theguardian--2020-10-11--A Very Stable Genius? No, a narcissist and a racist – a portrait of Trump from a vast library of boo

A Very Stable Genius? No, a narcissist and a racist – a portrait of Trump from a vast library of books

Donald Trump is not a reader but to the publishing industry he is the gift that keeps on giving .
His time in the White House has yielded an avalanche of books with titles like Fear , Rage , Unhinged and Fire and Fury .
Together , they paint a withering portrait of the 45th president .
Some crackle with the fury of scorned employees .
Others are banquets of gossip by seasoned reporters , whether highbrow ( Bob Woodward ) or lowbrow ( Michael Wolff ) .
One is by a member of Trump ’ s own family : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the psychiatrist ’ s chair .
To anyone seeking to understand the presidency of Donald Trump , such books are a goldmine that offer startling insights into his character , personality and mental state .
Here are six categories to guide you through the canon : “ Every critic , every detractor will have to bow down to President Trump , ” was the bold prediction of Omarosa Manigault Newman , a former contestant on The Apprentice , on PBS Frontline in 2016 .
Fired from the White House the following year @ @ @ @ @ @ @ book that proved single-word titles are deadly : Unhinged .
“ It had finally sunk in that the person I ’ d thought I ’ d known so well for so long was actually a racist , ” Manigault Newman writes .
“ Using the N-word was not just the way he talks but , more disturbing , it was how he thought of me and African Americans as a whole.
” This year ’ s Republican convention devoted a segment to working mothers at the White House , seeking to cast Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tells a different story .
A Very Stable Genius , by Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig of the Washington Post , reports the president complained that Kirstjen Nielsen , his homeland security secretary , did not “ look the part ” , and that he “ abused ” , “ harassed ” and “ pestered ” her over immigration policy .
The demonization of immigrants is a constant theme .
A Warning , by Anonymous , alleges Trump proposed classifying all undocumented migrants as “ enemy combatants ” , the same status as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thus have dispatched them to Guantánamo Bay .
The unknown author , an administration official , quotes the president : “ We get these women coming in with like seven children … They are saying , ‘ Oh , please help !
My husband left me !
’ They are useless .
They don ’ t do anything for our country .
At least if they came in with a husband we could put him in the fields to pick corn or something.
” A recurring motif is Trump ’ s lack of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on his own white privilege and asks if Trump understands the anger and pain of Black Americans .
The president scoffs : “ No .
You really drank the Kool-Aid , didn ’ t you ?
Just listen to you .
Wow .
No , I don ’ t feel that at all.
” Thanks to the factcheckers at the Post , we know Trump has lied more than 20,000 times in office .
Helpfully , those factcheckers compiled a book , Donald Trump and His Assault on Truth , although as it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ already a few thousand fibs out of date .
Infamously , the whole presidency started out with a lie , characteristically Trumpian in being so provably a whopper : that the crowd for his inauguration was bigger than for Barack Obama .
It is not enough for Trump to lie – others must lie for him .
This one was delivered by Sean Spicer .
In his masochistically fawning memoir , The Briefing , the former press secretary admits knowing he “ didn ’ t have hard and fast stats ” to hand @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was gone .
In Team of Vipers , Cliff Sims , a communications aide , laments a “ senseless , unrecoverable act of self-sabotage ” .
As the former Republican strategist Rick Wilson titled his first book , Everything Trump Touches Dies .
In his memoir , A Higher Loyalty , James Comey , the FBI director Trump fired , showed how Trump rules like a mob boss , which means “ lying about all things , large and small , in service to some code of loyalty that put the organization above @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump duly lied about why he fired Comey , pitching himself headfirst into the Russia inquiry and on towards impeachment .
And yet Trump lies like something even more terrifying than a mob boss .
Parents will concur with Daniel Drezner ’ s observation , in The Toddler in Chief , that whenever Trump is found out in a lie – climate change is a hoax ; voter fraud is rampant ; I didn ’ t sleep with then pay off that porn star – he doubles down , lies about the lie @ @ @ @ @ @ @ breakable only by ice cream and screen time .
The books depict a president who relishes discord , watching staff fight likes rats in a sack .
But his family – especially his daughter Ivanka – remain untouchable .
The first Trump blockbuster was Wolff ’ s Fire and Fury .
Among its revelations was that the president argued with the Secret Service over whether he could have a lock on his bedroom , “ the first time since the Kennedy White House a presidential couple had maintained separate rooms ” .
Wolff @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Jared Kushner , struck a deal about which would run for president one day : “ The first woman president , Ivanka entertained , would not be Hillary Clinton ; it would be Ivanka Trump.
” In Fear , Woodward chronicles a furious argument between Ivanka and Trump ’ s then chief strategist .
“ ‘ You ’ re a goddam staffer !
’ [ Steve ] Bannon finally screamed at Ivanka .
‘ You ’ re nothing but a fucking staffer !
’ “ ‘ I ’ m not a staffer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ll never be a staffer .
I ’ m the first daughter ’ – she really used the title – ‘ and I ’ m never going to be a staffer !
’ ” Omarosa was a witness to the relationship between Trump and Ivanka .
She writes in Unhinged : “ For as long as I ’ d known Trump , I ’ d observed the way he hugs , touches , and kisses Ivanka ; the way she calls him Daddy .
In my opinion , based on my observations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ line of appropriate father/daughter behavior and jumps right over it.
” Other children fare even less well .
Michael Cohen ’ s Disloyal claims Trump repeatedly told the author his eldest son , Don Jr , has the “ worst fucking judgment ” of anyone he had ever met .
When Trump sees a photo of his sons hunting big game in Africa , he roars at Don Jr : “ You think you ’ re a fucking big man ?
Get the fuck out of my office.
” For what it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s Melania & Me says the first lady influenced Trump against his sons ’ hunting exploits .
Although Ivanka is the favorite , Cohen writes , “ all three kids were starved for their father ’ s love ” .
Some of the most revealing insights , however , come from a time long before Trump entered politics , before his children were born or when they were still young .
In Too Much and Never Enough , Mary Trump characterizes the president ’ s father Fred as a sociopathic bully who encouraged @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Chillingly , she suggests that in 2016 , voters chose “ to turn this country into a macro version of my malignantly dysfunctional family ” .
The New York Times ’ enormous scoop on Trump ’ s taxes will no doubt form the heart of a bestselling book .
In the meantime , its revelations have prompted familiar incredulity and hilarity .
Take the news , for example that Trump claimed a $ 70,000 tax deduction for “ hairstyling for television ” .
Even Ivanka , Wolff writes in Fire and Fury @ @ @ @ @ @ @ father ’ s ] comb-over ” , describing “ the mechanics behind it : an absolutely clean pate – a contained island after scalp reduction surgery – surrounded by a furry circle of hair around the sides and front , from which all ends are drawn up to meet in the center and then swept back and secured by a stiffening spray.
” A Higher Loyalty also passes comment on Trump ’ s appearance .
“ His face appeared slightly orange , ” Comey writes , “ with bright white half-moons under his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tanning goggles.
” Comey also says he checked the size of Trump ’ s hands – about which the president is known to be very sensitive – and found them to be “ smaller than mine … but not unusually so ” .
More than 20 women say Trump used his hands to sexually assault them .
In What Were We Thinking : A Brief Intellectual History of the Trump Era , the Washington Post literary critic Carlos Lozada discusses a telling passage in one of Trump ’ s own ghost-written books , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ claims to have been groped and propositioned himself , by “ a lady of great social pedigree and wealth ” , advances he says he turned down politely .
Lozada isn ’ t buying .
“ As with so many things Trump says and does , ” he writes , “ the old story has an air of projection about it … I don ’ t harass women , he is saying – look , they harass me !
” Why does Trump pander to authoritarians – Vladimir Putin , Kim Jong-un , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cold shoulder to allies ?
The literature offers some clues .
Woodward ’ s Rage includes “ love letters ” between Trump and Kim .
The North Korean dictator describes meeting Trump as a “ precious memory ” that demonstrates how the “ deep and special friendship between us will work as a magical force ” .
Trump brags that Kim “ tells me everything ” , including a vivid account of having his uncle killed .
The president also tells the celebrated reporter : “ I get along very well with [ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you ’ re not supposed to because everyone says , ‘ What a horrible guy.
’ But , you know , for me it works out good .
“ It ’ s funny , the relationships I have , the tougher and meaner they are , the better I get along with them .
You ’ ll explain that to me someday , OK ?
But maybe it ’ s not a bad thing .
The easy ones I maybe don ’ t like as much or don ’ t get along with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It Happened , the former national security adviser John Bolton recalls that Trump was willing to halt criminal investigations to “ give personal favors ” to dictators .
Bolton alleges Trump pleaded with Xi Jinping to help him get re-elected by buying more American agricultural products , and even encouraged the Chinese leader to continue to build concentration camps for Muslim Uighurs .
Bolton ’ s account of Trump ’ s approach to foreign diplomacy is not reassuring .
“ It was like making and executing policy inside a pinball machine , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Battlegrounds , the former national security adviser HR McMaster critiques Trump on policy , but does not dish on the president ’ s resistance to being briefed , or even reading anything at all .
Others , among them Bolton and the classics-quoting Anonymous of A Warning , are quite happy to do so .
At a meeting at the Pentagon in July 2017 which crops up in many Trump books , the defense secretary , James Mattis , and secretary of state , Rex Tillerson , tried to coach the president @ @ @ @ @ @ @ statecraft .
As A Very Stable Genius shows in excruciating detail , the meeting did not go well , leading to Tillerson offering perhaps the most lasting tribute to Trump by a member of his own cabinet .
The president , the secretary of state said , was “ a fucking moron ” .
In Trump ’ s mind he is beyond advice , the smartest guy in the room , an idea encouraged by toadies and terrified advisers alike , even if Trump famously mispronounced Bannon ’ s description of his appeal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ That ’ s what I am , a popularist.
” The former New Jersey governor Chris Christie wrote a particularly self-serving book , Let Me Finish , about how Trump did not let him finish work on the transition .
But reporter Michael Lewis ’ s The Fifth Risk contains the most telling quote from Trump to his sidekick-cum-tackle bag : “ Chris , you and I are so smart that we can leave the victory party two hours early and do the transition ourselves.
” It turned out they couldn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with television , and the channel he prefers to any adviser , Fox News , is the subject of Audience of One by James Poniewozik .
According to the New York Times TV critic , Trump ’ s addiction to TV and Twitter meant that even before he won the presidency , he “ had essentially become a cable news channel in human form , loud , short of attention span , addicted to conflict … a meshing of man and machine ” .

