theguardian--2020-09-23--‘You can win this!’: how Beto O'Rourke is becoming Joe Biden’s greatest ally

Beto O ’ Rourke has a plan for America , and it starts in Texas .
The Democrat from El Paso , who became a global superstar with his insurgent 2018 bid to oust Ted Cruz from the US senate then went on to contest the Democratic presidential nomination , is back where he says he likes it most – trying to move mountains in the Lone Star state .
With less than a month to go before early voting opens in Texas , with its giant crop of 38 electoral college votes in play , O ’ Rourke has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rival .
“ We can see what ’ s happening in Texas and are screaming at Joe Biden from the roof tops .
‘ Hey , over here !
You can win this !
’ ” O ’ Rourke points to FiveThirtyEight ’ s poll tracker that has Donald Trump just one point ahead of Biden in Texas – an astonishingly close call for a state that has voted solidly for Republican presidential candidates since Jimmy Carter in 1976 .
He points to the state ’ s rapidly diversifying population that turned minority @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more new voters registered even since his paper-thin defeat to Cruz two years ago .
Winning Texas is the definitive answer to any dirty tricks Trump might be tempted to try were he to lose the election on 3 November , O ’ Rourke contends .
“ If Texas comes in for a Democrat for the first time in almost half a century the shock will be seismic .
Trump may or may not accept those results , but the rest of the country absolutely will .
It will forever reorder what ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been directly pitching his case to the Biden team that Texas is there for the picking , that it is a “ must win ” not a “ nice to win ” state .
Has his argument had any traction ?
“ To be seen , ” he said .
“ There ’ s an inertia .
Without a Democratic victory in Texas for 44 years , the idea that the state is Republican has been baked into the consciousness of every consultant and campaign worker .
They don ’ t believe their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s audacious ambition for Biden to take back Texas for the Democrats is typical of a politician who has consistently reached for the stars .
Having been through iterations as a bass guitarist with the punk band Foss and a software entrepreneur , he appeared out of relatively nowhere to be sent to the US House of Representatives in 2012 and then came within a whisker of booting Cruz from the Senate , losing to him by less than three points .
Now he ’ s turned the enormous army of volunteers he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a political campaigning force .
Powered by People , as he calls his political action committee , has 6,000 volunteers who have in turn registered to vote about 80,000 Texans and made more than 25m phone and text contacts with potential Democratic voters .
Much of his work with Powered by People has focused on Latino Texans living along the Mexican border in the Rio Grande Valley .
His aim is to mobilise their vast and largely untapped electoral potential .
The political soil of the Rio Grande Valley should be fertile for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Spanish-speaking border communities have borne the brunt of the Trump assault over the past four years .
It was here that Trump ’ s brutal family separation policy was concentrated , that migrant families were held in cages , that six children died while in US Customs and Border Protection ( CBP ) custody , and that 23 Mexican-Americans and Mexican nationals were gunned down by a white supremacist AK-47 wielding shooter echoing Trump ’ s racist language about a “ Hispanic invasion ” .
On top of all that , Latino communities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by Covid-19 , which has so far killed more than 14,000 people in the state .
Despite this rich territory , O ’ Rourke has been startled by how little enthusiasm for the Biden-Kamala Harris ticket he has found along the Rio Grande .
“ What we heard back from voters was really surprising to me .
So many voters along the border said to us they had yet to decide.
” That ’ s an astonishing – and for Biden , worrying – finding .
That Latino Texans who have been assailed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ discrimination and neglect should still be undecided about who to vote for , or whether to vote at all , is an indictment of the Democratic presidential campaign that chimes with recent polling in key swing states with large Latino electorates including Florida , Arizona and Nevada .
O ’ Rourke recalled talking to one Spanish speaker who was working a shift at a Circle K convenience store close to the border .
“ He told me he hadn ’ t heard from any campaign or candidate , and that I was the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ve heard the same thing from so many folks , who told me they hadn ’ t heard from Biden or been given any reason to vote for him .
They just had not been engaged , ” he said .
At this point in the election cycle , O ’ Rourke said , he was prepared to see the failure to reach out to the Latino electorate as an opportunity for the Biden campaign .
But he added ominously that “ if this persists much longer it will no longer be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unrecoverable deficit ” .
Then O ’ Rourke rolled out his other trademark – the F-bomb : “ So what the fuck is happening if Trump has been responsible for disproportionately harming Texas Latinos and yet they are not overwhelmingly coming out for Biden ?
” How does he answer his own question ?
“ I think the fault is ours as Democrats for not connecting the dots and not reaching out to Latino voters .
If the sin committed by Republicans is that they have sought to disenfranchise black and brown voters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ example of voter suppression and intimidation than Texas – then the sin for Democrats is that they have taken the same voters for granted.
” O ’ Rourke starts mimicking a Democratic strategist : “ If you ’ re black or brown you ’ re going to vote for Democrats .
So let ’ s go to work on that mythical suburban voter.
” To hear O ’ Rourke speak about the lack of energy among Latino Texans might give the impression that he is pessimistic about the prospects in November .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I have this irrationally optimistic view on politics and public life , I just think if you have the courage of your convictions and say what you know to be true , things will work themselves out , ” he said .
O ’ Rourke is throwing much of his energies in this election cycle to giving a helping hand to a new wave of young Democratic candidates seeking to unseat Republicans at local level and capture the Texas state assembly .
Having already snatched 12 additional seats in 2018 , partly as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ Rourke ’ s Senate campaign , the Democrats now need only nine more seats to take control .
Just seizing the state legislature would have a dramatic impact not only for 29m Texans , but for the whole of America , O ’ Rourke believes .
The state will redistrict next year , and Democratic control would allow them to begin rolling back gerrymandering which has given Republican-leaning white voters an unfair advantage .
A Democratic majority would also have an impact on how three additional Congressional seats , awarded to Texas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ drawn .
“ That will give Democrats an opportunity to strengthen a majority in the House of Representatives , so this is a huge national priority – or should be – for the party.
” It ’ s a strange experience talking to O ’ Rourke in the midst of the 2020 campaign .
You get all the bushy-tailed enthusiasm and passion for change that made him such a Democratic darling in 2018 – and yet he is not even standing for election .
“ It ’ s a real test , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have an impact on elections across Texas when I ’ m not myself a candidate ?
I think the answer is yes.
” Stranger still is that a politician whose trademark is old-fashioned shoe-leather retail politics – he famously schlepped to all of the 254 counties in Texas in the 2018 race – is now doing it virtually through Zoom .
On a personal level , though , that ’ s had its unexpected benefits .
O ’ Rourke had been pretty solidly away from his family since he first ran for Congress @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a combination of his failed presidential run and coronavirus , he is pretty solidly at home .
“ Uniquely , for the first time in eight years , my wife Amy and I are living week-in week-out with one another .
We wondered if it would drive us apart , being stuck in the same place together , but it ’ s made us so much closer .
It ’ s hard to remember a time I ’ ve been as happy.
” Inevitably the interview ends on the “ what now ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ O ’ Rourke ?
He said he is keen to hold Powered by People together as a campaigning force , but as for his own future he said , “ I honestly don ’ t know.
” It would be interesting to see him run again in Texas , given that six months ago he went vegetarian .
A non-meat eater in a state with 11m cattle – are you serious ?
“ Yeah , I know .
That ’ s what two years eating 10 Whataburger meals a week will do to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he said , it will be guided by his thoughts for the next generation .
“ You ’ ve got to be able to look your kids in the eye and tell them you gave it your all .
This one is on all of us , and our kids will be judge and jury .
”

