth, not through the mail. He “fraudulently stuffed the ballot box by literally standing in a voting booth and voting over and over, as fast as he could, while he thought the coast was clear,” US attorney William McSwain said in a statement.
26 May 2020 00.09 BST The Trump campaign has responded to Twitter adding fact checks to the president’s false tweets about mail-in voting by attacking the social media company. “We always knew that Silicon Valley would pull out all the stops to obstruct and interfere with President Trump getting his message through to voters,” Trump 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale said. “There are many reasons the Trump campaign pulled all our advertising from Twitter months ago, and their clear political bias is one of them.“
It is important to note here that Twitter Inc. banned political ads in October 2019 — necessitating that the Trump campaign pull all its advertising from Twitter months ago.
Updated at 00.11 BST
26 May 2020 23.46 BST The US is nearing the bleak milestone of 100,000 confirmed coronavirus deaths. But the actual death toll will probably have hit that figure days before the official tallies reflect it. And despite scientists’ best efforts, that date may forever go unmarked. Coronavirus was probably spreading through the US before the Trump administration restricted travel from China, before the US had a reliable supply of diagnostic tests, and before the disease caused by the virus was even named. Models of the Covid-19 outbreak estimate that the virus was making its way through America’s major cities, undetected, weeks before a California woman in early February became the first American known to have died of related causes. Researchers are now doing detective work, revisiting autopsies from early this year and studying how the virus has subtly evolved to try to trace when Covid-19 may have first sickened and killed people in the US. Infectious disease experts caution, however, that finding a “patient zero”, or even figuring out exactly how many Americans were infected and died before testing was available, will be nearly impossible. Tracing 'patient zero': why America's first coronavirus death may for ever go unmarked Read more
26 May 2020 23.23 BST Joe Biden has a new Twitter avatar, in which he’s wearing a face mask. #NewProfiIePic pic.twitter.com/F9M8F3XfS1 — Rob Flaherty (@Rob_Flaherty) May 26, 2020 The change came shortly after Biden called Trump a “fool” for discouraging citizens from wearing masks. “Presidents are supposed to lead, not engage in folly and be falsely masculine,” Biden said in an interview with CNN.
26 May 2020 23.15 BST Meanwhile, New Mexico will begin allowing restaurants to serve customers at outdoor seating areas, at a reduced capacity. Breaking: @GovMLG announces a "soft reopening" for dine-in restaurants for most of New Mexico beginning Wednesday, May 27. Starting tomorrow, restaurants will be allowed to offer service at outdoor seating areas, up to 50 percent of outdoor fire code occupancy. — Ryan Lowery (@ryanmlowery) May 26, 2020
26 May 2020 23.11 BST California is expanding its reopening criteria to include barber shops and hair salons for certain counties, governor Gavin Newsom announced today. The Guardian’s Vivian Ho reports: A quick reminder for how it all works in the incredibly large and varied state of California: there is a statewide guidance that applies to all 58 counties and modifies the statewide stay-at-home order for everyone. That went into place 8 May, and allowed for retailers to offer curbside pickup. The statewide guidance allows for regional variance because parts of California were harder hit by the virus than others. Some counties, like San Francisco and Alameda, home of the Tesla factory, kept stricter restrictions than the rest of the state, much to the dismay of Elon Musk. Later, Newsom allowed for counties that had not been as affectedby the virus to apply for looser restrictions, such as the go-ahead to reopen some offices, schools and dine-in restaurants. These counties have to meet criteria such as a rate of 8% positive tests over seven days and a hospitalization rate below 5%. Newsom said Monday that 47 counties have self-attested. These 47 counties will now be allowed to get haircuts, following certain modifications such as wearing face coverings while in the salon and certain sanitation guidelines. “We’re making progress, we’re moving forward, we’re not looking back, but we are walking into the unknown, the untested, literally and figuratively, and we have to be guided by the data that brought us to this place in the first place,” Newsom warned.
Newsom made the hair salon announcement amid jokes that three of his four children, the oldest age 10, had helped cut his hair this weekend in “a family effort to remove what was described by my wife as, forgive me, a mullet.” Scenes from this weekend:
Praying I don’t end up looking like Gov. Exotic 😳 ✂ pic.twitter.com/rSPyM984QH — Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) May 26, 2020 California is now reporting 97,206 positive cases, and 3,777 deaths, but in the last 14 days, the state has seen a 6.7% decline in hospitalizations.
26 May 2020 23.08 BST A church in California has asked the Supreme Court to stop enforcement of the state’s social distancing policies. The South Bay United Pentecostal Church, represented by the Thomas More Society —conservative, pro-life law firm based in Chicago — filed a petition over the weekend, saying that the governor’s shelter-in-place guidelines “arbitrarily discriminate against places of worship in violation of their right to the Free Exercise of Religion under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.” Yesterday, governor Gavin Newsom said houses of worship would be allowed to re-open at 25% capacity. The Supreme Court has not formally accepted the petition.
26 May 2020 22.56 BST Gavin Newsom, California’s governor, did not hold back when asked at his daily briefing on Tuesday about Donald Trump’s comments on mail-in ballots. The Guardian’s Vivian Ho reports from San Francisco: Earlier this month, California became the first state to authorize sending every registered voter a mail-in ballot in the upcoming elections, a move that Newsom is calling a matter of public health, not politics. He started Tuesday citing three studies that essentially found that the cases of voter fraud were few and far between. He noted that there should be sanctions for people that are doing the wrong thing, but the reality is, the overwhelming majority of people are doing the right thing.” “Utah, hardly a bastion of progressive politics, has been doing mail-only ballots for a number of years,” Newsom said. “Colorado, as well as Oregon, Washington, other states, for years and years. The state of California has been doing it for decades. Many other states across this country have been using absentee ballots, for servicemen and women overseas, using absentee ballots in a secure, safe and honorable manner. It doesn’t skew Democratic, it doesn’t skew Republican.” He pointed out that by the time the November election rolls around, it will be flu season and “potentially the next Covid-19 season.” “The last thing we want to do is deny you your fundamental, hard-fought right,” Newsom said. “I don’t want to deny you that right because of public health and that is what this option and the ability to have an architecture of in-person voting options does in the state of California,” he continued. “I think it is a noble cause, I think it is an appropriate cause and I don’t think it’s political in any way, shape or form and I say that from the core of my being. I don’t just say that as a democratic governor of a large blue state, I say that as an American citizen, I say that as someone who believes deeply in democracy and believes in the cause of encouraging people to exercise their right, their privilege, their freedom to vote, for or against, pro/con, whatever one chooses to do, but to do it in a safe manner.”
26 May 2020 22.52 BST Fact check: Mail-in ballots Trump also lied while criticizing voting by mail. “People that aren’t citizens, illegals -- anybody that walks in California is going to get a ballot,” he said of the state’s plan to expand voting options. This is not true: in California, ballots are being mailed only to registered voters.