Martin Pengellyin New York and David Smith in Washington

Donald Trump is not a reader but to the publishing industry he is the gift that keeps on giving. His time in the White House has yielded an avalanche of books with titles like Fear, Rage, Unhinged and Fire and Fury. Together, they paint a withering portrait of the 45th president.
Some crackle with the fury of scorned employees. Others are banquets of gossip by seasoned reporters, whether highbrow (Bob Woodward) or lowbrow (Michael Wolff). One is by a member of Trump’s own family: Mary Trump who put her estranged uncle in the psychiatrist’s chair.
To anyone seeking to understand the presidency of Donald Trump, such books are a goldmine that offer startling insights into his character, personality and mental state.
Here are six categories to guide you through the canon:
Sex and race
“Every critic, every detractor will have to bow down to President Trump,” was the bold prediction of Omarosa Manigault Newman, a former contestant on The Apprentice, on PBS Frontline in 2016. Fired from the White House the following year, she turned on Trump in a book that proved single-word titles are deadly: Unhinged.
“It had finally sunk in that the person I’d thought I’d known so well for so long was actually a racist,” Manigault Newman writes. “Using the N-word was not just the way he talks but, more disturbing, it was how he thought of me and African Americans as a whole.”
This year’s Republican convention devoted a segment to working mothers at the White House, seeking to cast Trump as an improbable feminist. The literature tells a different story. A Very Stable Genius, by Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig of the Washington Post, reports the president complained that Kirstjen Nielsen, his homeland security secretary, did not “look the part”, and that he “abused”, “harassed” and “pestered” her over immigration policy.
The demonization of immigrants is a constant theme. A Warning, by Anonymous, alleges Trump proposed classifying all undocumented migrants as “enemy combatants”, the same status as captured members of al-Qaida, which would thus have dispatched them to Guantánamo Bay.
Fire and Fury by Michael Wolff, the daddy of all Trump books, goes on sale in January 2018. Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
The unknown author, an administration official, quotes the president: “We get these women coming in with like seven children … They are saying, ‘Oh, please help! My husband left me!’ They are useless. They don’t do anything for our country. At least if they came in with a husband we could put him in the fields to pick corn or something.”
A recurring motif is Trump’s lack of empathy. In Rage, Woodward reflects on his own white privilege and asks if Trump understands the anger and pain of Black Americans. The president scoffs: “No. You really drank the Kool-Aid, didn’t you? Just listen to you. Wow. No, I don’t feel that at all.”
Lies
Thanks to the factcheckers at the Post, we know Trump has lied more than 20,000 times in office. Helpfully, those factcheckers compiled a book, Donald Trump and His Assault on Truth, although as it came out in June it’s already a few thousand fibs out of date.
Infamously, the whole presidency started out with a lie, characteristically Trumpian in being so provably a whopper: that the crowd for his inauguration was bigger than for Barack Obama. It is not enough for Trump to lie – others must lie for him. This one was delivered by Sean Spicer.
In his masochistically fawning memoir, The Briefing, the former press secretary admits knowing he “didn’t have hard and fast stats” to hand. On day one, his credibility was gone. In Team of Vipers, Cliff Sims, a communications aide, laments a “senseless, unrecoverable act of self-sabotage”. As the former Republican strategist Rick Wilson titled his first book, Everything Trump Touches Dies.
In his memoir, A Higher Loyalty, James Comey, the FBI director Trump fired, showed how Trump rules like a mob boss, which means “lying about all things, large and small, in service to some code of loyalty that put the organization above morality and above the truth”. Trump duly lied about why he fired Comey, pitching himself headfirst into the Russia inquiry and on towards impeachment.
And yet Trump lies like something even more terrifying than a mob boss. Parents will concur with Daniel Drezner’s observation, in The Toddler in Chief, that whenever Trump is found out in a lie – climate change is a hoax; voter fraud is rampant; I didn’t sleep with then pay off that porn star – he doubles down, lies about the lie, thus creating a horrendous feedback loop breakable only by ice cream and screen time.
Family
The books depict a president who relishes discord, watching staff fight likes rats in a sack. But his family – especially his daughter Ivanka – remain untouchable.
Rage, Bob Woodward’s second Trump book, on sale in Gurnee, Illinois. Photograph: Tannen Maury/EPA
The first Trump blockbuster was Wolff’s Fire and Fury. Among its revelations was that the president argued with the Secret Service over whether he could have a lock on his bedroom, “the first time since the Kennedy White House a presidential couple had maintained separate rooms”.
Wolff also told how Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, struck a deal about which would run for president one day: “The first woman president, Ivanka entertained, would not be Hillary Clinton; it would be Ivanka Trump.”
In Fear, Woodward chronicles a furious argument between Ivanka and Trump’s then chief strategist. “‘You’re a goddam staffer!’ [Steve] Bannon finally screamed at Ivanka. ‘You’re nothing but a fucking staffer!’
“‘I’m not a staffer!’ she shouted. ‘I’ll never be a staffer. I’m the first daughter’ – she really used the title – ‘and I’m never going to be a staffer!’”
Omarosa was a witness to the relationship between Trump and Ivanka. She writes in Unhinged: “For as long as I’d known Trump, I’d observed the way he hugs, touches, and kisses Ivanka; the way she calls him Daddy. In my opinion, based on my observations, their relationship goes up to the line of appropriate father/daughter behavior and jumps right over it.”
Other children fare even less well. Michael Cohen’s Disloyal claims Trump repeatedly told the author his eldest son, Don Jr, has the “worst fucking judgment” of anyone he had ever met. When Trump sees a photo of his sons hunting big game in Africa, he roars at Don Jr: “You think you’re a fucking big man? Get the fuck out of my office.” For what it’s worth, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff’s Melania & Me says the first lady influenced Trump against his sons’ hunting exploits.
Although Ivanka is the favorite, Cohen writes, “all three kids were starved for their father’s love”. Some of the most revealing insights, however, come from a time long before Trump entered politics, before his children were born or when they were still young. In Too Much and Never Enough, Mary Trump characterizes the president’s father Fred as a sociopathic bully who encouraged him to be a “killer”. Chillingly, she suggests that in 2016, voters chose “to turn this country into a macro version of my malignantly dysfunctional family”.
Narcissism
The New York Times’ enormous scoop on Trump’s taxes will no doubt form the heart of a bestselling book. In the meantime, its revelations have prompted familiar incredulity and hilarity. Take the news, for example that Trump claimed a $70,000 tax deduction for “hairstyling for television”.
Even Ivanka, Wolff writes in Fire and Fury, “made fun of [her father’s] comb-over”, describing “the mechanics behind it: an absolutely clean pate – a contained island after scalp reduction surgery – surrounded by a furry circle of hair around the sides and front, from which all ends are drawn up to meet in the center and then swept back and secured by a stiffening spray.”
A Higher Loyalty also passes comment on Trump’s appearance. “His face appeared slightly orange,” Comey writes, “with bright white half-moons under his eyes where I assumed he placed small tanning goggles.” Comey also says he checked the size of Trump’s hands – about which the president is known to be very sensitive – and found them to be “smaller than mine … but not unusually so”.
More than 20 women say Trump used his hands to sexually assault them. In What Were We Thinking: A Brief Intellectual History of the Trump Era, the Washington Post literary critic Carlos Lozada discusses a telling passage in one of Trump’s own ghost-written books, The Art of the Comeback.
Trump claims to have been groped and propositioned himself, by “a lady of great social pedigree and wealth”, advances he says he turned down politely. Lozada isn’t buying.
“As with so many things Trump says and does,” he writes, “the old story has an air of projection about it … I don’t harass women, he is saying – look, they harass me!”
Strongmen
Why does Trump pander to authoritarians – Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un, Mohammed bin Salman – but give the cold shoulder to allies? The literature offers some clues.
Woodward’s Rage includes “love letters” between Trump and Kim. The North Korean dictator describes meeting Trump as a “precious memory” that demonstrates how the “deep and special friendship between us will work as a magical force”. Trump brags that Kim “tells me everything”, including a vivid account of having his uncle killed.
The president also tells the celebrated reporter: “I get along very well with [Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan, even though you’re not supposed to because everyone says, ‘What a horrible guy.’ But, you know, for me it works out good.
“It’s funny, the relationships I have, the tougher and meaner they are, the better I get along with them. You’ll explain that to me someday, OK? But maybe it’s not a bad thing. The easy ones I maybe don’t like as much or don’t get along with as much.”
In The Room Where It Happened, the former national security adviser John Bolton recalls that Trump was willing to halt criminal investigations to “give personal favors” to dictators. Bolton alleges Trump pleaded with Xi Jinping to help him get re-elected by buying more American agricultural products, and even encouraged the Chinese leader to continue to build concentration camps for Muslim Uighurs.
Bolton’s account of Trump’s approach to foreign diplomacy is not reassuring. “It was like making and executing policy inside a pinball machine,” he writes.
Ignorance
In his new memoir, Battlegrounds, the former national security adviser HR McMaster critiques Trump on policy, but does not dish on the president’s resistance to being briefed, or even reading anything at all. Others, among them Bolton and the classics-quoting Anonymous of A Warning, are quite happy to do so.
Copies of former FBI director James Comey’s book A Higher Loyalty, seen at a store in Washington. Photograph: Carlos Barria/Reuters
At a meeting at the Pentagon in July 2017 which crops up in many Trump books, the defense secretary, James Mattis, and secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, tried to coach the president on the need for alliances and traditional statecraft. As A Very Stable Genius shows in excruciating detail, the meeting did not go well, leading to Tillerson offering perhaps the most lasting tribute to Trump by a member of his own cabinet.
The president, the secretary of state said, was “a fucking moron”.
In Trump’s mind he is beyond advice, the smartest guy in the room, an idea encouraged by toadies and terrified advisers alike, even if Trump famously mispronounced Bannon’s description of his appeal and said, according to Woodward: “That’s what I am, a popularist.”
The former New Jersey governor Chris Christie wrote a particularly self-serving book, Let Me Finish, about how Trump did not let him finish work on the transition. But reporter Michael Lewis’s The Fifth Risk contains the most telling quote from Trump to his sidekick-cum-tackle bag: “Chris, you and I are so smart that we can leave the victory party two hours early and do the transition ourselves.” It turned out they couldn’t.
Trump’s symbiotic relationship with television, and the channel he prefers to any adviser, Fox News, is the subject of Audience of One by James Poniewozik. According to the New York Times TV critic, Trump’s addiction to TV and Twitter meant that even before he won the presidency, he “had essentially become a cable news channel in human form, loud, short of attention span, addicted to conflict … a meshing of man and machine”.