Beto O’Rourke has a plan for America, and it starts in Texas. The Democrat from El Paso, who became a global superstar with his insurgent 2018 bid to oust Ted Cruz from the US senate then went on to contest the Democratic presidential nomination, is back where he says he likes it most – trying to move mountains in the Lone Star state.
With less than a month to go before early voting opens in Texas, with its giant crop of 38 electoral college votes in play, O’Rourke has a message for his one-time Democratic presidential rival. “We can see what’s happening in Texas and are screaming at Joe Biden from the roof tops. ‘Hey, over here! You can win this!’”
O’Rourke points to FiveThirtyEight’s poll tracker that has Donald Trump just one point ahead of Biden in Texas – an astonishingly close call for a state that has voted solidly for Republican presidential candidates since Jimmy Carter in 1976. He points to the state’s rapidly diversifying population that turned minority majority in 2005 and has seen 2m more new voters registered even since his paper-thin defeat to Cruz two years ago.
Winning Texas is the definitive answer to any dirty tricks Trump might be tempted to try were he to lose the election on 3 November, O’Rourke contends. “If Texas comes in for a Democrat for the first time in almost half a century the shock will be seismic. Trump may or may not accept those results, but the rest of the country absolutely will. It will forever reorder what’s possible.”
O’Rourke has been directly pitching his case to the Biden team that Texas is there for the picking, that it is a “must win” not a “nice to win” state. Has his argument had any traction?
“To be seen,” he said. “There’s an inertia. Without a Democratic victory in Texas for 44 years, the idea that the state is Republican has been baked into the consciousness of every consultant and campaign worker. They don’t believe their lying eyes.”
O’Rourke’s audacious ambition for Biden to take back Texas for the Democrats is typical of a politician who has consistently reached for the stars. Having been through iterations as a bass guitarist with the punk band Foss and a software entrepreneur, he appeared out of relatively nowhere to be sent to the US House of Representatives in 2012 and then came within a whisker of booting Cruz from the Senate, losing to him by less than three points.
Beto O’Rourke has pitched his case to Joe Biden that Texas voters are there for the picking. Photograph: Eric Thayer/Reuters
Now he’s turned the enormous army of volunteers he assembled for the 2018 Senate race into a political campaigning force. Powered by People, as he calls his political action committee, has 6,000 volunteers who have in turn registered to vote about 80,000 Texans and made more than 25m phone and text contacts with potential Democratic voters.
Much of his work with Powered by People has focused on Latino Texans living along the Mexican border in the Rio Grande Valley. His aim is to mobilise their vast and largely untapped electoral potential.
The political soil of the Rio Grande Valley should be fertile for Democrats given that Texas’s largely Spanish-speaking border communities have borne the brunt of the Trump assault over the past four years. It was here that Trump’s brutal family separation policy was concentrated, that migrant families were held in cages, that six children died while in US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody, and that, away from the valley in El Paso, 23 Mexican-Americans and Mexican nationals were gunned down by a white supremacist AK-47 wielding shooter echoing Trump’s racist language about a “Hispanic invasion”.
On top of all that, Latino communities in Texas have also been hit hardest by Covid-19, which has so far killed more than 14,000 people in the state.
Despite this rich territory, O’Rourke has been startled by how little enthusiasm for the Biden-Kamala Harris ticket he has found along the Rio Grande. “What we heard back from voters was really surprising to me. So many voters along the border said to us they had yet to decide.”
Beto O’Rourke plans to mobilise Latinos’ vast and largely untapped electoral potential. Photograph: Paul Ratje/AFP via Getty Images
That’s an astonishing – and for Biden, worrying – finding. That Latino Texans who have been assailed by a whirlwind of Trump abuse, discrimination and neglect should still be undecided about who to vote for, or whether to vote at all, is an indictment of the Democratic presidential campaign that chimes with recent polling in key swing states with large Latino electorates including Florida, Arizona and Nevada.
O’Rourke recalled talking to one Spanish speaker who was working a shift at a Circle K convenience store close to the border.
“He told me he hadn’t heard from any campaign or candidate, and that I was the first one to contact him. I’ve heard the same thing from so many folks, who told me they hadn’t heard from Biden or been given any reason to vote for him. They just had not been engaged,” he said.
At this point in the election cycle, O’Rourke said, he was prepared to see the failure to reach out to the Latino electorate as an opportunity for the Biden campaign. But he added ominously that “if this persists much longer it will no longer be an opportunity – it will be an unrecoverable deficit”.
Then O’Rourke rolled out his other trademark – the F-bomb: “So what the fuck is happening if Trump has been responsible for disproportionately harming Texas Latinos and yet they are not overwhelmingly coming out for Biden?”
How does he answer his own question? “I think the fault is ours as Democrats for not connecting the dots and not reaching out to Latino voters. If the sin committed by Republicans is that they have sought to disenfranchise black and brown voters – and there’s no better example of voter suppression and intimidation than Texas – then the sin for Democrats is that they have taken the same voters for granted.”
Joe Biden speaks to Texas supporters at a campaign rally in March. Photograph: Cristóbal Herrera/EPA
O’Rourke starts mimicking a Democratic strategist: “If you’re black or brown you’re going to vote for Democrats. So let’s go to work on that mythical suburban voter.”
To hear O’Rourke speak about the lack of energy among Latino Texans might give the impression that he is pessimistic about the prospects in November. But that is not the case. “I have this irrationally optimistic view on politics and public life, I just think if you have the courage of your convictions and say what you know to be true, things will work themselves out,” he said.
O’Rourke is throwing much of his energies in this election cycle to giving a helping hand to a new wave of young Democratic candidates seeking to unseat Republicans at local level and capture the Texas state assembly. Having already snatched 12 additional seats in 2018, partly as a result of the excitement around O’Rourke’s Senate campaign, the Democrats now need only nine more seats to take control.
Just seizing the state legislature would have a dramatic impact not only for 29m Texans, but for the whole of America, O’Rourke believes. The state will redistrict next year, and Democratic control would allow them to begin rolling back gerrymandering which has given Republican-leaning white voters an unfair advantage.
A Democratic majority would also have an impact on how three additional Congressional seats, awarded to Texas because of its growing population, are drawn. “That will give Democrats an opportunity to strengthen a majority in the House of Representatives, so this is a huge national priority – or should be – for the party.”
Democrats need only nine more seats in the Texas state assembly to take control. Photograph: Eric Thayer/Reuters
It’s a strange experience talking to O’Rourke in the midst of the 2020 campaign. You get all the bushy-tailed enthusiasm and passion for change that made him such a Democratic darling in 2018 – and yet he is not even standing for election.
“It’s a real test,” he conceded. “Can I help have an impact on elections across Texas when I’m not myself a candidate? I think the answer is yes.”
Stranger still is that a politician whose trademark is old-fashioned shoe-leather retail politics – he famously schlepped to all of the 254 counties in Texas in the 2018 race – is now doing it virtually through Zoom. On a personal level, though, that’s had its unexpected benefits.
O’Rourke had been pretty solidly away from his family since he first ran for Congress in 2011. Now, thanks to a combination of his failed presidential run and coronavirus, he is pretty solidly at home.
“Uniquely, for the first time in eight years, my wife Amy and I are living week-in week-out with one another. We wondered if it would drive us apart, being stuck in the same place together, but it’s made us so much closer. It’s hard to remember a time I’ve been as happy.”
Inevitably the interview ends on the “what now?” question. What now for Beto O’Rourke? He said he is keen to hold Powered by People together as a campaigning force, but as for his own future he said, “I honestly don’t know.”
It would be interesting to see him run again in Texas, given that six months ago he went vegetarian. A non-meat eater in a state with 11m cattle – are you serious?
“Yeah, I know. That’s what two years eating 10 Whataburger meals a week will do to you.”
Whatever he does next, he said, it will be guided by his thoughts for the next generation. “You’ve got to be able to look your kids in the eye and tell them you gave it your all. This one is on all of us, and our kids will be judge and jury.”


theguardian--2020-09-23--'Despacito' isn't good enough, Joe Biden. Latino voters are slipping away | Jaime Regalado

This election , Latinos are poised to be the largest group of non-white eligible voters in the United States , surpassing African Americans for the first time .
The number of Latinos registered and likely to vote has increased in large states such as California and Texas and crucial battleground states such as Florida , Arizona , Michigan , Nevada , Pennsylvania , Wisconsin and Ohio .
Latino voters could well make the difference in deciding who becomes president .
The Republican party knows this .
Donald Trump is actively courting Latino voters in Florida , Nevada , and even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ politics but now in play .
In contrast , Democrats are dangerously out to lunch .
Joe Biden badly needs the support of Latinos in battleground contests , but he ’ s falling short .
For Democrats , this could be disastrous .
From the start of his campaign , Biden has mostly ignored Latino voters .
Already enjoying overwhelming African American support , he chose to focus his campaign efforts in battleground states on winning back white working-class voters who had supported Obama but voted for Trump in 2016 .
Latino communities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The result is what pundits have taken to calling Biden ’ s “ Latino problem.
” This kind of enthusiasm gap can be extremely dangerous to a candidate .
Hillary Clinton learned this the hard way in 2016 , when significant numbers of disaffected or unmotivated voters simply didn ’ t vote .
Alarm bells should be ringing at Democratic headquarters .
Democratic strategists have said they hope to keep the pro-Trump Latino vote under 30 percent .
The Trump campaign , however , is aiming to obtain more than 40 percent of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Trump campaign seems to have done far more door-to-door politicking to influence Latino voters in key states .
Republicans are , of course , highly focused on conservative Cuban-American voters , particularly in Florida .
It ’ s worth noting , however , that in recent years the long-dominant sway of conservative Cuban-Americans has been balanced in Florida by an influx of Puerto Ricans ( primarily Democrats ) , Dominicans ( also primarily Democrats ) , and naturalized South Americans ( a mixture of Republicans and Democrats ) .
The result is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the Sunshine State .
And in the US as a whole , Democrats have a 2-1 advantage over Republicans with registered Latino voters .
If anything , all of this just makes the Biden campaign ’ s behavior more perplexing , and inexcusable .
With the exception of a recent appearance before a large Puerto Rican gathering in Florida – where Biden , in a slightly cringe-inducing attempt at relatability , played the Reggaeton song “ Despacito ” from his phone speaker – he ’ s been markedly absent in Latino communities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enjoyed strong enthusiasm from Latino communities across the country .
That ’ s because he sincerely paid attention to their concerns , and , from early on , directed much of his policy positions to addressing those concerns and needs in concrete ways .
Most importantly , he showed up .
There ’ s an unfortunate and long history of politicians taking Latinos for granted .
This time the stakes couldn ’ t be higher .
Latinos have suffered from the coronavirus , from job and home loss , and from more than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ group by Trump .
And , as people disproportionately employed in industries on the front lines of Covid – hospitals and the healthcare industry , hospitality and service , agriculture – they have paid a particularly harsh price .
In other words , many Latinos might be enthusiastic at the prospect of a change from Trump .
The Biden camp should do everything in its power to reach them .
• None Jaime Regalado , PhD , is Emeritus Professor of Political Science at California State University , Los Angeles