The president has often repeated baseless claims about voting by mail, to the. point that Twitter has added a fact-check to the president’s false tweets about the process. Twitter added a fact-check to President Trump's false tweets this morning about mail-in ballots. It links to this: https://t.co/RZKdaGqLuy pic.twitter.com/kljGY9tkpW — Sam Levine (@srl) May 26, 2020
26 May 2020 22.46 BST Fact check: Presidential authority The constitution does not allow the president authority to override state governors’ responses to the pandemic. As University of Texas law professor Steve Vladeck has explained before: “The president has no formal legal authority to categorically override local or state shelter-in-place orders or to reopen schools and small businesses. No statute delegates to him such power; no constitutional provision invests him with such authority.” In the federal government, Congress the power to “regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states” — but not the president. And it’s unclear that houses of worship have any impact on interstate commerce.
26 May 2020 22.34 BST Hi there, it’s Maanvi Singh, blogging from the West Coast. Moments ago, Trump said he has the authority to overrule state governors that refuse to reopen places of worship. “And we have many different ways where I can override them,” the president said. "I can absolutely do it if I want to" -- Trump insists he has the authority to overrule state governors if they refuse to reopen places of worship (he does not have that authority) pic.twitter.com/GxslxOJf1t — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 26, 2020 Trump does not have the authority to override state governors.
26 May 2020 22.28 BST Today so far The president has just concluded his Rose Garden event, and that’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Maanvi Singh, will take over the blog for the next few hours. Here’s where the day stands: Trump said he thought it was “very unusual” that Joe Biden wore a face mask yesterday while attending a Memorial Day ceremony. The president has resisted wearing a mask in public, even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that Americans cover their faces while out in public and around other people.
while attending a Memorial Day ceremony. The president has resisted wearing a mask in public, even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that Americans cover their faces while out in public and around other people. Trump will meet with New York governor Andrew Cuomo in Washington tomorrow. Cuomo said he and the president would discuss his proposal to ramp up infrastructure spending to get more New Yorkers back to work amid the coronavirus crisis.
Cuomo said he and the president would discuss his proposal to ramp up infrastructure spending to get more New Yorkers back to work amid the coronavirus crisis. The Pentagon’s deputy inspector general resigned. Recently, the president effectively removed Glenn Fine from his role leading a coronavirus relief spending oversight committee, and the defense department official has now become the latest inspector general to step down in recent weeks.
Recently, the president effectively removed from his role leading a coronavirus relief spending oversight committee, and the defense department official has now become the latest inspector general to step down in recent weeks. The trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange was reopened after two months. Cuomo rang the opening bell to cheers from traders, who will still have to wear masks and stay six feet apart from each other when they’re on the floor.
Cuomo rang the opening bell to cheers from traders, who will still have to wear masks and stay six feet apart from each other when they’re on the floor. Trump again criticized vote by mail, repeating baseless claims that the mailed-in ballots would be particularly vulnerable to voter fraud, which is very rare. Maanvi will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
26 May 2020 22.21 BST Trump: We must 'get to the bottom' of debunked Scarborough conspiracy theory Trump once again refused to denounce a debunked conspiracy theory that alleges MSNBC host Joe Scarborough was involved in the 2001 death of his former staff, Lori Klausutis. "A lot of people suggest that ... very sad and very suspicious ... there is no statute of limitations. So, it would be a very good thing to do" -- Trump defends pushing false Joe Scarborough conspiracy theories and calls for him to be investigated pic.twitter.com/NeJQ2uBZp8 — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 26, 2020 Trump said Klausutis’ death, which was ruled an accident by local Florida police and the medical examiner involved in the case, was “a very suspicious situation.” When Trump was pressed on the fact that Klausutis’ widower has asked Twitter to remove the president’s tweets on the matter, he said of Klausutis’ family, “I’m sure that ultimately they want to get to the bottom of it.” The president insisted it would be a “very good thing” to “get to the bottom of it.” But Klausutis’ widower said Trump “has taken something that does not belong him — the memory of my dead wife — and perverted it for perceived political gain.”
26 May 2020 22.12 BST Trump says it was 'very unusual' Biden wore a mask Trump said he thought it was “very unusual” that Joe Biden chose to wear a mask yesterday while attending a Memorial Day ceremony. Trump on why he seemingly criticized Biden for wearing a mask: "He was standing outside with his wife, perfect conditions, perfect weather -- when they're inside they don't wear masks. And so I thought it was very unusual he had one on." pic.twitter.com/zTcft2ymUP — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 26, 2020 “Biden can wear a mask,” Trump said. “He was standing outside with his wife, perfect conditions, perfect weather – when they’re inside they don’t wear masks. And so I thought it was very unusual he had one on.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended the use of face masks when Americans are in public and in close proximity to other people, but masks are not considered necessary when people are in their own homes. Trump denied that he was criticizing Biden when he retweeted a Fox News commentator who had questioned the former vice president’s use of the mask. “I wasn’t criticizing him at all,” Trump said. The infamously combative president added, “Why would I ever do a thing like that?” Trump also tried to convince a reporter to remove his mask to ask his question. When the reporter chose not to do so, Trump said, “Okay, good, you want to be politically correct.”
Updated at 22.35 BST
26 May 2020 22.01 BST Echoing comments from Trump and White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany earlier today, the vice-president boasted about the current coronavirus death rate in the country. Mike Pence noted that “just 505 Americans succumbed to the coronavirus” yesterday, saying the country has not seen that daily death toll since March. “We’re getting there, America,” Pence said. When the vice-president finished speaking, Trump echoed his comments, saying his administration had acted “quickly and smartly” and thus prevented a much higher death toll. The US coronavirus death toll is expected to reach 100,000 in the coming days, while Trump said last month that he expected 50,000 to 60,000 Americans to die of the virus.
Updated at 22.14 BST
26 May 2020 21.48 BST Trump mused about whether he should use insulin while delivering remarks on protecting seniors with diabetes amid the coronavirus pandemic. Trump muses about using insulin just for fun pic.twitter.com/PWvEhEcmTM — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 26, 2020 “I don’t use insulin. Should I be? Huh?” the president said of the diabetes medication. “I never thought about it. But I know a lot of people are very badly affected, right? Unbelievable.” The comment (or maybe it was a joke?) comes just after Trump said he has concluded his regimen of hydroxychloroquine, which he was using to prevent coronavirus, despite the FDA’s guidance that the drug should only be used in a hospital setting.