theguardian--2020-10-12--Amy Coney Barrett supreme court nomination hearings begin in Washington – live

Kenya Evelyn reports for us in Jacksonville , Florida : With one in 1,000 Black Americans having died of the coronavirus , progressives such as Angie Nixon are rallying voters ahead of the 2020 presidential election .
Running uncontested , she ’ s the next state representative for Florida ’ s 14th congressional district representing Jacksonville and its outer suburbs .
“ I think it ’ s really important that we work on legislation that addresses systemic racism and that is not just Band-Aids , ” she said .
“ I ’ m pregnant .
Yes , I have a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and I have healthcare , but I ’ m still concerned that if I go into the hospital , will I be listened to ?
” As cases surged in Jacksonville , Nixon ’ s canvassing evolved into community wellness checks .
Shortly after , she contracted the virus while pregnant before transmitting it to her mother .
She said her “ most mentally taxing experience ” is a wake-up call for Democrats to get aggressive in facing the issues affecting their most loyal voting bloc .
“ I don ’ t want @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fight for the same things that my mom and my grandmother had to fight for , ” she said .
“ We ’ ve been the ones that have been turning out for the longest and we are going to lead this movement , ” she said .
Nixon is part of a record number of Black women and women of color to run for office across the country .
While she called on more to claim their political power and demand “ a seat at the table ” , she acknowledged that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Read Kenya Evelyn ’ s report in full here : ‘ We ’ re going to lead this ’ : a call for Black women in Florida to claim their political power

Joan E Greve (now) and Martin Belam (earlier)