This election, Latinos are poised to be the largest group of non-white eligible voters in the United States, surpassing African Americans for the first time.
The number of Latinos registered and likely to vote has increased in large states such as California and Texas and crucial battleground states such as Florida, Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Ohio. Latino voters could well make the difference in deciding who becomes president.
The Republican party knows this. Donald Trump is actively courting Latino voters in Florida, Nevada, and even Minnesota – long a bastion of progressive politics but now in play. In contrast, Democrats are dangerously out to lunch. Joe Biden badly needs the support of Latinos in battleground contests, but he’s falling short. For Democrats, this could be disastrous.
From the start of his campaign, Biden has mostly ignored Latino voters. Already enjoying overwhelming African American support, he chose to focus his campaign efforts in battleground states on winning back white working-class voters who had supported Obama but voted for Trump in 2016. Latino communities seemed to be barely an afterthought.
The result is what pundits have taken to calling Biden’s “Latino problem.” This kind of enthusiasm gap can be extremely dangerous to a candidate. Hillary Clinton learned this the hard way in 2016, when significant numbers of disaffected or unmotivated voters simply didn’t vote. Alarm bells should be ringing at Democratic headquarters.
Democratic strategists have said they hope to keep the pro-Trump Latino vote under 30 percent. The Trump campaign, however, is aiming to obtain more than 40 percent of the Latino vote. So far, the Trump campaign seems to have done far more door-to-door politicking to influence Latino voters in key states.
Republicans are, of course, highly focused on conservative Cuban-American voters, particularly in Florida. It’s worth noting, however, that in recent years the long-dominant sway of conservative Cuban-Americans has been balanced in Florida by an influx of Puerto Ricans (primarily Democrats), Dominicans (also primarily Democrats), and naturalized South Americans (a mixture of Republicans and Democrats). The result is a more politically balanced Latino voting community in the Sunshine State. And in the US as a whole, Democrats have a 2-1 advantage over Republicans with registered Latino voters.
If anything, all of this just makes the Biden campaign’s behavior more perplexing, and inexcusable. With the exception of a recent appearance before a large Puerto Rican gathering in Florida – where Biden, in a slightly cringe-inducing attempt at relatability, played the Reggaeton song “Despacito” from his phone speaker – he’s been markedly absent in Latino communities.
During the primaries, Bernie Sanders enjoyed strong enthusiasm from Latino communities across the country. That’s because he sincerely paid attention to their concerns, and, from early on, directed much of his policy positions to addressing those concerns and needs in concrete ways. Most importantly, he showed up.
There’s an unfortunate and long history of politicians taking Latinos for granted. This time the stakes couldn’t be higher. Latinos have suffered from the coronavirus, from job and home loss, and from more than four years of being attacked as a group by Trump. And, as people disproportionately employed in industries on the front lines of Covid – hospitals and the healthcare industry, hospitality and service, agriculture – they have paid a particularly harsh price.
In other words, many Latinos might be enthusiastic at the prospect of a change from Trump. The Biden camp should do everything in its power to reach them.


theguardian--2020-09-23--Republicans will replace RBG but Democrats hold the trump cards – no, really | David Litt

In 2005 , while bragging about his history of sexual assault , a reality TV host laid out a simple theory of power .
“ When you ’ re a star , ” Donald Trump explained to Access Hollywood host Billy Bush , “ they let you do it.
” Fifteen years later , Trump has gone from The Apprentice to the Oval Office , from grabbing women without their consent to picking a woman to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the supreme court .
Yet his approach to power has remained quite consistent .
“ When you have the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , you can sort of do what you want , ” he told Fox & Friends .
This is what political scientists call “ constitutional hardball ” and what the rest of us call “ doing whatever you can get away with ” .
It is not a philosophy unique to Trump .
In fact , it ’ s one reason why he and Kentucky senator Mitch McConnell , a man as dully calculating as Trump is garishly impulsive , have become such inseparable late-in-life partners .
The majority leader has spent decades @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sport , going so far as to title his memoir The Long Game .
In McConnell ’ s view , the purpose of politics is to accumulate as much power as possible by whatever means available .
In Trump , he ’ s found a kindred spirit .
Now , both men have the chance of a lifetime : the opportunity to confirm a far-right justice to replace a liberal icon just weeks before election day .
It ’ s hardly surprising that even cursory talk of principle or restraint has gone out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and McConnell are stars .
We will , they assume , let them do it .
In the short term , they may be right .
Unless four Republicans defect , they can install a deeply conservative justice in the waning days of the president ’ s first term .
But in the long run , the great loser of McConnellism might turn out to be McConnell himself .
No one should be rooting for constitutional hardball .
But if hardball must be played , there are plenty of reasons to think that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In fact , enraged Democrats don ’ t even have to embrace Donald Trump ’ s whatever-you-can-get-away with mentality to undo Mitch McConnell ’ s life ’ s work .
All they have to do is exercise slightly less restraint .
For one thing , America ’ s political institutions are currently biased – in many cases quite aggressively – in favor of conservatives .
Restrictive voting laws make casting a ballot disproportionately difficult for lower-income , non-white and young Americans .
Unprecedented gerrymandering gives Republicans a built-in advantage in the race @ @ @ @ @ @ @ FiveThirtyEight ’ s Nate Silver , the Senate ’ s bias toward rural states makes the chamber about seven points redder than the nation as a whole .
Thanks to the electoral college , two of the past five presidential elections have been won by Republicans who lost the popular vote – one reason why even before Justice Ginsburg ’ s death , 15 of the past 19 supreme court justices were appointed by GOP presidents .
The conservative movement , in other words , already had it pretty good .
The average @ @ @ @ @ @ @ major issue : healthcare , climate change , gun violence , immigration , taxes , Covid response .
Yet thanks to the biases embedded in the American political process , Republicans have not just remained viable , but secured extraordinary amounts of power .
We can ’ t know for certain who would benefit from upending the status quo that existed at the time of Justice Ginsburg ’ s passing – but we do know which party has the most to lose .
What ’ s more , the GOP has not just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ political process – they ’ ve benefited from the fact that many Americans don ’ t realize such a bias exists .
Despite some politicians increasing eagerness to erode our democracy , large majorities of Americans still believe in representative government .
Among other things , they want to see higher turnout in elections ; they want wealthy interests to have less influence in our politics ; they oppose the electoral college ; don ’ t want President Trump to rush through a judicial pick so close to an election ; and were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ peaceful protesters earlier this year .
It ’ s possible that as fights over our political process become more high-stakes and more public , Americans will become less supportive of democracy .
But it seems more likely that they ’ ll grow increasingly resentful of the party which views representative government as a threat .
McConnell and Trump may also not realize the extent to which they ’ ve benefited from a double standard in American politics .
For decades , Republicans have broken norms whenever they believed they could .
Democrats have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no choice .
This is not ( or at least , not merely ) because Democrats are more noble or virtuous than Republicans .
In the 1970s , when the modern conservative movement began , an emerging liberal consensus left the right wing feeling it had little to lose by upending our system of government .
Democrats , meanwhile , became the party of active government – and were naturally more wary of the possibility that , in an effort to reform institutions , we might erode their legitimacy instead .
More recently @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has meant that red-state , moderate Democrats have more clout than than blue-state Republicans .
At the same time the Democratic coalition of young and non-white voters was growing , giving them hope that doing nothing would still give them the advantage over the long term .
If Trump and McConnell rush through the confirmation of an extremist , partisan judge , cementing a 6-3 majority , the calculation for Democrats will change completely .
Even moderate members of the party are likely to conclude that they simply don ’ t have much @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Unless they never again win the House , Senate and White House simultaneously , the constitution gives Democrats plenty of ways to restore our democracy even without resorting to McConnellism or Trumpism .
They can expand the electorate by restoring the Voting Rights Act , making voter registration universal , and passing comprehensive immigration reform .
They can blunt ( if not entirely offset ) the GOP ’ s Senate advantage by granting statehood , and two senators apiece , to Puerto Rico and Washington DC .
They can undo the effects of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bench – not just the supreme court , but lower courts as well .
What ’ s notable about all of these positions is that they stop far short of what the constitution allows .
They don ’ t involve granting voting rights to recent immigrants , splitting California into seven states , restricting the supreme court ’ s right to review most cases , or any other long-shot scheme .
In other words , should Democrats ever regain power in Washington , they won ’ t have to choose between ambition and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and thanks to favorable demographic trends and the overall popularity of much of their policy agenda , they can be confident that they can maintain power by reflecting , rather than ignoring , the people ’ s will .
Ultimately , what is at stake in the fight over Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’ s replacement is not merely who will serve on the nation ’ s highest court .
Instead , it ’ s an idea laid out in one of the self-evident truths of the Declaration of Independence , right after the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pursuit of happiness .
“ Governments are instituted among Men , deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
” It ’ s no surprise that Donald Trump wants to govern without consent .
But the constitution is clear : we don ’ t have to let him do it .
• None David Litt , an American political speechwriter , is the author of the memoir Thanks , Obama : My Hopey Changey White House Years and Democracy in One Book or Less : How It Works , Why It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It Is Easier Than You Think