theguardian--2020-05-26--'You have to respond forcefully': Can Joe Biden fight Trump's brutal tactics?

Once , Joe Biden was adamant .
He would wait until after the November election to give his opponent a nickname : “ Former president Donald Trump.
” But as the smears from the president , his family and his campaign grew increasingly caustic , Biden responded with a moniker of his own .
“ I call him President Tweety , ” Biden said this week .
The name was perhaps more a statement of fact than an effective rejoinder to Trump ’ s own nickname for Biden : “ Sleepy Joe ” .
But its genesis also reflected the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ appetite for political combat defined his rise to power .
Name-calling , conspiracy-peddling and grievance-airing were parts of the playbook Trump deployed in 2016 , first against 16 Republicans , then against Hillary Clinton .
Now , six months before another election , eager to distract from a pandemic that has killed nearly 100,000 and ravaged the US economy , Trump and his allies are reprising these same brutal tactics , generating a fog of insinuations , accusations and smears .
“ He ’ s going to throw everything and the kitchen sink @ @ @ @ @ @ @ former senior adviser to Biden .
“ And we haven ’ t seen the kitchen sink yet.
” Flush with cash and digital prowess , the Trump campaign recently unveiled an ad offensive targeting Biden on fronts including his age and past comments on China .
Trump hammered the theme in an interview on Sunday , the 73-year-old president accusing his 77-year-old rival of lacking the mental acuity to lead an economic recovery , claiming Biden “ doesn ’ t know he ’ s alive ” .
The president ’ s sons also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Fox News , Eric Trump accused Democrats of “ milking ” coronavirus lockdowns to improve their electoral prospects .
Donald Trump Jr shared a meme that baselessly suggested Biden was a pedophile .
The younger Trump claimed he was “ just joking ” – then shared another message that made the same insinuation .
All of that came as Trump launched a dark and unfounded accusation that Barack Obama – and by extension his vice-president – was involved in a plot to undermine his successor .
“ God almighty this is sick , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he dismissed the onslaught as a tired attempt to divert the public from Trump ’ s handling of the coronavirus outbreak , a central theme of the Biden post-primary campaign so far .
Asked if he intended to ignore the president , Biden , who once challenged Trump to a push-up contest , replied : “ I don ’ t want to get down in the mud with these guys.
” And yet his campaign has acknowledged the effectiveness of Trump ’ s tactics in a fundraising email that included a screen grab @ @ @ @ @ @ @ campaign blasts to supporters that carried the subject line : Joe Biden Is Guilty .
Biden ’ s campaign , lamenting the falsehoods in the email , warned :  “ It is the EXACT same thing he did in 2016 .
And quite honestly , we ’ re scared because we know it worked last time. ”  ‘ The more he talks , the better off I am ’ The Trump camp hopes to frame the election as it did in 2016 : a choice between an anti-establishment change agent and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is far from certain if it can deliver the same dramatic ending , as the cast , roles and backdrop have all changed significantly .
Trump is now a president with a governing record to defend .
And Biden , despite his vulnerabilities and a lengthy record of his own , is far less polarizing than Clinton , who had been the target of decades of sensationalist attacks .
The campaign looks different too .
It remains uncertain when , if ever , the candidates will be able return to the traditional trail @ @ @ @ @ @ @ debates , even party conventions are in doubt .
And though Biden lacks Trump ’ s bully pulpit , he believes the new landscape has worked to his advantage .
“ The more he talks , the better off I am , ” the challenger said this week .
Yet even by the standards of Trump ’ s presidency , his behavior has alarmed some in his party .
They fear he may cost them the Senate and the White House .
But he has also rattled some Democrats , who warn that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ arsenal of the federal government , reinforced by Republican allies in Congress .
“ He used to tweet , ‘ Lock her up , ’ said Jesse Ferguson , a Democratic operative who worked on Clinton ’ s campaign .
“ Now he pressures the justice department to issue a subpoena.
” After Trump alleged criminal conduct by his predecessor in the Oval Office , attorney general William Barr was forced to respond , dismissing the possibility of an investigation into Obama or Biden .
But Barr did not count out investigations of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ look into the matter .
Ron Johnson , of Wisconsin , forged ahead with a vote this week , authorizing a subpoena to investigate business dealings involving Biden ’ s son , Hunter .
Democrats think an anxious nation simply wants leadership in a moment of crisis .
“ [ Trump ] tries to be the master distractor but it ’ s those very distractions that are one of his biggest problems right now , ” Ferguson said .
“ Every time he goes in for a smear , what people see is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump ’ s penchant for conspiracy theories poses a unique problem .
Responding to baseless claims risks elevating them .
Not responding can allow such claims to spread uncontrollably .
Already Trump has elevated unsubstantiated claims about Biden ’ s ties to China , his son ’ s business dealings and the supposed “ deep state ” plot he calls “ Obamagate ” .
Inside the conservative media echo chamber , these messages are easily amplified .
“ Trump is uniquely skilled at this , ” said Tim Miller , a Republican who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ campaign .
“ He ’ s got a lizard brain for it.
” Miller said it was important to closely monitor stories on social media and fringe websites , to determine what is gaining traction and thus warrants a response .
Part of the trick is knowing when and how to respond .
He said Biden ’ s campaign should arm allies and surrogates with forceful rebuttals , particularly to claims about Hunter Biden and the Obama administration .
Perhaps most importantly , he said , the campaign must be ready to go @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the lessons we learned from 2016 is that just pivoting to policy is not a solution , ” he said .
Biden ’ s campaign has been quick to decry Trump ’ s attacks as a sign of desperation , as the president slides in national polls .
In response to the effort to paint Biden as “ China ’ s puppet ” , an ad hit Trump as soft on Beijing .
And the campaign has also escalated critiques of Trump ’ s response to the coronavirus crisis .
“ We know @ @ @ @ @ @ @ test of leadership , ” Biden said at a virtual Wisconsin rally .
“ He thinks he ’ s a builder but he ’ s a destroyer of everything he touches.
” In turn , the Trump camp has indicated that little will be off limits – even charges that apply equally to the president himself .
When Biden said on Friday that African Americans who don ’ t support him “ ain ’ t black ” , the Trump campaign quickly assembled a press call featuring prominent black supporters of a president @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Hours later , Biden apologized .
As one Republican operative described the strategy , “ It ’ s not , ‘ My guy is better than your guy.
’ It ’ s ‘ Your guy isn ’ t as good as you think he is.
’ ” ‘ You can ’ t let any attack go unanswered ’ Give the current national crisis , few strategists believe Trump can successfully reframe the election as anything but a referendum on his record in office .
Democrats say his scattershot messaging suggests his campaign @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attack that sticks .
But even a marginal impact on support or turnout could make a difference in what will likely be another close race , said Ben Tulchin , a top pollster on both Bernie Sanders campaigns for the Democratic nomination .
“ You can ’ t let any attack go unanswered , ” he said .
“ Any attack he makes , you have to respond forcefully .
You can ’ t allow him to define you.
” After nearly 50 years in national politics , Biden believes Trump and his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ change public perception of him .
“ People know me , ” Biden said this week .
“ The good news is the bad news.
” On Friday evening , perhaps seeking to assuage any doubts stoked by Trump ’ s “ Sleepy Joe ” attacks , the candidate outlined for donors a daily workout routine designed by a former White House doctor .
Every exercise and repetition must add up to 46 , Biden said , because he would be the 46th president .
“ I wish I ’ d been the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ It would have been a lot easier .
”