13 Oct 2020 02.59 BST Summary A recap from me and Joan E Greve: Donald Trump held his first rally since contracting Covid-19. Lagging in the polls, he was eager to appear healthy as he downplayed the severity of the pandemic and returned to classic stump talking points about the border wall and unfriendly media.
Lagging in the polls, he was eager to appear healthy as he downplayed the severity of the pandemic and returned to classic stump talking points about the border wall and unfriendly media. Dr Anthony Fauci said holding large rallies is “asking for trouble”. In an interview with CNN, he also reiterated that “it’s really unfortunate and really disappointing” that the Trump campaign took his words out of context in a campaign ad.
In an interview with CNN, he also reiterated that “it’s really unfortunate and really disappointing” that the Trump campaign took his words out of context in a campaign ad. Joe Biden was on the offense, campaigning in red-state Ohio. The Democratic nominee spoke harshly of Trump’s response to the virus and his handling of his own infection. The former vice-president also accused Republicans of hypocrisy as they sought to portray Democrats as anti-religious during the supreme court hearings for the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett.
The Democratic nominee spoke harshly of Trump’s response to the virus and his handling of his own infection. The former vice-president also accused Republicans of hypocrisy as they sought to portray Democrats as anti-religious during the supreme court hearings for the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett. The Senate judiciary committee held the first day of Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination hearings. The supreme court nominee and every member of the committee delivered an opening statement. Questioning of Barrett begins tomorrow.
The supreme court nominee and every member of the committee delivered an opening statement. Questioning of Barrett begins tomorrow. Barrett emphasized judges should not try to legislate from the bench in her opening statement. “Courts are not designed to solve every problem or right every wrong in our public life,” Barrett said. “The policy decisions and value judgments of government must be made by the political branches elected by and accountable to the people.”
“Courts are not designed to solve every problem or right every wrong in our public life,” Barrett said. “The policy decisions and value judgments of government must be made by the political branches elected by and accountable to the people.” Senate Republicans accused their Democratic colleagues of attacking Barrett’s Catholic faith, even though Democrats did not mention her faith. Instead, Democrats used their opening statements to warn that Barrett’s confirmation to the supreme court could jeopardize the Affordable Care Act.
Instead, Democrats used their opening statements to warn that Barrett’s confirmation to the supreme court could jeopardize the Affordable Care Act. Kamala Harris argued the Senate should postpone Barrett’s hearings and focus on passing another coronavirus relief bill. Delivering an opening statement virtually from her Senate office, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee said, “Senate Republicans have made it crystal clear that rushing a supreme court nomination is more important than helping and supporting the American people who are suffering from a deadly pandemic and economic crisis.”
Updated at 03.21 BST
13 Oct 2020 02.23 BST Joan E Greve Deeper look: Biden campaigns in red state Ohio Joe Biden’s campaign went on a fresh offense against the Trump administration on Monday, campaigning in a red state and accusing Republicans of hypocrisy as they sought to portray Democrats as anti-religious during the supreme court hearings for the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett. Biden campaigned in Ohio, attempting to expand the battleground map and keep Trump on the defensive in a state thought to be out of reach for Democrats after Trump’s wide margin of victory there four years ago. A slew of recent polls has had the Democratic challenger leading Trump in national polls, often by double digits. Likewise, many battleground state surveys, though often narrower than the national picture, have Biden with healthy leads. The situation has led several top Republicans to make rare public warnings of losing the White House – and maybe even Republicans losing the Senate. On the campaign trail Biden stressed an economic message and touted his own record while casting Trump as having abandoned working-class voters who helped him win rust belt states that put him in the White House in 2016. In Toledo, Biden addressed United Auto Workers who represent a local General Motors’ powertrain plant. The former vice-president spoke in a parking lot with about 30 American-made cars and trucks arrayed nearby, and he struck a decidedly populist note, praising unions and arguing that he represented working-class values while the Republican Trump cared only about impressing the Ivy League and country club set. “I don’t measure people by the size of their bank account,” Biden said. “You and I measure people by the strength of their character, their honesty, their courage.” Biden campaigns in red state Ohio, hoping to expand battleground map Read more
13 Oct 2020 01.46 BST Meanwhile, the Biden campaign has hit back against Trump’s characterization of Biden as old and frail ... After 74-year-old Trump told his ralliers, “I am not an old person, I am a young person,” and made references to his 77-year-old opponent’s choice to broadcast campaign events from his “basement”, among the Biden’s campaign’s responses were celebrations of the former vice-president’s relative mastery of walking up and down inclines. https://t.co/kQzttvt1Q7 pic.twitter.com/PvVe6twk7Z — Mike Gwin (@MichaelJGwin) October 13, 2020
Updated at 02.23 BST
13 Oct 2020 01.38 BST Trump spoke for about 65 minutes – a bit shy of the usual hour and a half he normally takes up at his campaign rallies. With just weeks to go before election day, and early voting underway, Trump has been eager to return to a full schedule of in-person rallies as he scrambles to hold on to his slipping supporters. Polls have his Democratic opponent Joe Biden ahead by an average 12 points, in polls taken since 1 October. Trump is also losing support from seniors, who are the most vulnerable in a pandemic that has already killed more than 214,000 Americans. In a frenetic push to solidify support, Trump and his campaign have sought to downplay the threat of coronavirus. The president’s own demonstrations of reckless, maskless bravado appears to be key to that strategy, as Trump characterizes his opponent as frail and confined to his basement.
Updated at 03.00 BST
13 Oct 2020 01.03 BST As Donald Trump declared himself “immune” at his Florida rally, a new case study published in The Lancet revealed a 25-year-old man in Nevada was infected with coronavirus twice this year. This is the first confirmed case of reinfection in the US. The two infections in this one patient occurred six weeks apart. Reinfections are rare – there are only five such cases documented worldwide. But much is still unknown about how or why this happens. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently advises that those who have recovered from Covid-19 generally appear to be protected from reinfection for three months – but this newly documented case bucks that expectation.
Updated at 01.24 BST
12 Oct 2020 00.33 BST “You better vote for me Puerto Rico. You better vote for me,” Trump said. Residents of Puerto Rico and other US territories are not entitled to vote for president in federal elections, though Puerto Ricans living in US states can vote for president (and Florida is home to hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans). The territory’s Republican governor Wanda Vázquez Garced recently endorsed Trump.
Updated at 00.35 BST
12 Oct 2020 00.21 BST Boasting about his recovery, Trump claimed he is “immune” to the virus now. “I feel powerful,” he said. “I’ll kiss the guys and the beautiful women and everybody – I’ll give a big, fat kiss.” The president has been eager to appear energetic after a recent hospitalization following his Covid-19 diagnosis, repeatedly boasting that he’s “young” at 74 and even claiming, on Fox News that he is a “perfect physical specimen”. Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that those with mild or moderate coronavirus infections can return to being around others after 10 days, the research on whether or not people can get reinfected is still ongoing.
Updated at 00.24 BST
12 Oct 2020 00.09 BST Biden and Trump hold very different campaign events Audience members observe a social distance while listening to Biden deliver remarks at a Voter Mobilization Event campaign stop at the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal in Cincinnati. Photograph: Tom Brenner/Reuters In Cincinnati, earlier today, Biden addressed a socially distanced, sparse group. He took aim at the president’s comments downplaying the severity of the pandemic and emphasized his plans. “I have a plan to deal with this pandemic responsibly,” Biden said. “Testing, tracing, masking, not politicizing the race for the vaccine. Plan for its safe and equitable distribution. Provide the funding for PPE and other resources for schools and businesses to reopen safely.” 01:22 Joe Biden in Ohio: Trump 'turned his back on you' – video Biden is leading Trump by 10 percentage points nationally, per an average of national polls.
Updated at 03.00 BST
12 Oct 2020 00.04 BST Trump takes stage at packed rally “We’re winning by a lot more now than we were four years ago,” Trump said. “We’re going to win four more years in the White House.” A packed crowd of supporters standing shoulder to shoulder chanted “USA” in response.
Updated at 00.06 BST
12 Oct 2020 23.43 BST If no other GOP senators end up exposed to coronavirus, the party may be on track to vote on Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination by the 22. CNN’s Manu Raju reports that North Carolina’s Thom Tillis, who delivered his opening statement remotely after testing positive for Covid-19 is expected to return to the Senate tomorrow. GOP on track for confirmation of Barrett by month’s end. Tillis, who tested positive earlier this month, is expected back tomorrow, per an aide. With Lee and Tillis back, GOP should have quorum for Thursday when Graham has scheduled a business meeting. Committee will vote Oct. 22 — Manu Raju (@mkraju) October 12, 2020 Mike Lee, the Republican senator of Utah, showed up and spoke during the first day of hearings without a mask, despite his recent Covid-19 diagnosis.
Updated at 23.47 BST
12 Oct 2020 23.34 BST David Smith Analysis: Amy Coney Barrett’s hearing kicks off with hypocrisy and healthcare That was rich. Senate Republicans, otherwise known as Donald Trump’s Praetorian Guard, lined up on Monday to pay pious homage to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the separation of powers and the halcyon days of political bipartisanship.
A visitor from outer space might have thought that they were the upholders of civics and civility at the start of Amy Coney Barrett’s supreme court hearing on Capitol Hill. No matter that Trump has played divider-in-chief or that Republicans blocked Barack Obama’s nominee to the court in 2016. It was a morning of hypocrisy and healthcare. Lindsey Graham, chairman of the Senate judiciary committee and the Trump appreciation society, reminded everyone that both Ginsburg and her ideological opposite, Justice Antonin Scalia, were confirmed almost unanimously. “I don’t know what happened between then and now,” he said, wistfully. “We can all take some blame but I just want to remind everybody there was a time in this country where someone like Ruth Bader Ginsburg was seen by almost everybody as qualified for the position of being on the supreme court, understanding that she would have a different philosophy than many of the Republicans who voted for her.” No justice has been confirmed so close to a presidential election. Graham, who promised not to confirm one in an election year (saying “Use my words against me”, which plenty of Democrats are), acknowledged a point everyone could agree on: “This is going to be a long, contentious week.” As senator after senator drew their battle lines, 48-year-old Barrett, sitting silently in a big black face mask, resembled a prisoner in the dock. Republicans sought to normalise her rushed nomination, arguing the Senate was merely doing its duty while setting up straw men: Democrats want to attack her Catholic faith (none did), Democrats want to play foul as they did with Brett Kavanaugh (hardly), Democrats want to expand the court (objection: relevance), Democrats want to conflate the judiciary with policy (true). Amy Coney Barrett's hearing kicks off with hypocrisy and healthcare | David Smith Read more


theguardian--2020-10-12--Amy Coney Barrett supreme court hearing sets stage for partisan clash