In 2005, while bragging about his history of sexual assault, a reality TV host laid out a simple theory of power. “When you’re a star,” Donald Trump explained to Access Hollywood host Billy Bush, “they let you do it.”
Fifteen years later, Trump has gone from The Apprentice to the Oval Office, from grabbing women without their consent to picking a woman to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the supreme court. Yet his approach to power has remained quite consistent.
“When you have the Senate, when you have the votes, you can sort of do what you want,” he told Fox & Friends.
This is what political scientists call “constitutional hardball” and what the rest of us call “doing whatever you can get away with”. It is not a philosophy unique to Trump. In fact, it’s one reason why he and Kentucky senator Mitch McConnell, a man as dully calculating as Trump is garishly impulsive, have become such inseparable late-in-life partners. The majority leader has spent decades in Washington treating public service as a sport, going so far as to title his memoir The Long Game. In McConnell’s view, the purpose of politics is to accumulate as much power as possible by whatever means available. In Trump, he’s found a kindred spirit.
If hardball must be played, there are plenty of reasons to think that Democrats will ultimately come out on top
Now, both men have the chance of a lifetime: the opportunity to confirm a far-right justice to replace a liberal icon just weeks before election day. It’s hardly surprising that even cursory talk of principle or restraint has gone out the window. Politically speaking, Trump and McConnell are stars. We will, they assume, let them do it.
In the short term, they may be right. Unless four Republicans defect, they can install a deeply conservative justice in the waning days of the president’s first term. But in the long run, the great loser of McConnellism might turn out to be McConnell himself. No one should be rooting for constitutional hardball. But if hardball must be played, there are plenty of reasons to think that Democrats will ultimately come out on top. In fact, enraged Democrats don’t even have to embrace Donald Trump’s whatever-you-can-get-away with mentality to undo Mitch McConnell’s life’s work. All they have to do is exercise slightly less restraint.
03:20 Ruth Bader Ginsburg in her own words – video obituary
For one thing, America’s political institutions are currently biased – in many cases quite aggressively – in favor of conservatives. Restrictive voting laws make casting a ballot disproportionately difficult for lower-income, non-white and young Americans. Unprecedented gerrymandering gives Republicans a built-in advantage in the race for the House, and according to FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver, the Senate’s bias toward rural states makes the chamber about seven points redder than the nation as a whole. Thanks to the electoral college, two of the past five presidential elections have been won by Republicans who lost the popular vote – one reason why even before Justice Ginsburg’s death, 15 of the past 19 supreme court justices were appointed by GOP presidents.
The conservative movement, in other words, already had it pretty good. The average American disagrees with Republican orthodoxy on every major issue: healthcare, climate change, gun violence, immigration, taxes, Covid response. Yet thanks to the biases embedded in the American political process, Republicans have not just remained viable, but secured extraordinary amounts of power. We can’t know for certain who would benefit from upending the status quo that existed at the time of Justice Ginsburg’s death – but we do know which party has the most to lose.
What’s more, the GOP has not just benefited from the bias of the American political process – they’ve benefited from the fact that many Americans don’t realize such a bias exists. Despite some politicians increasing eagerness to erode our democracy, large majorities of Americans still believe in representative government. Among other things, they want to see higher turnout in elections; they want wealthy interests to have less influence in our politics; they oppose the electoral college; don’t want President Trump to rush through a judicial pick so close to an election; and were horrified when attorney general William Barr teargassed peaceful protesters earlier this year.
It’s possible that as fights over our political process become more high-stakes and more public, Americans will become less supportive of democracy. But it seems more likely that they’ll grow increasingly resentful of the party which views representative government as a threat.
McConnell and Trump may also not realize the extent to which they’ve benefited from a double standard in American politics. For decades, Republicans have broken norms whenever they believed they could. Democrats have broken norms whenever they believe they had no choice.
The constitution gives Democrats plenty of ways to restore our democracy without resorting to McConnellism or Trumpism
This is not (or at least, not merely) because Democrats are more noble or virtuous than Republicans. In the 1970s, when the modern conservative movement began, an emerging liberal consensus left the right wing feeling it had little to lose by upending our system of government. Democrats, meanwhile, became the party of active government – and were naturally more wary of the possibility that, in an effort to reform institutions, we might erode their legitimacy instead. More recently, the Senate’s rural skew has meant that red-state, moderate Democrats have more clout than than blue-state Republicans. At the same time the Democratic coalition of young and non-white voters was growing, giving them hope that doing nothing would still give them the advantage over the long term.
If Trump and McConnell rush through the confirmation of an extremist, partisan judge, cementing a 6-3 majority, the calculation for Democrats will change completely. Even moderate members of the party are likely to conclude that they simply don’t have much to lose by acting more aggressively.
Statehood for Washington DC – and Puerto Rico – could soon be in reach. Photograph: Daniel Slim/AFP/Getty Images
Unless they never again win the House, Senate and White House simultaneously, the constitution gives Democrats plenty of ways to restore our democracy even without resorting to McConnellism or Trumpism. They can expand the electorate by restoring the Voting Rights Act, making voter registration universal, and passing comprehensive immigration reform. They can blunt (if not entirely offset) the GOP’s Senate advantage by granting statehood, and two senators apiece, to Puerto Rico and Washington DC. They can undo the effects of McConnell’s court-packing by expanding the bench – not just the supreme court, but lower courts as well.
What’s notable about all of these positions is that they stop far short of what the constitution allows. They don’t involve granting voting rights to recent immigrants, splitting California into seven states, restricting the supreme court’s right to review most cases, or any other long-shot scheme. In other words, should Democrats ever regain power in Washington, they won’t have to choose between ambition and caution. They can exercise both – and thanks to favorable demographic trends and the overall popularity of much of their policy agenda, they can be confident that they can maintain power by reflecting, rather than ignoring, the people’s will.
Ultimately, what is at stake in the fight over Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s replacement is not merely who will serve on the nation’s highest court. Instead, it’s an idea laid out in one of the self-evident truths of the Declaration of Independence, right after the part about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
“Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
It’s no surprise that Donald Trump wants to govern without consent. But the constitution is clear: we don’t have to let him do it.


theguardian--2020-09-22--After 200,000 coronavirus deaths, the US faces another rude awakening