Once, Joe Biden was adamant. He would wait until after the November election to give his opponent a nickname: “Former president Donald Trump.”
But as the smears from the president, his family and his campaign grew increasingly caustic, Biden responded with a moniker of his own.
“I call him President Tweety,” Biden said this week.
The name was perhaps more a statement of fact than an effective rejoinder to Trump’s own nickname for Biden: “Sleepy Joe”. But its genesis also reflected the difficulty of running against a man whose appetite for political combat defined his rise to power.
Name-calling, conspiracy-peddling and grievance-airing were parts of the playbook Trump deployed in 2016, first against 16 Republicans, then against Hillary Clinton.
Now, six months before another election, eager to distract from a pandemic that has killed nearly 100,000 and ravaged the US economy, Trump and his allies are reprising these same brutal tactics, generating a fog of insinuations, accusations and smears.
Trump is going to throw everything and the kitchen sink. And we haven't seen the kitchen sink yet Moe Vela
“He’s going to throw everything and the kitchen sink,” said Moe Vela, a former senior adviser to Biden. “And we haven’t seen the kitchen sink yet.”
Flush with cash and digital prowess, the Trump campaign recently unveiled an ad offensive targeting Biden on fronts including his age and past comments on China. Trump hammered the theme in an interview on Sunday, the 73-year-old president accusing his 77-year-old rival of lacking the mental acuity to lead an economic recovery, claiming Biden “doesn’t know he’s alive”.
The president’s sons also got in on the act. On Fox News, Eric Trump accused Democrats of “milking” coronavirus lockdowns to improve their electoral prospects. Donald Trump Jr shared a meme that baselessly suggested Biden was a pedophile. The younger Trump claimed he was “just joking” – then shared another message that made the same insinuation.
All of that came as Trump launched a dark and unfounded accusation that Barack Obama – and by extension his vice-president – was involved in a plot to undermine his successor.
“God almighty this is sick,” Biden told Yahoo News. But he dismissed the onslaught as a tired attempt to divert the public from Trump’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak, a central theme of the Biden post-primary campaign so far.
Asked if he intended to ignore the president, Biden, who once challenged Trump to a push-up contest, replied: “I don’t want to get down in the mud with these guys.”
And yet his campaign has acknowledged the effectiveness of Trump’s tactics in a fundraising email that included a screen grab of one of the president’s campaign blasts to supporters that carried the subject line: Joe Biden Is Guilty.
Biden’s campaign, lamenting the falsehoods in the email, warned: “It is the EXACT same thing he did in 2016. And quite honestly, we’re scared because we know it worked last time.”
‘The more he talks, the better off I am’
The Trump camp hopes to frame the election as it did in 2016: a choice between an anti-establishment change agent and a corrupt Washington insider. But it is far from certain if it can deliver the same dramatic ending, as the cast, roles and backdrop have all changed significantly.
Donald Trump speaks as Senators John Barrasso and Mitch McConnell wear masks. Photograph: Patrick Semansky/AP
Trump is now a president with a governing record to defend. And Biden, despite his vulnerabilities and a lengthy record of his own, is far less polarizing than Clinton, who had been the target of decades of sensationalist attacks.
The campaign looks different too. It remains uncertain when, if ever, the candidates will be able return to the traditional trail. Under the pandemic, rallies, debates, even party conventions are in doubt. And though Biden lacks Trump’s bully pulpit, he believes the new landscape has worked to his advantage.
“The more he talks, the better off I am,” the challenger said this week.
Yet even by the standards of Trump’s presidency, his behavior has alarmed some in his party. They fear he may cost them the Senate and the White House. But he has also rattled some Democrats, who warn that he now has at his disposal the arsenal of the federal government, reinforced by Republican allies in Congress.
“He used to tweet, ‘Lock her up,’ said Jesse Ferguson, a Democratic operative who worked on Clinton’s campaign. “Now he pressures the justice department to issue a subpoena.”
After Trump alleged criminal conduct by his predecessor in the Oval Office, attorney general William Barr was forced to respond, dismissing the possibility of an investigation into Obama or Biden. But Barr did not count out investigations of Obama aides and Senate Republicans vowed to look into the matter. Ron Johnson, of Wisconsin, forged ahead with a vote this week, authorizing a subpoena to investigate business dealings involving Biden’s son, Hunter.
Democrats think an anxious nation simply wants leadership in a moment of crisis.
“[Trump] tries to be the master distractor but it’s those very distractions that are one of his biggest problems right now,” Ferguson said. “Every time he goes in for a smear, what people see is him avoiding responsibility for his failures.”
‘A lizard brain’
Trump’s penchant for conspiracy theories poses a unique problem. Responding to baseless claims risks elevating them. Not responding can allow such claims to spread uncontrollably.
Already Trump has elevated unsubstantiated claims about Biden’s ties to China, his son’s business dealings and the supposed “deep state” plot he calls “Obamagate”. Inside the conservative media echo chamber, these messages are easily amplified.
One of the lessons we learned from 2016 is that just pivoting to policy is not a solution Tim Miller, former Jeb Bush adviser
“Trump is uniquely skilled at this,” said Tim Miller, a Republican who worked on Jeb Bush’s 2016 campaign. “He’s got a lizard brain for it.”
Miller said it was important to closely monitor stories on social media and fringe websites, to determine what is gaining traction and thus warrants a response.
Part of the trick is knowing when and how to respond. He said Biden’s campaign should arm allies and surrogates with forceful rebuttals, particularly to claims about Hunter Biden and the Obama administration. Perhaps most importantly, he said, the campaign must be ready to go on the offensive.
“One of the lessons we learned from 2016 is that just pivoting to policy is not a solution,” he said.
Biden’s campaign has been quick to decry Trump’s attacks as a sign of desperation, as the president slides in national polls. In response to the effort to paint Biden as “China’s puppet”, an ad hit Trump as soft on Beijing. And the campaign has also escalated critiques of Trump’s response to the coronavirus crisis.
“We know that Donald Trump has utterly failed his test of leadership,” Biden said at a virtual Wisconsin rally. “He thinks he’s a builder but he’s a destroyer of everything he touches.”
In turn, the Trump camp has indicated that little will be off limits – even charges that apply equally to the president himself. When Biden said on Friday that African Americans who don’t support him “ain’t black”, the Trump campaign quickly assembled a press call featuring prominent black supporters of a president whose critics regularly accuse him of racism. Hours later, Biden apologized.
As one Republican operative described the strategy, “It’s not, ‘My guy is better than your guy.’ It’s ‘Your guy isn’t as good as you think he is.’”
‘You can’t let any attack go unanswered’
Give the current national crisis, few strategists believe Trump can successfully reframe the election as anything but a referendum on his record in office. Democrats say his scattershot messaging suggests his campaign is struggling to find a line of attack that sticks.
Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden share a Zoom video call with their granddaughter, Finnegan Biden. Photograph: Brian Cahn/ZUMA Wire/REX/Shutterstock
But even a marginal impact on support or turnout could make a difference in what will likely be another close race, said Ben Tulchin, a top pollster on both Bernie Sanders campaigns for the Democratic nomination.
“You can’t let any attack go unanswered,” he said. “Any attack he makes, you have to respond forcefully. You can’t allow him to define you.”
After nearly 50 years in national politics, Biden believes Trump and his allies face an uphill battle trying to change public perception of him.
“People know me,” Biden said this week. “The good news is the bad news.”
On Friday evening, perhaps seeking to assuage any doubts stoked by Trump’s “Sleepy Joe” attacks, the candidate outlined for donors a daily workout routine designed by a former White House doctor. Every exercise and repetition must add up to 46, Biden said, because he would be the 46th president.
“I wish I’d been the 20th president,” he said. “It would have been a lot easier.”


theguardian--2020-05-26--Democrats are fueling a corporate counter-revolution against progressives | David Sirota