Government policy must be set by Congress and not the courts , Amy Coney Barrett was prepared to say in a statement on Monday , opening her confirmation hearings before the Senate judiciary committee .
But even before the supreme court nominee began speaking , Democrats argued that the process that got her there – Senate Republicans rushing to confirm her even as the president who nominated her appeared to be in the act of losing an election , perhaps badly – was an act of hypocrisy that would damage the legitimacy of the court .
Barrett , a conservative @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act ( ACA ) , who has publicly opposed reproductive rights and who was a trustee at a school whose handbook included a stated opposition to same-sex marriage , is seen on the left as part of a power play by Donald Trump and Republicansto cement a conservative majority on the court for a generation .
“ I chose to accept the nomination because I believe deeply in the rule of law and the place of the supreme court in our nation , ” Barrett @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , in which she described her family and paid tribute to Ruth Bader Ginsberg , the justice she would replace .
If no additional senators cross party lines and barring procedural derailments which Democrats have ruled out , the Senate could confirm Barrett by the end of the month .
Four days of hearings are scheduled before the judiciary committee , beginning with opening statements on Monday , followed by two days of questioning .
On Thursday , the Senate panel will hear from outside experts .
Republicans are moving ahead with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , who argue that the winner of the November election should nominate the next justice to the court , as was the case in 2016 , after the death of Antonin Scalia .
Upon Scalia ’ s death in February 2016 , the majority leader , Mitch McConnell , took the unprecedented step of refusing to hold a hearing for Barack Obama ’ s nominee , Merrick Garland , explaining that it was too close to a presidential election .
Trump thrilled conservatives and anti-abortion activists when he nominated Barrett last month to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Ginsburg , a liberal icon who championed women ’ s rights .
Barrett is the president ’ s third appointment , after Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh , all of whom he has touted as “ pro-life ” .
According to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released hours before hearings began , a slight majority of Americans oppose a confirmation so close to the election .
The same survey found that 62 % of American believe the court should uphold Roe v Wade , the 1973 decision that established a woman ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 24 % say it should be overturned .
Speaking before Monday ’ s hearing , Senator Sheldon Whitehouse , a Democrat from Rhode Island , likened the next four days to a “ puppet theater ” in which the nominee will tell the American people that her past writings and personal beliefs do not reflect how she will rule on the court .
“ Judge Barrett has signaled as clearly as she can that she is going to go the opposite direction of Justice Ginsburg , ” Whitehouse said , warning that Barrett @ @ @ @ @ @ @ case that could determine the fate of the ACA , the healthcare law the supreme court upheld in 2014 .
Democrats point to a 2017 law essay in which Barrett contended that Chief Justice John Roberts , who wrote the majority opinion , “ pushed the Affordable Care Act beyond its plausible meaning to save the statute.
” Democratic majority leader Chuck Schumer has called on Barrett to commit to recusing herself from the case in light of this essay .
In her opening statement , Barrett described trying to see her rulings @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ I ask myself how would I view the decision if one of my children was the party I was ruling against : Even though I would not like the result , would I understand that the decision was fairly reasoned and grounded in the law ?
” she said .
She praised the judicial philosophy of Scalia , for whom she clerked , presenting judges as literalists with no role for the exercise of broader judgment : “ A judge must apply the law as written , not as the judge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lost the support of Senator Susan Collins , a Republican from Maine locked in a tight re-election battle , who said she would vote against Barrett on the floor if the vote was held before the election .
Alaska senator Lisa Murkowski , a Republican , also said she believed the Senate should wait until after the election .
But Republicans are confident that they will have the votes to rush Barrett through .
Complicating this , however , is a coronavirus outbreak at the White House , which infected the president and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lawmakers .
Two Republicans on the committee – Mike Lee of Utah and Thom Tillis of North Carolina – tested positive after attending a Rose Garden ceremony for Barrett on 26 September .
Two others – Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Ted Cruz of Texas – are self-quarantining after possible exposure but have tested negative .
All plan to attend the hearing in person , though the committee chairman , Lindsey Graham , has said members will be allowed to participate remotely .
If any more members fall ill or are unable to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be complicated for McConnell .
But for now , Republicans are determined to press forward .

Lauren Gambino in Washington and Tom McCarthy

Government policy must be set by Congress and not the courts, Amy Coney Barrett told a deeply divided Senate judiciary committee as the first day of her confirmation hearings on Monday set in motion a momentous partisan battle, three weeks before the presidential election.
Even before the supreme court nominee began speaking, Democrats argued that the process that got her there – Senate Republicans rushing to confirm her even as the president who nominated her appeared to be in the act of losing an election, perhaps badly – was an act of hypocrisy that would damage the legitimacy of the court.
“I believe Americans of all backgrounds deserve an independent supreme court that interprets our constitution and laws as they are written,” Barrett said in her opening statement. “And I believe I can serve my country by playing that role.”
After listening silently for much of the day’s proceedings, Barrett outlined her judicial philosophy, introduced her family of nine, most of whom were seated behind her, and paid tribute to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the justice she was nominated to replace.
Barrett, a conservative Christian who has criticized the high court’s decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act (ACA), who has publicly opposed reproductive rights and who was a trustee at a school whose handbook included a stated opposition to same-sex marriage, is seen on the left as part of a power play by Donald Trump and Republicans to cement a conservative majority on the court for a generation.
“Courts have a vital responsibility to the rule of rule of law, which is critical to a free society,” the judge said in a prepared statement, after removing her black face mask. “But courts are not designed to solve every problem or right every wrong in our public life.”
Barring any dramatic revelations or procedural derailments, Republicans are poised to confirm Barrett to a lifetime appointment on the court before the November election.
With the crack of a gavel, Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina and chairman of the committee, opened the four-day proceedings by calling Barrett a judge “the country should be proud of” and defending Republicans decision to hold the nomination hearing amid a pandemic and so close to a presidential election.
“This is probably not about persuading each other unless something really dramatic happens,” Graham acknowledged. “All Republicans will vote yes and all Democrats will vote no.”
Setting the stage for what was to come, he added: “This is going to be a long, contentious week.”
After delivering opening remarks on Monday, Barrett will face questions on Tuesday and Wednesday before witnesses speak on Thursday. Graham said the committee would vote on 22 October.
In their opening statements, Democrats focused on the likely impact of Barrett’s confirmation on healthcare law, abortion rights and same-sex marriage. They displayed life-size photographs of constituents who would lose coverage if the ACA was dismantled as they decried a process they believed was illegitimate.
“We are now just 22 days from the election,” said Dianne Feinstein of California, the ranking Democrat. “Voting is under way in 40 states. Senate Republicans are pressing forward, full speed ahead, to consolidate a court that will carry their policies forward with, I hope, some review for the will of the American people.”
Republicans sought to emphasize Barrett’s sterling credentials and compelling personal story, involving working as a law professor while raising seven children, two adopted from Haiti and one with Down’s syndrome.
Barrett was a “legal titan who drives a minivan” and was as comfortable at the “Saturday morning tailgate” as she was in the “ivory tower” of academia, said Senator Mike Braun, a Republican from the judge’s home state of Indiana, who introduced her to the panel.
In their remarks, Republicans sought to defend Barrett as an “originalist” who would apply the law, not write it, and assailed Democrats for suggesting her writings and public commentary reflected how she would rule as a justice on the court.
Several of them accused Democrats of anti-Catholic bigotry, in hopes of stirring a political backlash from their base. They pointed to recent reports about Barrett’s involvement with the insular religious community, People of Praise, and reached back to her 2017 nomination for an appeals court seat, in which some Democrats asked if her personal convictions might prevent her from ruling impartially.
But Democrats have studiously avoided the subject of Barrett’s faith and on Monday, only Republicans raised the issue. Instead, Senate Democrats focused only on what they believed was at stake if she was confirmed to the court.
They warned that Trump was rushing Barrett’s confirmation in the event a potential legal challenge to the results of the 3 November election reaches the supreme court. In recent days, Trump has said he expects that very scenario and wanted his nominee confirmed before election to weigh in on the case.
“You must recuse yourself,” Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, implored Barrett, during a statement in which he said explicitly that he would vote against her confirmation. “The American people are angry and for good reason. It is a break the glass moment.”
Amy Coney Barrett attends her confirmation hearing. Photograph: Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock
Democrats argue that the winner of the election should nominate the next justice, as was the case in 2016, after the death of Antonin Scalia. Upon Scalia’s death in February, the majority leader, Mitch McConnell, took the unprecedented step of refusing to hold a hearing for Barack Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, explaining that it was too close to a presidential election.
Trump thrilled conservatives and anti-abortion activists when he nominated Barrett to fill the vacancy created by the death of Ginsburg, a liberal icon who championed women’s rights. Barrett is Trump’s third appointment, after Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, all of whom he has touted as “pro-life”.
According to a Washington Post-ABC News poll, a slight majority of Americans oppose a confirmation so close to the election. The same survey found 62% believe the court should uphold Roe v Wade, the 1973 decision that made abortion legal, while just 24% say it should be overturned.
Trump has said Barrett could help overturn the landmark ruling.
But in her initial comments, Barrett sought to stay above the political fray on display in front of her.
“The policy decisions and value judgments of government must be made by the political branches elected by and accountable to the people,” she said. “The public should not expect courts to do so, and courts should not try.”
Senator Kamala Harris, a Democrat from California and the running mate of presidential nominee Joe Biden, said that in choosing Barrett, Trump nominated someone who threatens to “undo [Ginsburg’s] legacy” championing civil rights and equality.
Testifying remotely from her office due to the pandemic, Harris said the court was often the “last refuge for equal justice when our constitutional rights are being violated” and warned that “equal justice under law is at stake”.
Trump, who was apparently following the proceedings, interjected several times on Twitter. In one message, he questioned why Democrats were given equal speaking time as Republicans, and in another claimed his administration would replace the ACA with a “FAR BETTER” healthcare plan. Despite repeated promises to do so, Trump has not yet revealed such a plan.
McConnell has already lost the support of Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine in a tight re-election fight. Alaska senator Lisa Murkowski also said the Senate should wait.
Complicating this, however, is a coronavirus outbreak at the White House, which infected the president. Two Republicans on the committee – Mike Lee of Utah and Thom Tillis of North Carolina – tested positive after attending a Rose Garden ceremony for Barrett on 26 September, in which most of the audience did not wear a mask. Two others – Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Ted Cruz of Texas – subsequently self-quarantined.
Lee, who Graham said had been “cleared by his physician”, and Sasse were present in Washington on Monday. Tillis and Cruz participated remotely.
Those present wore masks and were separated. Hand sanitizer and wipes dotted the dais. No members of the public were permitted into the committee room, eliminating the possibility of protests.
“These are not normal times,” said Senator Mazie Hirono, a Democrat from Hawaii observed, and decried the “hypocritical, illegitimate process” that led to this hearing.