Donald Trump attended one of his then daily White House coronavirus briefings on 17 April and in a moment of rare candor talked openly about his projections for the number of Americans who could die from the disease .
“ Right now , we ’ re heading at probably around 60 , maybe 65,000 , ” he said , adding : “ One is too many .
I always say it : One is too many.
” If one death from coronavirus is too many , then the president of the United States has a lot of explaining to do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ death toll was passed by 1 May , just two weeks after he made it .
By the end of that month the grim landmark of 100,000 deaths was surpassed .
Now less than four months later the toll has doubled again , the virus crossing the 200,000 point with breezy abandon .
There is a Groundhog Day quality to the American experience of Covid-19 .
Back in March there was public outcry that , under Trump , protective gear to keep health workers safe was in critically short supply , testing for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were dying in grotesquely disproportionate numbers .
Today , six months later , exactly the same laments can be heard .
“ There is a theme here , ” said Eric Topol , professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research in San Diego .
“ Recreate the crime .
We keep on doing it , over and over again.
” With autumn on the horizon , when colder weather is likely to drive millions back indoors where the virus can spread more easily and with returning colleges acting as giant disease incubators , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ awakening .
There is simply no chance of containing the contagion when new cases are still running at about 35,000 a day .
In March the Guardian asked Jeremy Konyndyk , a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development who was at the forefront of the US government response to Ebola in 2014 , to give his take on how the pandemic was being handled .
He called the Trump administration ’ s effort “ one of the greatest failures of basic governance in modern times ” .
We went back @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it now as the country passes the devastating 200,000 deaths mark .
“ I think my analysis has borne out extremely well , ” he said .
“ We ’ re on track to have a quarter-million dead Americans by the end of the year with absolutely no reason it had to happen .
It was all preventable .
So yes , this is a leadership failure of astounding proportions.
” When the number of coronavirus infections began rising in the US in March , the failure of the Trump administration quickly to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shortages of protective gear across the country .
Hospital workers and other essential staff were exposed to personal danger after inadequate supplies of masks , gowns and disinfectants ran out , leading some medical staff to improvise PPE out of piles of fabric and prompting nurses to protest outside the White House .
PPE shortages were one important factor behind the tragic loss of life among health workers .
The Guardian ’ s project with Kaiser Health News , Lost on the frontline , has identified 1,150 medical workers who have died of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ job .
Despite such tragedies , the US is still remarkably unprepared .
The president of the American Medical Association , Susan Bailey , said last week that critical PPE shortages persist , “ and in many ways things have only gotten worse ” .
In many hospital systems , including Scripps Health in San Diego where Topol is based , the most effective form of protection , N95 masks , are still being rationed .
“ Why the Trump administration , which has spent trillions of dollars bailing out companies , has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ best protection we can provide , is a mystery to me , ” Topol said .
The US has struggled to provide sufficient diagnostic testing for the virus since the start of the pandemic .
From the outset , Trump was reluctant to engage the federal government in a nationwide push for testing on a scale that could contain the disease .
As a result , US testing remains inadequate to this day , with still no sign of any attempt by the Trump administration to fix the problem .
In fact , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ falling , down from more than 800,000 tests a day in July to about 600,000 daily tests now .
Daily testing falls grossly short of the capability of 20m tests a day that Harvard ’ s Edmond Safra Center has estimated is needed for safe and effective reopening of the economy .
The individual components of a coronavirus test also remain in short supply .
“ There aren ’ t enough swabs , there aren ’ t enough reagents , we haven ’ t invested in the rapid home test that should have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
The dearth of testing can directly be linked to Trump ’ s opposition to it .
The US president has consistently stood in the way of more testing , arguing it leads to a higher count of confirmed cases which is bad for his political standing .
In fact , the scientific understanding is the opposite : if you increase testing , that will allow you eventually to bring down the case count – and death toll – by allowing you to identify and isolate infected individuals .
Trump has imposed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s leading public health agency .
Last month the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) , under its director , Dr Robert Redfield , changed its official recommendations having been leant on by the White House .
The new guidelines say that people showing no symptoms of Covid-19 need not be tested .
That flies in the face of scientific thinking – asymptomatic individuals are precisely those who need testing most as they can infect others undetected .
“ It ’ s mind-boggling , ” Konyndyk said .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not yet resigned .
He ’ s been party to policies that are utterly indefensible.
” Public health experts stress that consistent and clear messaging is critical in fighting a pandemic .
Trump ’ s messaging has at least been largely consistent , but it has also been fatally misleading .
From the start , the president downplayed the severity and danger of the virus and disparaged simple methods of reducing its spread including masks – refusing to wear a mask in public until 11 July .
He predicted coronavirus would miraculously disappear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in various guises right up to last week when he said that America was “ rounding the corner ” .
We now know that Trump ’ s soothing talk was a lie to the American people .
Taped interviews released by the journalist Bob Woodward for his new book , Rage , record Trump in February admitting he knew full-well that the virus was “ deadly stuff ” and that he played it down “ because I don ’ t want to create a panic ” .
Not wanting to create panic is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prevent the deaths of potentially hundreds of thousands of Americans quite another .
One of the most distressing aspects of the Covid disaster in the US has been the way the disease has disproportionately affected African American and other racial and ethnic minorities .
Data suggests that , nationwide , black people are between two and three times more likely to die from Covid-19 than white Americans .
In some parts of the US the gulf is even more pronounced , with Latinos in Minnesota testing positive for the virus at seven times @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Trump administration has tried to dismiss the racial inequity of Covid outcomes by blaming it on underlying co-morbidities such as obesity , diabetes and high blood pressure .
Health experts , however , have called for a deeper look at what lies behind those co-morbidities , which often flourish among poverty .
Minority groups are more likely to be living in cramped housing where the virus can easily spread , and frontline workers consisting disproportionately of minorities are often forced to carry on working away from home even at times of peak @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about whether African Americans are given equal access to testing and medical treatment .
Although these racial disparities were revealed early on in the pandemic , the Trump administration appears to have done little to try and address them .
The CDC has been criticized for failing to record up-to-date and comprehensive records on Covid-19 cases and deaths by racial group .
The one area where the federal government has been aggressively active in response to the pandemic has been in pressing for rapid approval of any coronavirus vaccine .
Trump launched Operation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has repeatedly promised early access to a vaccine , predicting it might even be ready – conveniently – before the 3 November presidential election .
Trump ’ s use of the prospect of a vaccine as an electoral tool has raised fears that he is politicizing the Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ) , the federal agency that will have the ultimate power to approve or withhold any new vaccine .
Topol pointed out that the FDA ’ s commissioner , Stephen Hahn , has already made two basic breaches of scientific @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hydroxychloroquine after Trump claimed inaccurately that it was a “ miracle drug ” .
Hahn also gave out false information for which he later apologized at a Trump press conference hailing a “ historic breakthrough ” over convalescent plasma .
“ We have an FDA who is complicit by issuing false and reckless approvals .
That ’ s not a good foundation for making the biggest public health decision for generations – whether or not to approve a vaccine , ” Topol said .
Any misstep on the part of the Trump administration @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could have drastic consequences .
Anxiety about the safety or efficacy of a vaccine is already running high , with 35 % of Americans in a recent Gallup poll saying they would not agree to be vaccinated even were the product free and fully FDA-approved .

Donald Trump attended one of his then daily White House coronavirus briefings on 17 April and in a moment of rare candor talked openly about his projections for the number of Americans who could die from the disease.
“Right now, we’re heading at probably around 60, maybe 65,000,” he said, adding: “One is too many. I always say it: One is too many.”
If one death from coronavirus is too many, then the president of the United States has a lot of explaining to do. His projection of a total 60,000 death toll was passed by 1 May, just two weeks after he made it.
By the end of that month the grim landmark of 100,000 deaths was surpassed. Now less than four months later the toll has doubled again, the virus crossing the 200,000 point with breezy abandon.
Healthcare workers prepare to test a woman at a mobile clinic in Los Angeles, California, on 15 July. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images
There is a Groundhog Day quality to the American experience of Covid-19. Back in March there was public outcry that, under Trump, protective gear to keep health workers safe was in critically short supply, testing for coronavirus was woefully inadequate and black Americans were dying in grotesquely disproportionate numbers.
Today, six months later, exactly the same laments can be heard. “There is a theme here,” said Eric Topol, professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research in San Diego. “Recreate the crime. We keep on doing it, over and over again.”
With autumn on the horizon, when colder weather is likely to drive millions back indoors where the virus can spread more easily and with returning colleges acting as giant disease incubators, the US is poised for another rude awakening. There is simply no chance of containing the contagion when new cases are still running at about 35,000 a day.
We’re on track to have a quarter-million dead Americans by the end of the year with absolutely no reason it had to happen Jeremy Konyndyk
In March the Guardian asked Jeremy Konyndyk, a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development who was at the forefront of the US government response to Ebola in 2014, to give his take on how the pandemic was being handled. He called the Trump administration’s effort “one of the greatest failures of basic governance in modern times”.
We went back to Konyndyk to ask how he sees it now as the country passes the devastating 200,000 deaths mark. “I think my analysis has borne out extremely well,” he said. “We’re on track to have a quarter-million dead Americans by the end of the year with absolutely no reason it had to happen. It was all preventable. So yes, this is a leadership failure of astounding proportions.”
Personal protective equipment (PPE)
When the number of coronavirus infections began rising in the US in March, the failure of the Trump administration quickly to mobilise a national response led to dire shortages of protective gear across the country. Hospital workers and other essential staff were exposed to personal danger after inadequate supplies of masks, gowns and disinfectants ran out, leading some medical staff to improvise PPE out of piles of fabric and prompting nurses to protest outside the White House.
PPE shortages were one important factor behind the tragic loss of life among health workers. The Guardian’s project with Kaiser Health News, Lost on the frontline, has identified 1,150 medical workers who have died of Covid-19 having contracted the virus on the job.
Despite such tragedies, the US is still remarkably unprepared. The president of the American Medical Association, Susan Bailey, said last week that critical PPE shortages persist, “and in many ways things have only gotten worse”.
In many hospital systems, including Scripps Health in San Diego where Topol is based, the most effective form of protection, N95 masks, are still being rationed.
“Why the Trump administration, which has spent trillions of dollars bailing out companies, has not invested in protecting Americans with the best protection we can provide, is a mystery to me,” Topol said.
Testing
The US has struggled to provide sufficient diagnostic testing for the virus since the start of the pandemic. From the outset, Trump was reluctant to engage the federal government in a nationwide push for testing on a scale that could contain the disease.
As a result, US testing remains inadequate to this day, with still no sign of any attempt by the Trump administration to fix the problem. In fact, the quantity of daily testing is actually falling, down from more than 800,000 tests a day in July to about 600,000 daily tests now.
Daily testing falls grossly short of the capability of 20m tests a day that Harvard’s Edmond Safra Center has estimated is needed for safe and effective reopening of the economy.
A healthcare worker administers a swab test at a Covid-19 drive-thru testing site in San Pablo, California, on 28 April. Photograph: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The individual components of a coronavirus test also remain in short supply. “There aren’t enough swabs, there aren’t enough reagents, we haven’t invested in the rapid home test that should have been available by now,” Topol said.
The dearth of testing can directly be linked to Trump’s opposition to it. The US president has consistently stood in the way of more testing, arguing it leads to a higher count of confirmed cases which is bad for his political standing.
In fact, the scientific understanding is the opposite: if you increase testing, that will allow you eventually to bring down the case count – and death toll – by allowing you to identify and isolate infected individuals.
Trump has imposed his resistance to testing on the country’s leading public health agency. Last month the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), under its director, Dr Robert Redfield, changed its official recommendations having been leant on by the White House.
The new guidelines say that people showing no symptoms of Covid-19 need not be tested. That flies in the face of scientific thinking – asymptomatic individuals are precisely those who need testing most as they can infect others undetected.
“It’s mind-boggling,” Konyndyk said. “I have no idea how Redfield has not yet resigned. He’s been party to policies that are utterly indefensible.”
Consistent messaging
Public health experts stress that consistent and clear messaging is critical in fighting a pandemic. Trump’s messaging has at least been largely consistent, but it has also been fatally misleading.
From the start, the president downplayed the severity and danger of the virus and disparaged simple methods of reducing its spread including masks – refusing to wear a mask in public until 11 July. He predicted coronavirus would miraculously disappear, a claim that he has repeated in various guises right up to last week when he said that America was “rounding the corner”.
Donald Trump enters the Rose Garden at the White House for a press briefing on 29 May. Photograph: The Washington Post/Getty Images
We now know that Trump’s soothing talk was a lie to the American people. Taped interviews released by the journalist Bob Woodward for his new book, Rage, record Trump in February admitting he knew full-well that the virus was “deadly stuff” and that he played it down “because I don’t want to create a panic”.
Not wanting to create panic is one thing. Failing to act to prevent the deaths of potentially hundreds of thousands of Americans quite another.
Racial disparities
One of the most distressing aspects of the Covid disaster in the US has been the way the disease has disproportionately affected African American and other racial and ethnic minorities.
Data suggests that, nationwide, black people are between two and three times more likely to die from Covid-19 than white Americans. In some parts of the US the gulf is even more pronounced, with Latinos in Minnesota testing positive for the virus at seven times the per-capita rate of white people.
The Trump administration has tried to dismiss the racial inequity of Covid outcomes by blaming it on underlying co-morbidities such as obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure. Health experts, however, have called for a deeper look at what lies behind those co-morbidities, which often flourish among poverty.
Minority groups are more likely to be living in cramped housing where the virus can easily spread, and frontline workers consisting disproportionately of minorities are often forced to carry on working away from home even at times of peak contagion. Questions have also been raised about whether African Americans are given equal access to testing and medical treatment.
Although these racial disparities were revealed early on in the pandemic, the Trump administration appears to have done little to try and address them. The CDC has been criticized for failing to record up-to-date and comprehensive records on Covid-19 cases and deaths by racial group.
Vaccine
The one area where the federal government has been aggressively active in response to the pandemic has been in pressing for rapid approval of any coronavirus vaccine. Trump launched Operation Warp Speed in May and since then has repeatedly promised early access to a vaccine, predicting it might even be ready – conveniently – before the 3 November presidential election.
We have an FDA who is complicit by issuing false and reckless approvals Eric Topol
Trump’s use of the prospect of a vaccine as an electoral tool has raised fears that he is politicizing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the federal agency that will have the ultimate power to approve or withhold any new vaccine. Topol pointed out that the FDA’s commissioner, Stephen Hahn, has already made two basic breaches of scientific protocol.
He granted emergency approval for hydroxychloroquine after Trump claimed inaccurately that it was a “miracle drug”. Hahn also gave out false information for which he later apologized at a Trump press conference hailing a “historic breakthrough” over convalescent plasma.
“We have an FDA who is complicit by issuing false and reckless approvals. That’s not a good foundation for making the biggest public health decision for generations – whether or not to approve a vaccine,” Topol said.
Any misstep on the part of the Trump administration in handling the rollout of a vaccine could have drastic consequences. Anxiety about the safety or efficacy of a vaccine is already running high, with 35% of Americans in a recent Gallup poll saying they would not agree to be vaccinated even were the product free and fully FDA-approved.