hese are bleak days for America ’ s progressive movement .
The Democratic primary process handed the party ’ s nomination to the candidate with the most conservative record .
Corporate-friendly politicians like the New York governor , Andrew Cuomo , are using the pandemic to brandish their images and install billionaires to run things .
Progressive lawmakers in Congress are being steamrolled , even by their own party ’ s leadership .
And a recession is battering the state and local budgets that fund progressive priorities like education and the social safety net .
Perhaps this is a temporary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a two-steps-forward-one-step-back trajectory .
After all , polls continue to show that from workers ’ rights to universal healthcare , a majority of Americans support a progressive policy agenda .
The problem , though , is that Democrats in Washington are not just passively failing to mount a strong opposition to Donald Trump – they are actively helping Republicans try to fortify the obstacles to long-term progressive change well after this emergency subsides .
This corporate counter-revolution is easiest to see in Democrats ’ enthusiastic support for Republicans ’ legislative response to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2018 electoral campaign told America that the opposition party needed to win back Congress in order to block Trump ’ s regressive agenda .
And yet , when the Republicans proposed a bill to let Trump ’ s appointees dole out government cash to their corporate allies with no strings attached , this same opposition party mustered not a single recorded vote against the package .
Not one .
Thanks to that , Trump appointees and the Federal Reserve can now hand out $ 4tn to politically connected corporations as they lay waste @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Private equity firms and fossil fuel companies get new tax breaks as they buy elections and try to lock in permanent climate change .
These bailouts were part of a larger legislative package that included good things like expanded unemployment benefits – and so you could argue that Democrats simply had to swallow a bitter pill and vote yes .
Except , they subsequently proposed their own standalone legislation that would further strengthen the corporate opponents of progressive reform .
For example , there is the Democrats ’ push to alter the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Those loans were designed to help employees of mom-and-pop enterprises throughout the country .
House Democrats ’ new stimulus legislation would open up the small business lending program to what they call “ small nonprofits ” , but their language was crafted to provide the forgivable loans to industry trade associations .
Those lobby groups represent the planet ’ s biggest corporations – and their political action committees have delivered more than $ 191m of campaign cash to lawmakers in the last two decades .
Democrats have pitched their legislation as a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ values – and in this case , they are reassuring Washington power-players that money meant for workers at neighborhood restaurants , local shops and other mom-and-pop concerns can be raided by the front groups representing giant drug companies , health insurers and Wall Street firms .
If the legislation passes , it would not merely be an epic tale of greed – the new funding stream for corporate lobbying groups would bolster the very forces that make sure federal policy disempowers workers , maximizes private profit and generally protects the ruling class .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ on healthcare .
As 43 million Americans face the prospect of losing private health insurance , Democrats had a huge opportunity .
After Trump himself suggested he wanted the government to pay healthcare providers directly for treating uninsured Covid-19 patients , they could have called his bluff and passed existing legislation to expand a Medicare program that provides actual medical care .
Instead , House Democrats passed a bill to support lightly regulated private insurance marketplaces and to subsidize existing private insurance plans through a Rube Goldberg machine known as Cobra – and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an infusion of campaign cash collected by insurance lobbyists .
Taken together , these initiatives would route yet more public money through a corporate insurance bureaucracy in hopes that medical care eventually trickles down to Americans who desperately need it .
Such a system is totally inadequate during a pandemic : it doesn ’ t guarantee healthcare – it only only guarantees insurance coverage , which is so often denied or restricted when a medical claim is actually filed .
Moreover , corporate health insurance has far higher administrative costs than single-payer programs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Affordable Care Act allows insurers to siphon up to 20 % of customers ’ premiums to corporate profits rather than actual medical care .
But then , Democrats ’ Cobra plan is not merely a financial bailout for insurers – it is also a political bailout when the industry needs it most .
At a time when popular support for Medicare for All is surging – when even a Republican president feels the need to make rhetorical ( if empty ) gestures toward the concept of government-funded healthcare – the Cobra plan would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ private health insurance industry ’ s dominance over the healthcare system , just in time to short circuit a Medicare expansion .
That ’ s probably why insurance companies have been lobbying for it .
They know that such a program would boost their short-term profits , and they know that once such a program is in place , it would be politically difficult to get it repealed and replaced by progressives ’ far better Medicare for All program .
In other words : Democrats ’ Cobra plan may secure insurance companies ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ providers for decades to come .
If you get the sense that the fix is in and this is all deliberate , you ’ re not wrong .
Many of the self-styled progressive advocacy groups in Washington that posture as # resistance leaders turned a blind eye to the bill ’ s problems and endorsed the legislation shortly after it was introduced , undercutting progressive lawmakers off the bat .
Making matters worse was the theater on the House floor .
During the debate over the Democratic bill , nine progressive lawmakers made @ @ @ @ @ @ @ procedural measure to advance the bill , along with a tiny group of moderates .
When it came to the real vote on actually passing the bill , a larger group of moderates ended up voting against it , but only one progressive lawmaker , Representative Pramila Jayapal , voted no .
Had the progressives and moderates combined forces on either of the votes , they would have forced the bill back to the drawing board .
Instead , their shenanigans ultimately helped secure the legislation ’ s passage .
Taken together , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ resistance exists in the nation ’ s capital , it is so often performance art , rather than anything real .
“ Outside groups and House lawmakers need to work together to build a populist bloc – probably inclusive of moderate Democrats and perhaps even an occasional Republican – who will stand united to force votes to ensure that our economy does right by ordinary people , ” said David Segal of Demand Progress , pointing to news of a potential Democratic coalition to buck the party ’ s leadership and support a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the crisis .
“ We must make sure that America does not go in the wrong direction and become even more inequitable because we let unemployment soar , compel cities and states to implement austerity , force small businesses to shutter and let large corporations backstopped by the Fed roll them up.
” The tragedy is that we ’ re already moving in that wrong direction , and chances to change the political dynamic do not come around often .
As Barack Obama ’ s former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel ( now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) said more than a decade ago during the financial crisis : “ Never allow a good crisis to go to waste – it ’ s an opportunity to do the things you once thought were impossible.
” Billionaires and corporations are clearly following that advice , aiming to use the pandemic to grow their wealth and political power in previously unfathomable ways .
It would be better if the opposition party put up a real fight – or at least refused to be complicit in postponing progress for yet another generation .