theguardian--2020-10-12--‘We’re going to lead this’: a call for Black women in Florida to claim their political power

Democrats face a tough fight to win back the White House in November , and with anti-racism protests raging nationwide , the coronavirus pandemic threatens the voting rights and turnout of their most powerful voting block : Black Americans .
While they are 14 % of the population , African Americans make up a third of all Covid-19 cases .
In Florida , a recent rise threatens turnout as Black people make up 13 % of eligible voters .
The state already ranks second in the nation in income inequality .
But the pandemic , and recession that followed , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ white Americans , and Black communities .
With one in 1,000 Black Americans having died of the virus , progressives such as Angie Nixon are rallying voters ahead of the 2020 presidential election .
Running uncontested , she ’ s the next state representative for Florida ’ s 14th congressional district representing Jacksonville and its outer suburbs .
“ I think it ’ s really important that we work on legislation that addresses systemic racism and that is not just Band-Aids , ” she said .
“ I ’ m pregnant .
Yes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have a good-paying job and I have healthcare , but I ’ m still concerned that if I go into the hospital , will I be listened to ?
” As cases surged in Jacksonville , Nixon ’ s canvassing evolved into community wellness checks .
Shortly after , she contracted the virus while pregnant before transmitting it to her mother .
She said her “ most mentally taxing experience ” is a wake-up call for Democrats to get aggressive in facing the issues affecting their most loyal voting bloc .
“ I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ] to continue to fight for the same things that my mom and my grandmother had to fight for , ” she said .
“ We ’ ve been the ones that have been turning out for the longest and we are going to lead this movement , ” she said .
Nixon is part of a record number of Black women and women of color to run for office across the country .
While she called on more to claim their political power and demand “ a seat at the table ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voters move left .
“ [ Black Americans are ] not a monolithic people and we ’ re never going to get anything done if we come in just pushing this hardcore left agenda , ” she said .
While the outbreak forced Republicans to move their national convention from Jacksonville to the White House lawn , the party still aimed to lure disaffected Black voters .
Black conservative speakers predicted “ the days of blindly supporting the Democrats are coming to an end ” , and some moderates and conservatives look to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Black women have definitely been a strong voice in voting , but what has that done for us ?
” one Black independent voter from Jacksonville told the Guardian .
Unmotivated by both candidates , she ’ s exercising her right not to vote at all .
“ It is very American to choose not to exercise your right to vote , ” she said , asking not to be identified due to backlash .
“ It is also very American to choose which side you want to be on , despite your @ @ @ @ @ @ @ skin.
” In Florida , the pandemic and racial justice protests haven ’ t exactly translated to big victories on election day .
In August , Sybrina Fulton , the social justice activist and mother of slain teenager Trayvon Martin , lost her race for office in Miami-Dade county , Florida and by just 331 votes .
Turnout can dramatically shape the political trajectory of emerging leaders and policy initiatives .
That ’ s why voting rights activist Desmond Meade rejects calls to sit this election out , insisting “ people are getting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the consequences of voting or not voting ” .
“ If we shouldn ’ t vote or our vote didn ’ t matter then why are there so many forces investing resources to try to stop us from voting , ” said Meade , a legal scholar .
As founder of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition , Meade advocates for returning citizens , people with prior felony convictions , gaining jobs , housing and healthcare – as well as restoring their right to vote .
Across the country , states have varying laws @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 5.85 million Americans with prior felony convictions are barred from voting .
In Florida , returning citizens had been stripped permanently of the right to vote until 2018 , when residents voted in favor of a ballot measure known as Amendment 4 - temporarily striking it down .
Along with the coronavirus outbreak complicating the organization ’ s outreach efforts , Meade says , state and federal attempts to limit access to voting underscore the difference politician and public servants .
“ When politicians are involved , people die .
There ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fear , ” he said .
“ But when public servants are involved in the community , they have an opportunity to thrive and people have a chance to live .
For Meade , the victory was personal .
As a returning citizen , Florida ’ s primary marked the first time he voted in more than 30 years .
“ When I went into that voting booth , I took the spirits of my ancestors with me thinking about how many people have died , hung on trees .
They overcame all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Covid is nothing compared to what our ancestors went through to be able to secure the right to vote for all of us.
” But in September , a federal appeals court ruled to uphold a Republican state senate bill requiring returning citizens pay restitution and court debts before casting their ballots .
Activists now fight against what they called the latest effort by conservatives to suppress the vote .
Fellow activist Rosemary McCoy cites disinformation , not the virus , as their toughest challenge .
Trump has already perpetuated false claims of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as far as to call on supporters to intimidate voters at the polls in the first presidential debate .
“ The public believes that they can go out there and they can vote , ” she said , calling the bill unconstitutional .
“ It is a set up so that the president can turn around and say that this is fraudulent.
” McCoy noted that as Trump refuses to guarantee a peaceful transition of power , suggesting 1.5 million Floridians wrongfully voted would only fuel his accusations of a rigged election .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ recent polls showing the former vice-president and president are locked in a tight race for the battleground state .
As Democrats fight to turn out the vote , Meade ’ s virtual outreach is amplified by athletes and celebrities who , in recent weeks , have raised millions to clear returning citizens ’ debts .
He likens the unprecedented moment to Juneteenth - or 19 June 1865 .
On that day , two years after Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation , the last remaining enslaved African Americans on a plantation located in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ freedom .
“ Coincidentally , we ’ re coming up on the second-year anniversary of the passing of Amendment 4 , ” he said .
“ And there are still people who do not know that they are free.
” Meade ’ s own freedom was delayed after a board deferred his appeal for clemency in September .
Still , he said the fight continues as Black voters across the nation exercise their freedom to hold Democrats , Republicans – and everyone in between – accountable to their vote .
“ We ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for someone because they have a ‘ D ’ or an ‘ R ’ next to their name , ” he said .
“ We ’ re going to be voting for someone who recognizes and respects our humanity .
”