theguardian--2020-09-24--Breonna Taylor decision: Louisville police officer shot amid nationwide protests – live

After months of Trump ’ s attempts to delegitimize mail-in voting , which will take place at an unprecedented scale this year because of the pandemic , concerns about what the president will do if he loses have been abound .
Joe Biden has been raising money specifically for a transition team that the campaign hopes to be staffed with at least 350 by the time of an inauguration .
At a press conference tonight , Donald Trump refused to commit to a peaceful transition of power should he lose the election this year , bolstering concerns that his rhetoric @ @ @ @ @ @ @ results are close .
When asked by a reporter if he would commit himself to a peaceful transfer of power after the election , Trump said : “ Well , we ’ re going to have to see what happens.
” “ I ’ ve been complaining strongly about the ballots , and the ballots are a disaster , ” Trump said .
“ Get rid of the ballots … and there won ’ t be a transfer , frankly .
There will be a continuation.
” Trump has been saying the same @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weeks , saying at a rally that the only way he could lose the election is if there is fraud in the election , teeing up doubt over any result that is not in his favor .
“ The only way we ’ re going to lose this election is if the election is rigged , ” he said .
“ It ’ s the only way we ’ re going to lose this election , so we have to be very careful.
” Top US intelligence officials have debunked Trump ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fraud .
Instead , the FBI put out a public service announcement yesterday that Americans should beware of misinformation from foreign actors spreading online , especially around election night .

Lauren Aratani (now), Joan E Greve and Martin Belam (earlier)