These are bleak days for America’s progressive movement. The Democratic primary process handed the party’s nomination to the candidate with the most conservative record. Corporate-friendly politicians like the New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, are using the pandemic to brandish their images and install billionaires to run things. Progressive lawmakers in Congress are being steamrolled, even by their own party’s leadership. And a recession is battering the state and local budgets that fund progressive priorities like education and the social safety net.
Perhaps this is a temporary stall-out – a fleeting moment of retreat in a two-steps-forward-one-step-back trajectory. After all, polls continue to show that from workers’ rights to universal healthcare, a majority of Americans support a progressive policy agenda.
The problem, though, is that Democrats in Washington are not just passively failing to mount a strong opposition to Donald Trump – they are actively helping Republicans try to fortify the obstacles to long-term progressive change well after this emergency subsides.
This corporate counter-revolution is easiest to see in Democrats’ enthusiastic support for Republicans’ legislative response to the coronavirus crisis. Democrats’ entire 2018 electoral campaign told America that the opposition party needed to win back Congress in order to block Trump’s regressive agenda. And yet, when the Republicans proposed a bill to let Trump’s appointees dole out government cash to their corporate allies with no strings attached, this same opposition party mustered not a single recorded vote against the package. Not one.
Thanks to that, Trump appointees and the Federal Reserve can now hand out $4tn to politically connected corporations as they lay waste to our economy and steamroll progressive reforms. Private equity firms and fossil fuel companies get new tax breaks as they buy elections and try to lock in permanent climate change.
These bailouts were part of a larger legislative package that included good things like expanded unemployment benefits – and so you could argue that Democrats simply had to swallow a bitter pill and vote yes. Except, they subsequently proposed their own standalone legislation that would further strengthen the corporate opponents of progressive reform.
For example, there is the Democrats’ push to alter the so-called paycheck protection program (PPP). Those loans were designed to help employees of mom-and-pop enterprises throughout the country. House Democrats’ new stimulus legislation would open up the small business lending program to what they call “small nonprofits”, but their language was crafted to provide the forgivable loans to industry trade associations. Those lobby groups represent the planet’s biggest corporations – and their political action committees have delivered more than $191m of campaign cash to lawmakers in the last two decades.
Democrats have pitched their legislation as a “message” bill that declares their values – and in this case, they are reassuring Washington power-players that money meant for workers at neighborhood restaurants, local shops and other mom-and-pop concerns can be raided by the front groups representing giant drug companies, health insurers and Wall Street firms. If the legislation passes, it would not merely be an epic tale of greed – the new funding stream for corporate lobbying groups would bolster the very forces that make sure federal policy disempowers workers, maximizes private profit and generally protects the ruling class.
The tragedy is we’re already moving in that wrong direction, and chances to change the dynamic don't come around often
It’s an even worse story on healthcare. As 43 million Americans face the prospect of losing private health insurance, Democrats had a huge opportunity. After Trump himself suggested he wanted the government to pay healthcare providers directly for treating uninsured Covid-19 patients, they could have called his bluff and passed existing legislation to expand a Medicare program that provides actual medical care. Instead, House Democrats passed a bill to support lightly regulated private insurance marketplaces and to subsidize existing private insurance plans through a Rube Goldberg machine known as Cobra – and they passed this giveaway just after receiving an infusion of campaign cash collected by insurance lobbyists.
Taken together, these initiatives would route yet more public money through a corporate insurance bureaucracy in hopes that medical care eventually trickles down to Americans who desperately need it. Such a system is totally inadequate during a pandemic: it doesn’t guarantee healthcare – it only only guarantees insurance coverage, which is so often denied or restricted when a medical claim is actually filed. Moreover, corporate health insurance has far higher administrative costs than single-payer programs like Medicare, and even the much-vaunted Affordable Care Act allows insurers to siphon up to 20% of customers’ premiums to corporate profits rather than actual medical care.
But then, Democrats’ Cobra plan is not merely a financial bailout for insurers – it is also a political bailout when the industry needs it most. At a time when popular support for Medicare for All is surging – when even a Republican president feels the need to make rhetorical (if empty) gestures toward the concept of government-funded healthcare – the Cobra plan would use public money to firm up the private health insurance industry’s dominance over the healthcare system, just in time to short circuit a Medicare expansion.
That’s probably why insurance companies have been lobbying for it. They know that such a program would boost their short-term profits, and they know that once such a program is in place, it would be politically difficult to get it repealed and replaced by progressives’ far better Medicare for All program. In other words: Democrats’ Cobra plan may secure insurance companies’ profit-skimming position between Americans and their healthcare providers for decades to come.
If you get the sense that the fix is in and this is all deliberate, you’re not wrong. Many of the self-styled progressive advocacy groups in Washington that posture as #resistance leaders turned a blind eye to the bill’s problems and endorsed the legislation shortly after it was introduced, undercutting progressive lawmakers off the bat.
Making matters worse was the theater on the House floor. During the debate over the Democratic bill, nine progressive lawmakers made a public show of voting against the procedural measure to advance the bill, along with a tiny group of moderates. When it came to the real vote on actually passing the bill, a larger group of moderates ended up voting against it, but only one progressive lawmaker, Representative Pramila Jayapal, voted no. Had the progressives and moderates combined forces on either of the votes, they would have forced the bill back to the drawing board. Instead, their shenanigans ultimately helped secure the legislation’s passage.
Taken together, the spectacle was more confirmation that whatever resistance exists in the nation’s capital, it is so often performance art, rather than anything real.
“Outside groups and House lawmakers need to work together to build a populist bloc – probably inclusive of moderate Democrats and perhaps even an occasional Republican – who will stand united to force votes to ensure that our economy does right by ordinary people,” said David Segal of Demand Progress, pointing to news of a potential Democratic coalition to buck the party’s leadership and support a plan to float businesses’ payrolls through the crisis. “We must make sure that America does not go in the wrong direction and become even more inequitable because we let unemployment soar, compel cities and states to implement austerity, force small businesses to shutter and let large corporations backstopped by the Fed roll them up.”
The tragedy is that we’re already moving in that wrong direction, and chances to change the political dynamic do not come around often. As Barack Obama’s former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel (now an investment banker and TV talking head) said more than a decade ago during the financial crisis: “Never allow a good crisis to go to waste – it’s an opportunity to do the things you once thought were impossible.”
Billionaires and corporations are clearly following that advice, aiming to use the pandemic to grow their wealth and political power in previously unfathomable ways. It would be better if the opposition party put up a real fight – or at least refused to be complicit in postponing progress for yet another generation.


theguardian--2020-05-27--Twitter labels Trump's false claims with warning for first time

Twitter for the first time took action against a series of tweets by Donald Trump , labeling them with a warning sign and providing a link to further information .
Since ascending to the US presidency , Trump has used his Twitter account to threaten a world leader with war , amplify racist misinformation by British hate figures and , as recently as Tuesday morning , spread a lie about the 2001 death of a congressional aide in order to smear a cable news pundit .
Throughout it all , Twitter has remained steadfast in its refusal to censor the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ far as to write a new policy to allow itself to leave up tweets by “ world leaders ” that violate its rules .
The company ’ s decision on Tuesday afternoon to affix labels to a series of Trump tweets about California ’ s election planning is the result of a new policy debuted on 11 May .
They were applied – hours after the tweets initially went out – because Trump ’ s tweets violated Twitter ’ s “ civic integrity policy ” , a company spokeswoman confirmed , which bars @ @ @ @ @ @ @ elections or other civic processes ” , such as by posting misleading information that could dissuade people from participating in an election .
Trump responded on Tuesday evening with a pair of tweets that repeated his false claims about voting and accused Twitter of “ interfering in the 2020 Presidential Election ” .
“ Twitter is completely stifling FREE SPEECH , and I , as President , will not allow it to happen !
” he wrote .
Federal law protects the rights of internet platforms to moderate the third-party speech they publish @ @ @ @ @ @ @ false statements about California ’ s plan to expand access to voting by mail in November due to the coronavirus outbreak .
The tweets now feature a light blue exclamation point icon , with the message “ Get the facts about mail-in ballots ” .
The alert label may not be visible when the tweets are embedded in another web page , such as below .
Clicking on the alert will link users to a “ Twitter-curated page ” that variously describes Trump ’ s claims as “ unsubstantiated ” and false .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a number of journalists and publications explaining why Trump ’ s statements are false .
Trump ’ s claims about California on Tuesday were blatantly wrong .
The state is not sending a ballot to anyone who lives in the state but rather those registered there .
Sam Mahood , a spokesman for the secretary of state , Alex Padilla , said in an email only active voters in the state would be mailed ballots .
As states prepare for an unprecedented surge in mail-in voting because of the Covid-19 pandemic , Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will lead to fraud .
Voter fraud is extremely rare and one analysis found just 143 convictions involving mail-in ballot fraud since 2000 , representing 0.00006 % of the ballots cast during that time period .
Trump , who voted by mail in Florida in March , has made it clear that he opposes any effort to make it easier to vote by mail for all eligible voters , including sending an absentee ballot application to all voters , a measure the Republican National Committee does not oppose .
In March , he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mail-in voting would make it so “ you ’ d never have a Republican elected in this country again ” .
Studies have shown neither Democrats nor Republicans benefit from a switch to a vote-by-mail system .
Trump also attacked efforts to increase mail-in voting in Michigan and Nevada last week .
He falsely said Michigan was sending absentee ballots to all registered voters ; in fact the state was only sending an absentee ballot application .
Trump later deleted his tweet and reposted a new one accusing the secretary of state of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ secretary of state says is well within her authority .
Trump ’ s campaign manager , Brad Parscale , lambasted Twitter ’ s decision in a statement , framing it as an attempt by “ Silicon Valley ” to “ obstruct and interfere with President Trump getting his message through to voters ” .
Parscale also asserted that Twitter ’ s “ clear political bias ” was a reason that the Trump campaign pulled its advertising from Twitter “ months ago ” .
Twitter banned all political advertising in November 2019 , more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time , Parscale decried the global policy change as “ another attempt by the left to silence Trump and conservatives ” .
Experts on misinformation raised questions about whether Twitter ’ s measure would be effective .
Mike Caulfield , head of the Digital Polarization Initiative of the American Democracy Project , noted that the “ Get the facts ” phrasing could further entrench misinformation with its “ legitimizing tone ” .
“ Get the facts implies there is a debate where facts are being marshalled in evidence , ” he wrote on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Claire Wardle , the director of First Draft News , also questioned whether Twitter ’ s information page would be effective in changing any minds .
“ If we are to consider the reasoning behind this , it ’ s not a belief that this will change anyone ’ s minds , it ’ s to provide necessary context to a tweet that should be taken down , but if they did that would lead to more conspiratorial thinking , ” she said .
“ They ’ re stuck between a rock @ @ @ @ @