Democrats face a tough fight to win back the White House in November, and with anti-racism protests raging nationwide, the coronavirus pandemic threatens the voting rights and turnout of their most powerful voting block: Black Americans. While they are 14% of the population, African Americans make up a third of all Covid-19 cases.
In Florida, a recent rise threatens turnout as Black people make up 13% of eligible voters. The state already ranks second in the nation in income inequality. But the pandemic, and recession that followed, worsened existing economic and healthcare disparities between white Americans, and Black communities.
With one in 1,000 Black Americans having died of the virus, progressives such as Angie Nixon are rallying voters ahead of the 2020 presidential election. Running uncontested, she’s the next state representative for Florida’s 14th congressional district representing Jacksonville and its outer suburbs.
11:34 How Covid is accelerating the fight for Black voting rights in the US – video
“I think it’s really important that we work on legislation that addresses systemic racism and that is not just Band-Aids,” she said. “I’m pregnant. Yes, I have a degree. I have a good-paying job and I have healthcare, but I’m still concerned that if I go into the hospital, will I be listened to?”
As cases surged in Jacksonville, Nixon’s canvassing evolved into community wellness checks. Shortly after, she contracted the virus while pregnant before transmitting it to her mother. She said her “most mentally taxing experience” is a wake-up call for Democrats to get aggressive in facing the issues affecting their most loyal voting bloc.
“I don’t want [my daughters] to continue to fight for the same things that my mom and my grandmother had to fight for,” she said. “We’ve been the ones that have been turning out for the longest and we are going to lead this movement,” she said.
Campaigning during the time of Covid and having recovered from Covid, all while being pregnant has been one interesting journey. Any day now. pic.twitter.com/hCCI0s2QLG — Angie Nixon (@AngieNixon) August 25, 2020
Nixon is part of a record number of Black women and women of color to run for office across the country. While she called on more to claim their political power and demand “a seat at the table”, she acknowledged that not all Black voters move left.
“[Black Americans are] not a monolithic people and we’re never going to get anything done if we come in just pushing this hardcore left agenda,” she said.
While the outbreak forced Republicans to move their national convention from Jacksonville to the White House lawn, the party still aimed to lure disaffected Black voters. Black conservative speakers predicted “the days of blindly supporting the Democrats are coming to an end”, and some moderates and conservatives look to alternatives to Democrats and Republicans.
“Black women have definitely been a strong voice in voting, but what has that done for us?” one Black independent voter from Jacksonville told the Guardian. Unmotivated by both candidates, she’s exercising her right not to vote at all.
“It is very American to choose not to exercise your right to vote,” she said, asking not to be identified due to backlash. “It is also very American to choose which side you want to be on, despite your heritage, despite the color of your skin.”
Pandemic complicates voting rights fight
In Florida, the pandemic and racial justice protests haven’t exactly translated to big victories on election day. In August, Sybrina Fulton, the social justice activist and mother of slain teenager Trayvon Martin, lost her race for office in Miami-Dade county, Florida and by just 331 votes.
Turnout can dramatically shape the political trajectory of emerging leaders and policy initiatives. That’s why voting rights activist Desmond Meade rejects calls to sit this election out, insisting “people are getting an up close and personal view of the consequences of voting or not voting”.
“If we shouldn’t vote or our vote didn’t matter then why are there so many forces investing resources to try to stop us from voting,” said Meade, a legal scholar.
As founder of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, Meade advocates for returning citizens, people with prior felony convictions, gaining jobs, housing and healthcare – as well as restoring their right to vote.
Across the country, states have varying laws on felony disfranchisement, but an estimated 5.85 million Americans with prior felony convictions are barred from voting. In Florida, returning citizens had been stripped permanently of the right to vote until 2018, when residents voted in favor of a ballot measure known as Amendment 4 - temporarily striking it down.
Along with the coronavirus outbreak complicating the organization’s outreach efforts, Meade says, state and federal attempts to limit access to voting underscore the difference politician and public servants.
“When politicians are involved, people die. There’s division, there’s hate and fear,” he said. “But when public servants are involved in the community, they have an opportunity to thrive and people have a chance to live.
For Meade, the victory was personal. As a returning citizen, Florida’s primary marked the first time he voted in more than 30 years.
Desmond Meade, a former felon and founder of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, fills out a voter registration form with his wife Sheena. Photograph: John Raoux/AP
“When I went into that voting booth, I took the spirits of my ancestors with me thinking about how many people have died, hung on trees. They overcame all that,” he said. “Covid is nothing compared to what our ancestors went through to be able to secure the right to vote for all of us.”
But in September, a federal appeals court ruled to uphold a Republican state senate bill requiring returning citizens pay restitution and court debts before casting their ballots. Activists now fight against what they called the latest effort by conservatives to suppress the vote.
Fellow activist Rosemary McCoy cites disinformation, not the virus, as their toughest challenge. Trump has already perpetuated false claims of voter fraud and ballot fixing, going as far as to call on supporters to intimidate voters at the polls in the first presidential debate.
“The public believes that they can go out there and they can vote,” she said, calling the bill unconstitutional. “It is a set up so that the president can turn around and say that this is fraudulent.”
McCoy noted that as Trump refuses to guarantee a peaceful transition of power, suggesting 1.5 million Floridians wrongfully voted would only fuel his accusations of a rigged election.
With the election just weeks away, recent polls showing the former vice-president and president are locked in a tight race for the battleground state. As Democrats fight to turn out the vote, Meade’s virtual outreach is amplified by athletes and celebrities who, in recent weeks, have raised millions to clear returning citizens’ debts.
He likens the unprecedented moment to Juneteenth - or 19 June 1865. On that day, two years after Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, the last remaining enslaved African Americans on a plantation located in Galveston, Texas, learned of their freedom.
“Coincidentally, we’re coming up on the second-year anniversary of the passing of Amendment 4,” he said. “And there are still people who do not know that they are free.”
Meade’s own freedom was delayed after a board deferred his appeal for clemency in September. Still, he said the fight continues as Black voters across the nation exercise their freedom to hold Democrats, Republicans – and everyone in between – accountable to their vote.
“We’re not going to be just voting for someone because they have a ‘D’ or an ‘R’ next to their name,” he said. “We’re going to be voting for someone who recognizes and respects our humanity.”


theguardian--2020-10-12--'He just thinks about himself': America's reckless, ill president