24 Sept 2020 12.06 BST Key events so far… I’m going to be closing this blog shortly, but I’ll be bringing you more coverage of the reaction to the Breonna Taylor charging decision over on our US politics live blog for Thursday. In the meantime, here’s a summary of where we are at: The Jefferson county grand jury has indicted one of the officers involved in the shooting of Breonna Taylor. Former Louisville police officer Brett Hankinson faces three felony counts of first-degree wanton endangerment. None of the other officers involved in the fatal shooting were indicted. No homicide charges were issued.
Former Louisville police officer faces three felony counts of first-degree wanton endangerment. None of the other officers involved in the fatal shooting were indicted. No homicide charges were issued. Thousands of people joined protests in many major US city which saw protesters chanting “Say her name! Breonna Taylor” and “No justice, no peace”. Posters and shrines dedicated to Taylor were seen all around as protesters marched.
Posters and shrines dedicated to Taylor were seen all around as protesters marched. Two police officers in Louisville were shot and suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Louisville police have one suspect in custody.
Louisville police have one suspect in custody. A car drove through protests in Denver, there were no injuries. Chemical agents were used on protesters by the authorities in Atlanta and other cities. A riot was declare in Portland, Oregon , where police shared a video which appeared to show them being attacked with a Molotov cocktail.
there were no injuries. and other cities. , where police shared a video which appeared to show them being attacked with a Molotov cocktail. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the family of Breonna Taylor, described the grand jury announcement as “outrageous and offensive.” Crump noted that none of the charges announced today appear to relate directly to the fatal shooting of Taylor. “If Brett Hankison ’s behavior was wanton endangerment to people in neighboring apartments, then it should have been wanton endangerment in Breonna Taylor’s apartment too. In fact, it should have been ruled wanton murder,” Crump said in a tweet.
who is representing the family of described the grand jury announcement as “outrageous and offensive.” Crump noted that none of the charges announced today appear to relate directly to the fatal shooting of Taylor. “If ’s behavior was wanton endangerment to people in neighboring apartments, then it should have been wanton endangerment in Breonna Taylor’s apartment too. In fact, it should have been ruled wanton murder,” Crump said in a tweet. Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, learned of the charging decision minutes before attorney general’s announcement. The family’s attorney, Sam Aguiar, told CNN: “She had to drive all the way down there to be told this, despite two advanced requests from me to not force her to drive down only to learn no indictments.” You can continue to follow the latest developments over here… Breonna Taylor decision: riot declared in Portland as protests grip US cities – US politics live Read more
24 Sept 2020 11.49 BST Another New York Times columnist, Charles M. Blow, sums up the feelings of a lot of people this morning… Been up much of the night trying to think through a column to write about #BreonnaTaylor. But, I just can’t. What is there to say that I haven’t already said? Black bodies falling continue with the consistent repetition of a drumbeat. Justice is rarely available. I’m exhausted… — Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) September 24, 2020
Updated at 11.49 BST
24 Sept 2020 11.28 BST Dr Melanye Price has written about Breonna Taylor for the New York Times this morning. In a piece headlined “It hurts to keep hoping for justice”, Price picks up on Kentucky’s attorney general, Daniel Cameron using the phrase “Mob justice is not justice”. She writes: All Ms. Taylor’s family wanted, and all many of the protesters wanted, is for the Constitution and the mechanism of justice to work for them the way it works for others. Mr. Cameron, who is Black, should know that to suggest that protesters are nothing but a mob dehumanizes the people calling for justice and respect. And it reminds African-Americans of the way we’re so often unfairly portrayed as perpetrators of crime, and so rarely seen as victims. Police officers who kill citizens are rarely convicted. But in this tragic situation, in which the woman killed was not only unarmed but asleep in the moments before a police officer took her life, we hoped that for once, justice would be on our side. This is yet another disappointing reminder that it’s not. These efforts take a cumulative toll. Young African-Americans consuming a regular diet of Black death are learning to not trust their government. It’s painful to realize that kneeling for the national anthem can cost a football player like Colin Kaepernick his career, but a police officer firing a deadly shot into an innocent young woman’s home late at night will face no consequences. Black people will try to make sense of this, try to rebuild whatever expectation of safety we can muster, and tap into coping mechanisms that are now so familiar. Preparing for moments like this feels like a futile job that can never really soften the actual experience. Read it here: New York Times – Melanye Price: It hurts to keep hoping for justice
Updated at 11.50 BST
24 Sept 2020 11.21 BST Facebook to launch long-delayed independent oversight board in October Also with the election in mind, here is some social media news. Facebook’s long-delayed independent oversight board plans to launch in mid-to-late October, just before the presidential election, although a board member said he did not know whether it would hear cases related to the contest The board, announced by Facebook in response to criticism of its handling of problematic content, will initially have the power to review decisions to take down posts from Facebook and Instagram, and recommend policy changes. Elizabeth Culliford reports for Reuters that some experts have said it will not be able to help combat misinformation, because it will have no authority at first to evaluate posts that the company decides to leave up. Oversight board member – and former Guardian editor – Alan Rusbridger told Reuters in an interview that the board was now aiming for an October launch. A spokesman confirmed that timetable, saying the launch, originally planned for last year, had also been slowed by the coronavirus pandemic. Rusbridger said he did not know whether the board would hear cases about content connected to the US election.
24 Sept 2020 11.19 BST Biden to be endorsed by 489 national security leaders who say Trump 'not equal to the enormous responsibilities of his office' Away from the Breonna Taylor protests for a moment, a quick snap from Reuters here that one of president Donald Trump’s most senior military advisers, retired General Paul Selva, is joining a large group of former Pentagon leaders to publicly endorse Joe Biden, according to a letter seen by the news agency. Selva, who served as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff until July 2019, appears on a list of 489 national security experts - including former military leaders, ambassadors and White House officials - who signed a letter being released on Thursday that declares Trump “not equal to the enormous responsibilities of his office.”
“Thanks to his disdainful attitude and his failures, our allies no longer trust or respect us, and our enemies no longer fear us,” reads the letter by the group, called “National Security Leaders For Biden.” Other groups of former national security leaders have endorsed Biden and criticized Trump, but, Reuters say, it is remarkable that a recently retired four-star general like Selva - who was the Pentagon’s No. 2 military officer - would publicly endorse any candidate and sign onto a letter condemning a president he served. CNN’s Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr, notes: Most Americans would have no reason to know Gen Selva’s name. But inside the very highest ranks he is very respected. https://t.co/5Hbr5aOtyR — Barbara Starr (@barbarastarrcnn) September 24, 2020
Updated at 11.31 BST
24 Sept 2020 11.08 BST The events of yesterday and last night are liable to push police and justice reform back into the public spotlight and make them a focus of the election campaign. Adam Mahoney has been in Chicago for us, looking at why the city is the only one in America’s top 10 not yet to agree to new police reforms, despite civil rights protests and a bloody summer of police shootings. Community leaders are at their wits end in a city where having the largest per-capita police force in the US is not translating into less crime or less violence, especially in neighborhoods long blighted by structural racism and now slammed by the twin coronavirus and economic crises. “This summer and the pandemic have shown us that if we want justice and love in Chicago, what we’re doing isn’t working,” said Moises Moreno, a city native and director of Pilsen Alliance, an organization on the lower west side that develops grassroots leadership in working class, immigrant communities. Three weeks ago in the Pilsen neighborhood, a cluster of candles and flowers couldn’t quite cover the dried blood on the sidewalk where 26-year-old Miguel Vega had been shot dead by Chicago police, one of five police shootings by the department in the last two months. A sixth shooting was carried out by a sheriff’s officer from surrounding Cook county. While county sheriff Tom Dart released bodycam footage less than a day after that wounding, Chicago Police Department failed to release any of the footage from its five shootings, until two days ago it issued bodycam from the Vega incident. Read it here: Why Chicago hasn’t enacted police reforms despite demands for change Why Chicago hasn't enacted police reforms despite demands for change Read more
Updated at 11.09 BST
24 Sept 2020 10.58 BST Here are some more of the pictures that have been coming through of a night of protest and demonstrations in many US cities. Protesters blocked a police car in downtown Los Angeles. Photograph: Jill Connelly/ZUMA Wire/REX/Shutterstock A protester carries a sign in honor of Breonna Taylor in Chicago, Illinois. Photograph: Natasha Moustache/Getty Images Protesters march under an overpass downtown in Louisville, Kentucky. Photograph: Jon Cherry/Getty Images Hundreds of people take to the streets of Washington DC, marching from the Department of Justice to Black Lives Matter Plaza and beyond. Photograph: Amy Katz/ZUMA Wire/REX/Shutterstock A protester with a loudhailer on a march through the streets of Seattle in remembrance of Breonna Taylor. Photograph: Karen Ducey/ZUMA Wire/REX/Shutterstock Police watch as hundreds of people protest in New York. Photograph: Lev Radin/Pacific Press/REX/Shutterstock
24 Sept 2020 10.35 BST Like many cities in the US there was a Black Lives Matter protest in San Jose yesterday over the Breonna Taylor decision. The East Bay Times reports: As of 6:30pm Wednesday, roughly 100 protesters had gathered outside San Jose City Hall. Among them was 25-year-old San Jose resident Daniel Barrena, who said he was disgusted the jury did not do more. “It just shows that they’re not accountable at all to anyone,” said Barrena, who waved a Zapatista flag in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. “There’s just going to be more protests and more riots until we get the justice we deserve.” Paris Browder said the news was “a slap in the face to me, to every Black person and to Breonna’s family specially.” “I feel infuriated, frustrated, outraged and out of my body,” the 28-year-old San Jose resident said. For 29-year-old San Jose resident Srishti Prabha, the indictment of a single police officer was an example “of just how much political power police have in this country.” “It’s unfortunate that Breonna Taylor’s family is not going to get the justice they wanted,” Prabha continued. “This was a heinous crime and justice did not happen.”
Updated at 10.36 BST
24 Sept 2020 10.19 BST Our multimedia team have put together this report, as thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in more than a dozen cities across the US after a grand jury decided not to directly charge police officers for the killing of Breonna Taylor. 00:53 Breonna Taylor protests erupt across US – video
24 Sept 2020 09.35 BST Pulitzer Prize winning Robin Givhan has written powerfully for the Washington Post this morning, in a piece simply titled Miss Breonna Taylor. The Kentucky attorney general kept calling her Miss. Miss Taylor. Miss Breonna Taylor. He gave her that honorific, that scrap of dignity six months after she was killed. Cameron used the genteel title — “Miss” — as a matter of formality but also as a kind of armor. The nicety would serve as evidence of his respectfulness of Taylor and of his regard for the criminal justice system. The title would also give feeble cover to the system’s indifference to the value of this 26-year-old Black woman’s life. The word would teeter atop a mountain of historical disregard that continues to grow. She did not have a weapon. She had done nothing wrong. She was simply at home. And she was killed by police. Cameron called her death a tragedy. That’s the least of it. No one would be held to account for Taylor’s death. Taylor was killed and the system shrugged. But at least Cameron called her Miss. Read it here: Washington Post – Robin Givhan: Miss Breonna Taylor
24 Sept 2020 09.21 BST Back to Portland, where the Oregonian reports on the evening’s protests. Mark Graves writes for the paper that the demonstration started when hundreds of people filled Southwest Third Avenue in front of the downtown Justice Center: Several Black women addressed the crowd from the steps of the Justice Center and encouraged people to vote and continue pressing for change. As the speeches continued past 9pm, a smaller crowd started forming in front of the Second Avenue side of the Justice Center — the Central Precinct of the Portland police. Portland police declared that gathering an “unlawful assembly shortly” before 10pm It was unclear why. Most people remained focused on the speeches on the opposite side of the building. Police warned people to leave Second Avenue, live videos showed. Dozens of officers then advanced on the crowd, using smoke and other devices to force people to move. At least one protester responded by throwing a firework toward police. He goes on to say A handful of protesters targeted a police precinct with fire and rocks. Police quickly extinguished the flames as they burned the edge of an awning. But soon after, someone threw a Molotov cocktail toward officers. Police ordered the hundreds of people gathered in honor of Breonna Taylor to leave, then used force to make people move. Federal officers helped. Federal officers shot impact munitions on downtown streets a half-mile away from the federal courthouse that President Donald Trump pledged to protect. The scene mirrored many July nights, when federal officers regularly and aggressively dispersed crowds outside the courthouse. Read it here: Oregon Live – Portland, federal police break up downtown protest of Breonna Taylor grand jury decision
Updated at 11.29 BST
24 Sept 2020 09.16 BST Away from the protests for a moment, the Associated Press is reporting that the US justice department is investigating a former Republican Florida Congresswoman accused of spending at least $50,000 of campaign money on vacations and restaurant and luxury hotel bills. The federal department’s public integrity section is looking into the expenditures by Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, from Miami, including a 2017 trip to Walt Disney World with her children and grandchildren, rooms at a Ritz-Carlton resort and a New Year’s Eve meal at a high-end seafood restaurant.
In this 2015 file photo, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, listens to a question from the media. Photograph: Wilfredo Lee/AP Jeffrey Weiner, an attorney for Ros-Lehtinen, said in a statement to WFOR-TV, which first reported the investigation, that Ros-Lehtinen was aware of the investigation and she and former staff members and volunteers were cooperating with the Federal Election Commission and the Justice Department.
In a statement to the Miami Herald, the attorney added that they are turning over campaign finance and other records subpoenaed by the Justice Department.
“We ... are confident that, if bookkeeping errors were committed, they were due to negligence, and not willful or intentional misconduct by the former congresswoman or anyone on her staff, or her accountants,” the news outlets quoted Weiner as saying.
Ros-Lehtinen declined to seek reelection in 2018 after a 30-year career in Congress. Following her retirement announcement in April 2017, she transferred more than $177,000 from her reelection campaign account to a political action committee she controlled, WFOR-TV reported. Federal law prohibits campaign funds, including those transferred to PACs from being spent on personal use.
Weiner declined to explain the campaign-related purpose of the expenditures but said his team has not “found any evidence whatsoever of intentional wrongdoing” by the former Congresswoman or her staff.
24 Sept 2020 09.10 BST Here’s a reminder of what Kentucky attorney general, Daniel Cameron, said, urging protesters to make their voices heard peacefully after only one police officer involved in the shooting death of Breonna Taylor was indicted by a grand jury. 02:18 Breonna Taylor killing: attorney general calls for calm as no officers directly charged – video