Julia Carrie Wong in San Francisco and Sam Levine in New York

Twitter has for the first time taken action against a series of tweets by Donald Trump, labeling them with a warning sign and providing a link to further information.
Since ascending to the US presidency, Trump has used his Twitter account to threaten a world leader with war, amplify racist misinformation by British hate figures and, as recently as Tuesday morning, spread a lie about the 2001 death of a congressional aide in order to smear a cable news pundit. Throughout it all, Twitter has remained steadfast in its refusal to censor the head of state, even going so far as to write a new policy to allow itself to leave up tweets by “world leaders” that violate its rules.
The company’s decision on Tuesday afternoon to affix labels to a series of Trump tweets about California’s election planning is the result of a new policy debuted on 11 May. They were applied – hours after the tweets initially went out – because Trump’s tweets violated Twitter’s “civic integrity policy”, a company spokeswoman confirmed, which bars users from “manipulating or interfering in elections or other civic processes”, such as by posting misleading information that could dissuade people from participating in an election.
Trump responded on Tuesday evening with a pair of tweets that repeated his false claims about voting and accused Twitter of “interfering in the 2020 Presidential Election”. “Twitter is completely stifling FREE SPEECH, and I, as President, will not allow it to happen!” he wrote. Federal law protects the rights of internet platforms to moderate the third-party speech they publish.
Trump’s tweets include numerous false statements about California’s plan to expand access to voting by mail in November due to the coronavirus outbreak. The tweets now feature a light blue exclamation point icon, with the message “Get the facts about mail-in ballots”. The alert label may not be visible when the tweets are embedded in another web page, such as below.
....living in the state, no matter who they are or how they got there, will get one. That will be followed up with professionals telling all of these people, many of whom have never even thought of voting before, how, and for whom, to vote. This will be a Rigged Election. No way! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 26, 2020
Clicking on the alert will link users to a “Twitter-curated page” that variously describes Trump’s claims as “unsubstantiated” and false. The Twitter page also aggregates tweets from a number of journalists and publications explaining why Trump’s statements are false.
Trump’s claims about California on Tuesday were blatantly wrong. The state is not sending a ballot to anyone who lives in the state but rather those registered there. Sam Mahood, a spokesman for the secretary of state, Alex Padilla, said in an email only active voters in the state would be mailed ballots.
As states prepare for an unprecedented surge in mail-in voting because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Trump has repeatedly made baseless claims that this will lead to fraud. Voter fraud is extremely rare and one analysis found just 143 convictions involving mail-in ballot fraud since 2000, representing 0.00006% of the ballots cast during that time period.
Trump, who voted by mail in Florida in March, has made it clear that he opposes any effort to make it easier to vote by mail for all eligible voters, including sending an absentee ballot application to all voters, a measure the Republican National Committee does not oppose. In March, he said Democratic efforts in Congress to expand mail-in voting would make it so “you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again”. Studies have shown neither Democrats nor Republicans benefit from a switch to a vote-by-mail system.
Trump also attacked efforts to increase mail-in voting in Michigan and Nevada last week. He falsely said Michigan was sending absentee ballots to all registered voters; in fact the state was only sending an absentee ballot application. Trump later deleted his tweet and reposted a new one accusing the secretary of state of unlawfully sending the applications, something the secretary of state says is well within her authority.
Trump’s campaign manager, Brad Parscale, lambasted Twitter’s decision in a statement, framing it as an attempt by “Silicon Valley” to “obstruct and interfere with President Trump getting his message through to voters”. Parscale also asserted that Twitter’s “clear political bias” was a reason that the Trump campaign pulled its advertising from Twitter “months ago”.
Twitter banned all political advertising in November 2019, more than six months ago. At the time, Parscale decried the global policy change as “another attempt by the left to silence Trump and conservatives”.
Experts on misinformation raised questions about whether Twitter’s measure would be effective. Mike Caulfield, head of the Digital Polarization Initiative of the American Democracy Project, noted that the “Get the facts” phrasing could further entrench misinformation with its “legitimizing tone”.
“Get the facts implies there is a debate where facts are being marshalled in evidence,” he wrote on Twitter. “It elevates the claim.”
Claire Wardle, the director of First Draft News, also questioned whether Twitter’s information page would be effective in changing any minds.
“If we are to consider the reasoning behind this, it’s not a belief that this will change anyone’s minds, it’s to provide necessary context to a tweet that should be taken down, but if they did that would lead to more conspiratorial thinking,” she said. “They’re stuck between a rock and hard place.”


theguardian--2020-05-26--Coronavirus US live: Trump pushes conspiracy theory and mask politics as death toll approaches 100,0

Coronavirus US live: Trump pushes conspiracy theory and mask politics as death toll approaches 100,000 – as it happened

Gavin Newsom , California ’ s governor , did not hold back when asked at his daily briefing on Tuesday about Donald Trump ’ s comments on mail-in ballots .
Earlier this month , California became the first state to authorize sending every registered voter a mail-in ballot in the upcoming elections , a move that Newsom is calling a matter of public health , not politics .
He started Tuesday citing three studies that essentially found that the cases of voter fraud were few and far between .
He noted that there should be sanctions for people that are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reality is , the overwhelming majority of people are doing the right thing.
” “ Utah , hardly a bastion of progressive politics , has been doing mail-only ballots for a number of years , ” Newsom said .
“ Colorado , as well as Oregon , Washington , other states , for years and years .
The state of California has been doing it for decades .
Many other states across this country have been using absentee ballots , for servicemen and women overseas , using absentee ballots in a secure , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t skew Democratic , it doesn ’ t skew Republican.
” He pointed out that by the time the November election rolls around , it will be flu season and “ potentially the next Covid-19 season.
” “ The last thing we want to do is deny you your fundamental , hard-fought right , ” Newsom said .
“ I don ’ t want to deny you that right because of public health and that is what this option and the ability to have an architecture of in-person voting options does in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ continued .
“ I think it is a noble cause , I think it is an appropriate cause and I don ’ t think it ’ s political in any way , shape or form and I say that from the core of my being .
I don ’ t just say that as a democratic governor of a large blue state , I say that as an American citizen , I say that as someone who believes deeply in democracy and believes in the cause of encouraging people to exercise their right @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vote , for or against , pro/con , whatever one chooses to do , but to do it in a safe manner .
”

Maanvi Singh (now) and Joan E Greve and Martin Pengelly (earlier)


theguardian--2020-05-26--Widower asks Twitter to delete Trump's 'horrifying' lies about wife's death

The husband of a woman whose 2001 death Donald Trump has repeatedly used for a political smear has demanded that Twitter take down tweets in which the president spreads the “ horrifying ” lie that the woman was murdered .
In a letter to the Twitter chief executive , Jack Dorsey , published on Tuesday by the New York Times , Timothy Klausutis made a heartfelt plea : “ Please delete those tweets … My wife deserves better.
” Twitter said it would not delete the tweets .
Trump has spread the pernicious lie about the death of Lori Klausutis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ host , Joe Scarborough of MSNBC .
With his wife , Mika Brzezinski , Scarborough frequently criticizes Trump on the Morning Joe program .
The president has also attacked Brzezinski in brutally personal terms .
Scarborough employed Klausutis , 28 , at the time of her death in July 2001 , when he was a Republican congressman from Florida .
Klausutis died from a head injury in a fall caused by a previously undiagnosed heart condition , according to the local medical examiner .
Some far-left websites spread a smear at the time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Scarborough , who was 1,000 miles away in Washington at the time , was somehow involved .
Those smears have been regularly debunked , including recently by the Washington Post Fact Checker , which gave the claim “ Four Pinocchios ” , a rating saved for the most egregious lies .
“ We wish we had more to give , ” the Post said .
Timothy Klausutis , a civilian US air force contractor , has very rarely commented on lies spread about his wife ’ s death .
In his letter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Her passing is the single most painful thing that I have ever had to deal with in my 52 years and continues to haunt her parents and sister .
“ The frequency , intensity , ugliness , and promulgation of these horrifying lies ever increases on the internet .
These conspiracy theorists , including most recently the president of the United States , continue to spread their bile and misinformation on your platform disparaging the memory of my wife and our marriage.
” Trump ignored the appeal , tweeting anew on Tuesday morning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Case against Psycho Joe Scarborough ” .
Previously , he tweeted : “ Did he get away with murder ?
Some people think so.
” Trump ’ s oldest son , Donald Trump Jr , has also taken up and spread the message , and at a briefing on Tuesday , the White House press secretary , Kayleigh McEnany , deflected questions on the matter .
“ I don ’ t know if the president ’ s seen the letter , ” she said , “ but I do know our hearts are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time.
” McEnany also said “ it ’ s Joe Scarborough that has to answer these questions ” and attacked the host and Brzezinski , saying they should be “ held to account for their falsehoods ” .
In his letter , Klausutis wrote : “ The president ’ s tweet that suggests that Lori was murdered – without any evidence ( and contrary to the official autopsy ) – is a violation of Twitter ’ s community rules and terms of service .
An ordinary user like me would be banished from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but I am only asking that these tweets be removed .
“ I am now angry as well as frustrated and grieved .
I understand that Twitter ’ s policies about content are designed to maintain the appearance that your hands are clean , you provide the platform and the rest is up to users .
However , in certain past cases , Twitter has removed content and accounts that are inconsistent with your terms of service .
“ I ’ m asking you to intervene in this instance because the president of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ does not belong to him – the memory of my dead wife – and perverted it for perceived political gain .
“ I would also ask that you consider Lori ’ s niece and two nephews who will eventually come across this filth in the future .
They have never met their aunt and it pains me to think they would ever have to ‘ learn ’ about her this way.
” Twitter has in the past removed posts that violated its community rules and terms of service , and it has banned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a statement on Tuesday morning , a spokesperson said the company would not remove the president ’ s tweets .
“ We are deeply sorry about the pain these statements , and the attention they are drawing , are causing the family , ” the spokesperson said .
“ We ’ ve been working to expand existing product features and policies so we can more effectively address things like this going forward , and we hope to have those changes in place shortly .
”

The husband of a woman whose 2001 death Donald Trump has repeatedly used for a political smear has demanded that Twitter take down tweets in which the president spreads the “horrifying” lie that the woman was murdered.
In a letter to the Twitter chief executive, Jack Dorsey, published on Tuesday by the New York Times, Timothy Klausutis made a heartfelt plea: “Please delete those tweets … My wife deserves better.”
Twitter said it would not delete the tweets.
Trump has spread the pernicious lie about the death of Lori Klausutis as a means of attacking a television host, Joe Scarborough of MSNBC. With his wife, Mika Brzezinski, Scarborough frequently criticizes Trump on the Morning Joe program. The president has also attacked Brzezinski in brutally personal terms.
Scarborough employed Klausutis, 28, at the time of her death in July 2001, when he was a Republican congressman from Florida. Klausutis died from a head injury in a fall caused by a previously undiagnosed heart condition, according to the local medical examiner.
Some far-left websites spread a smear at the time that Klausutis died from foul play and that Scarborough, who was 1,000 miles away in Washington at the time, was somehow involved.
The president has taken the memory of my dead wife and perverted it for perceived political gain Timothy Klausutis
Those smears have been regularly debunked, including recently by the Washington Post Fact Checker, which gave the claim “Four Pinocchios”, a rating saved for the most egregious lies.
“We wish we had more to give,” the Post said.
Timothy Klausutis, a civilian US air force contractor, has very rarely commented on lies spread about his wife’s death.
In his letter to Dorsey, he wrote: “Her passing is the single most painful thing that I have ever had to deal with in my 52 years and continues to haunt her parents and sister.
“The frequency, intensity, ugliness, and promulgation of these horrifying lies ever increases on the internet. These conspiracy theorists, including most recently the president of the United States, continue to spread their bile and misinformation on your platform disparaging the memory of my wife and our marriage.”
Trump ignored the appeal, tweeting anew on Tuesday morning about “the opening of a Cold Case against Psycho Joe Scarborough”. Previously, he tweeted: “Did he get away with murder? Some people think so.”
Trump’s oldest son, Donald Trump Jr, has also taken up and spread the message, and at a briefing on Tuesday, the White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, deflected questions on the matter.
“I don’t know if the president’s seen the letter,” she said, “but I do know our hearts are with Lori’s family at this time.”
McEnany also said “it’s Joe Scarborough that has to answer these questions” and attacked the host and Brzezinski, saying they should be “held to account for their falsehoods”.
In his letter, Klausutis wrote: “The president’s tweet that suggests that Lori was murdered – without any evidence (and contrary to the official autopsy) – is a violation of Twitter’s community rules and terms of service. An ordinary user like me would be banished from the platform for such a tweet, but I am only asking that these tweets be removed.
“I am now angry as well as frustrated and grieved. I understand that Twitter’s policies about content are designed to maintain the appearance that your hands are clean, you provide the platform and the rest is up to users. However, in certain past cases, Twitter has removed content and accounts that are inconsistent with your terms of service.
“I’m asking you to intervene in this instance because the president of the United States has taken something that does not belong to him – the memory of my dead wife – and perverted it for perceived political gain.
“I would also ask that you consider Lori’s niece and two nephews who will eventually come across this filth in the future. They have never met their aunt and it pains me to think they would ever have to ‘learn’ about her this way.”
Twitter has in the past removed posts that violated its community rules and terms of service, and it has banned users who are repeat offenders.
But in a statement on Tuesday morning, a spokesperson said the company would not remove the president’s tweets.
“We are deeply sorry about the pain these statements, and the attention they are drawing, are causing the family,” the spokesperson said.
“We’ve been working to expand existing product features and policies so we can more effectively address things like this going forward, and we hope to have those changes in place shortly.”
On air last week, Brzezinski called Trump a “cruel, sick, disgusting person”.