theguardian--2020-09-24--Donald in Blunderland: Trump won't commit to peaceful power transfer at surreal press briefing

Jared Kushner , the US president ’ s son-in-law , told journalist Bob Woodward that one of the best ways to understand Donald Trump is to study Lewis Carroll ’ s Alice ’ s Adventures in Wonderland .
Kushner paraphrased the Cheshire Cat ’ s philosophy : “ If you don ’ t know where you ’ re going , any path will get you there.
” Wednesday was one of those days when to have a seat in the White House briefing room felts like stepping through the looking-glass into Blunderland , where the mad hatter has an authoritarian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from touting miracle vaccines to building supreme court suspense , from insulting a female member of the British royal family to abruptly departing for a mysterious “ emergency ” phone call .
But first , there was the small matter of kneecapping American democracy .
Perhaps it was not chance that the president , ever eager to generate media outrage , gave the first question to Brian Karem , who describes himself on Twitter as a “ Loud Mouth ” senior White House reporter at Playboy .
“ Will you commit to make @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of power after the election ?
” Karem asked .
All of his 43 predecessors would have said yes , presumably .
But Trump replied : “ We ’ re going to have to see what happens , you know that .
I ’ ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots , and the ballots are a disaster.
” Karem shot back : “ I understand that , but people are rioting .
Do you commit to make sure that there ’ s a peaceful transferral of power ?
” Still Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the ballots and you ’ ll have a very peaceful — there won ’ t be a transfer , frankly .
There will be a continuation .
The ballots are out of control .
You know it .
And you know who knows it better than anybody else ?
The Democrats know it better than anybody else.
” Later , Karem remarked on Twitter : “ This is the most frightening answer I have ever received to any question I have ever asked .
I ’ ve interviewed convicted killers with more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ War.
” And Julian Castro , who served in Barack Obama ’ s cabinet , tweeted : “ In one day , Trump refused a peaceful transition of power and urged the confirmation of a Supreme Court justice to hand him an election if the results are contested .
This is fascism , alive and well in the Republican Party.
” Trump was also questioned about the failure of a grand jury to bring charges against Louisville police for the killing of Breonna Taylor during a drug raid gone wrong .
The president @ @ @ @ @ @ @ comfort for millions aggrieved by another case of racial injustice .
Instead he read a statement from Daniel Cameron , the attorney general of Kentucky , a loyal supporter who last month delivered a prime time address at the Republican national convention .
“ I think he ’ s a star , ” said Trump , also noting that the governor has called in the National Guard and suggesting that , when in doubt , there ’ s always the strategy of mindless optimism : “ It ’ ll all work out.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Meghan , Duchess of Sussex , urging people to vote in remarks that some interpreted as supporting Democratic candidate Joe Biden .
Trump said : “ I ’ m not a fan of hers - and she has probably heard that – but I wish a lot of luck to Harry because he ’ s going to need it.
” The attempt at humour hovered awkwardly in the air like a coronavirus particle .
Speaking of which , the president was ruminating on Covid-19 when he called his latest adviser , Scott Atlas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Trump then told reporters : “ I have to leave for an emergency phone call.
” Karem and others demanded to know the nature of the emergency .
Trump said only : “ I have a big call , a very big call.
” Could it be Xi Jinping or Vladimir Putin ?
One wit on Twitter quipped that it was probably just Lou Dobbs of Fox Business .
Atlas has the kind of combative swagger that appeals to Trump .
He denied media reports that he has clashed with coronavirus response @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Redfield , the director of the Centers for Disease Control , “ misstated something ” when he told the Senate that 90 % of the population remains susceptible to Covid-19 .
Jim Acosta of CNN queried : “ Americans hear one thing from the CDC Dir & another thing from you , who are we to believe ?
” Atlas responded : “ You ’ re supposed to believe the science and I ’ m telling you the science.
” Indeed , earlier Trump had claimed , “ Our approach is pro-science .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” – words to remember when he heads to Florida on Thursday for the latest of his packed , nearly mask-free campaign rallies in Wonderland .

Jared Kushner, the US president’s son-in-law, told journalist Bob Woodward that one of the best ways to understand Donald Trump is to study Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Kushner paraphrased the Cheshire Cat’s philosophy: “If you don’t know where you’re going, any path will get you there.”
Wednesday was one of those days when to have a seat in the White House briefing room felt like stepping through the looking-glass into Blunderland, where the mad hatter has an authoritarian streak a mile wide.
Trump careered from touting miracle vaccines to building supreme court suspense, from insulting a female member of the British royal family to abruptly departing for a mysterious “emergency” phone call. But first, there was the small matter of kneecapping American democracy.
Perhaps it was not chance that the president, ever eager to generate media outrage, gave the first question to Brian Karem, who describes himself on Twitter as a “Loud Mouth” senior White House reporter at Playboy. “Will you commit to make sure there’s a peaceful transferral of power after the election?” Karem asked.
All of his 43 predecessors would have said yes, presumably. But Trump replied: “We’re going to have to see what happens, you know that. I’ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots, and the ballots are a disaster.”
Karem shot back: “I understand that, but people are rioting. Do you commit to make sure that there’s a peaceful transferral of power?”
Still Trump refused to commit. “Get rid of the ballots and you’ll have a very peaceful — there won’t be a transfer, frankly. There will be a continuation. The ballots are out of control. You know it. And you know who knows it better than anybody else? The Democrats know it better than anybody else.”
Later, Karem remarked on Twitter: “This is the most frightening answer I have ever received to any question I have ever asked. I’ve interviewed convicted killers with more empathy. @realDonaldTrump is advocating Civil War.”
And Julian Castro, who served in Barack Obama’s cabinet, tweeted: “In one day, Trump refused a peaceful transition of power and urged the confirmation of a Supreme Court justice to hand him an election if the results are contested. This is fascism, alive and well in the Republican Party.”
Trump was also questioned about the failure of a grand jury to bring charges against Louisville police for the killing of Breonna Taylor during a drug raid gone wrong.
The president declined to offer his own perspective or comfort for millions aggrieved by another case of racial injustice. Instead he read a statement from Daniel Cameron, the attorney general of Kentucky, a loyal supporter who last month delivered a prime time address at the Republican national convention.
“I think he’s a star,” said Trump, also noting that the governor has called in the National Guard and suggesting that, when in doubt, there’s always the strategy of mindless optimism: “It’ll all work out.”
01:20 Donald Trump says he expects US election to end up at supreme court – video
Another reporter asked about Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, urging people to vote in remarks that some interpreted as supporting Democratic candidate Joe Biden.
Trump said: “I’m not a fan of hers - and she has probably heard that – but I wish a lot of luck to Harry because he’s going to need it.”
The attempt at humour hovered awkwardly in the air like a coronavirus particle.
Speaking of which, the president was ruminating on Covid-19 when he called his latest adviser, Scott Atlas, to weigh in from the podium. Trump then told reporters: “I have to leave for an emergency phone call.”
Karem and others demanded to know the nature of the emergency. Trump said only: “I have a big call, a very big call.” Could it be Xi Jinping or Vladimir Putin? One wit on Twitter quipped that it was probably just Lou Dobbs of Fox Business.
Atlas has the kind of combative swagger that appeals to Trump. He denied media reports that he has clashed with coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx. He claimed Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control, “misstated something” when he told the Senate that 90% of the population remains susceptible to Covid-19.
Jim Acosta of CNN queried: “Americans hear one thing from the CDC Dir & another thing from you, who are we to believe?”
Atlas responded: “You’re supposed to believe the science and I’m telling you the science.”
Indeed, earlier Trump had claimed, “Our approach is pro-science. Biden’s approach is anti-science” – words to remember when he heads to Florida on Thursday for the latest of his packed, nearly mask-free campaign rallies in Wonderland.