Of all the cornucopia of tone-deaf and offensive remarks made by the president of the United States in almost four years in office , one proposition he made to the American people last week must surely rank among the top 10 .
“ Don ’ t be afraid of Covid , ” he said in a tweet .
“ Don ’ t let it dominate your life.
” Donald Trump posted those words at 2.37pm on 5 October from the luxury of his four-room suite in Walter Reed medical center .
He was surrounded by a team of a dozen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cocktail of experimental drugs for Covid-19 that would have cost an ordinary American hundreds of thousands of dollars to procure .
About an hour earlier , data scientists at Johns Hopkins University released their latest figures for the pandemic .
They showed that at least 7.5 million Americans had contracted the disease , and that 209,881 had died – a death rate towering over most developed countries and 2,000 times that of humble Vietnam .
At that same moment , more than half of US states were reporting upticks in infection rates that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ winter sets in .
Meanwhile , the New England Journal of Medicine was preparing to publish a brutal editorial that would hold the Trump administration directly responsible for tens of thousands of needless Covid-19 deaths , concluding that “ anyone else who recklessly squandered lives in this way would be suffering legal consequences ” .
As the president said , don ’ t let Covid dominate your life , don ’ t be afraid .
Jonathan Reiner , a professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington University medical center , had a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ I was angry .
So 210,000 Americans have died , most of them alone .
I ’ m sad to say that they were almost certainly afraid , ” he said .
Over the past two weeks , the president and his cohorts have shown a reckless disdain for basic health protections that overshadows even the administration ’ s past negligence in its response to coronavirus .
This time , though , the virus has reared back to bite not just the wider American public but also the inner cadre of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leaked Fema memo , the number of White House staffers , Republican US senators and top conservative dignitaries who have tested positive for the disease has reached 34 .
That includes at least 10 members of the Trump administration , headlined by the president and first lady , senior advisers Hope Hicks and Stephen Miller , and five members of the White House press team .
Beyond that , three Republican senators have gone down with the disease .
The positive test of Charles Ray , the US coast guard admiral , has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ joint chiefs of staff – the country ’ s top military brass – scurrying into quarantine .
It ’ s hard to know when the current White House Covid outbreak began , because officials have refused to divulge when Trump received his last negative coronavirus test .
Given the symptoms that he clearly displayed on a fundraising trip to New Jersey last week , it seems highly likely he was already infected at the first televised presidential debate with Joe Biden at which several members of the Trump family and crew turned up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ further back to a series of events at the White House the previous weekend , which appear to have acted as incubators – or super-spreaders – of the illness .
On Saturday 26 September , about 250 of the elite of the Republican party gathered shoulder-to-shoulder in the Rose Garden to mark Trump ’ s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the US supreme court , with a smaller indoors reception held earlier in the Diplomatic Room .
The next day , 27 September , senior military officers gathered indoors in the East @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Gold Star Mother ’ s Day .
All of these events were largely without masks , in a brazen violation of recommendations from the administration ’ s own public health agency , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) .
At the Rose Garden event , guests were also in aggressive violation of social distancing protocols , spending time in close proximity and even hugging each other .
Trump also attended debate preparation sessions in the run-up to his encounter with Biden that took place in a cramped indoor space @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hicks , Miller , Trump ’ s presidential campaign manager Bill Stepien and the former governor of New Jersey , Chris Christie .
All later tested positive .
It is hard to overstate the willful indifference towards the health and safety of those around them – and of themselves – that such behavior entailed .
In a wider sense , it also exuded a disregard for the security of the American people , sending a message that health protocols are for wimps , even within the beating heart of the US government .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ American studies at Emory University , put it : “ The Republicans are suicide bombers aimed at our ship of state.
” Public health experts were even more aghast by the White House decision to forgo any effort at contact tracing of the Rose Garden event .
Alongside testing , contact tracing is the basic building block of any effort to contain the virus , allowing officials to identify who has been exposed and get them into isolation ; without contact tracing , the disease is as free to roam as a wild @ @ @ @ @ @ @ described the lack of contact tracing as “ inexcusable ” .
The only explanation for such an aberrant decision , he now believes , is that the White House feared that the exercise would discover the individual who was the source of the outbreak , “ patient zero ” – and that it would turn out to be Trump himself .
“ Not to carry out formal contact tracing of a large event like the Rose Garden is the height of irresponsibility , ” Reiner said .
“ The virus has a reproductive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ each infected person infects two and a half others .
So if there are about 30 people infected in the Trump circle , multiply that by 2.5 and then again by 2.5 – that ’ s how quickly the virus could spread.
” It ’ s not only the elite of Trump World who have been put in harm ’ s way by the flagrant disrespect for basic health guidelines flaunted this week .
There are also the hundreds of people who serve the elite of Trump World – the “ forgotten people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have been equally imperiled .
The most vivid example of this phenomenon was the two Secret Service agents who drove Trump , spewing coronavirus from every pore , in an armored presidential limousine so that he could wave to supporters outside Walter Reed .
Trump was wearing a cloth mask , not an N95 , which would have offered greater protection to the agents who risked their own health by accompanying the president in a hermetically sealed vehicle .
“ The president placed the health of his Secret Service agents at risk for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do that ?
” Reiner said .
“ Secret Service agents didn ’ t sign up to take avoidable risks – and this was entirely avoidable.
” The day after his Walter Reed jaunt , Trump discharged himself from hospital and returned to the White House .
Before he stepped back into the building , he removed his mask for the benefit of the cameras – so endangering the many cooks , cleaners , maintenance workers and other “ forgotten Americans ” who labor every day to serve him inside the residence .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Everett Kelley , the president of the American Federation of Government Employees , the largest union for federal workers in the US .
“ The actions of Donald Trump over the last few days have been typical of his administration ’ s approach to the virus .
At nearly every turn , the mismanagement of the federal response by the president and his appointees has put workers ’ lives at risk , ” he said .
Perhaps the most egregious of all the recent spectacles was Trump ’ s decision to travel to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jersey , on 1 October .
He flew there on Marine One , the presidential helicopter , hours before he was given his positive result for coronavirus but significantly hours after the White House learned that Hicks , one of Trump ’ s closest aides with whom he had been travelling , had been infected .
Yet no one at the fundraising event was warned of the exposure , and no masks were worn .
Among those put at potential risk were up to 200 Republican supporters , 19 major donors paying up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of spending an hour cooped up indoors with the president , and a further 19 staff employed by the Trump Organization who served the guests .
During the course of the event , several mandatory regulations set by New Jersey ’ s governor were openly flouted , including the number of people allowed to congregate in an enclosed space , the presentation of food buffet-style in contravention of social distancing rules , and the sheer fact that Trump had not informed participants that he had been exposed to the virus and should be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worker who was looking after older people in a residential home in Camden , New Jersey , was charged with five criminal counts of endangerment because she did not tell the people in her care that she had developed symptoms of Covid .
According to several eyewitness accounts , Trump also showed symptoms of Covid in Bedminster , yet appears to be above the law .
The events at Bedminster were of great personal interest to Sandra Diaz .
Until 2014 , she worked for four years as a housekeeper at Bedminster keeping @ @ @ @ @ @ @ property spotlessly clean as he demanded .
Diaz was at that time one of many undocumented immigrants who Trump employed ( she now has permanent US resident status ) .
For her efforts , she received no health coverage from the Trump Organization .
Last week when she watched the US president bragging about how well he had done after contracting Covid-19 under the state-of-the-art experimental treatment he was receiving , she thought back to her time as a low-paid uninsured undocumented Trump employee at Bedminster .
She thought too of the 581 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in her New Jersey county and wondered what would have happened had she been infected without access to any treatment at all .
“ A lot of people have died from this virus in my town , ” she said .
“ A lot of families have lost fathers , mothers , brothers , uncles.
” Diaz has two friends who are still working at Trump ’ s golf course , a housekeeper and a landscaper .
She spoke to them after the president ’ s fundraising visit last week , which netted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ My friends are really scared , ” she said .
“ They are really poor people , and when poor people get sick they lose their jobs and the hospitals don ’ t have beds .
Donald Trump , he doesn ’ t think about them .
He just thinks about himself .
”

Of all the cornucopia of tone-deaf and offensive remarks made by the president of the United States in almost four years in office, one proposition he made to the American people last week must surely rank among the top 10.
“Don’t be afraid of Covid,” he said in a tweet. “Don’t let it dominate your life.”
Donald Trump posted those words at 2.37pm on 5 October from the luxury of his four-room suite in Walter Reed medical center. He was surrounded by a team of a dozen world-class doctors infusing him with a unique cocktail of experimental drugs for Covid-19 that would have cost an ordinary American hundreds of thousands of dollars to procure.
About an hour earlier, data scientists at Johns Hopkins University released their latest figures for the pandemic. They showed that at least 7.5 million Americans had contracted the disease, and that 209,881 had died – a death rate towering over most developed countries and 2,000 times that of humble Vietnam.
At that same moment, more than half of US states were reporting upticks in infection rates that are almost certain to spike further as winter sets in. Meanwhile, the New England Journal of Medicine was preparing to publish a brutal editorial that would hold the Trump administration directly responsible for tens of thousands of needless Covid-19 deaths, concluding that “anyone else who recklessly squandered lives in this way would be suffering legal consequences”.
As the president said, don’t let Covid dominate your life, don’t be afraid.
Donald Trump waves from the back of a car outside Walter Reed medical center in Bethesda, Maryland. Photograph: Alex Edelman/AFP/Getty Images
Jonathan Reiner, a professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington University medical center, had a visceral reaction when he heard those words. “I was angry. So 210,000 Americans have died, most of them alone. I’m sad to say that they were almost certainly afraid,” he said.
Over the past two weeks, the president and his cohorts have shown a reckless disdain for basic health protections that overshadows even the administration’s past negligence in its response to coronavirus. This time, though, the virus has reared back to bite not just the wider American public but also the inner cadre of the Trump administration.
According to a leaked Fema memo, the number of White House staffers, Republican US senators and top conservative dignitaries who have tested positive for the disease has reached 34. That includes at least 10 members of the Trump administration, headlined by the president and first lady, senior advisers Hope Hicks and Stephen Miller, and five members of the White House press team.
210,000 Americans have died, most of them alone. I’m sad to say that they were almost certainly afraid Jonathan Reiner
Beyond that, three Republican senators have gone down with the disease. The positive test of Charles Ray, the US coast guard admiral, has sent seven out of eight of the joint chiefs of staff – the country’s top military brass – scurrying into quarantine.
It’s hard to know when the current White House Covid outbreak began, because officials have refused to divulge when Trump received his last negative coronavirus test. Given the symptoms that he clearly displayed on a fundraising trip to New Jersey last week, it seems highly likely he was already infected at the first televised presidential debate with Joe Biden at which several members of the Trump family and crew turned up ostentatiously unmasked.
The maskless theme stretched further back to a series of events at the White House the previous weekend, which appear to have acted as incubators – or super-spreaders – of the illness. On Saturday 26 September, about 250 of the elite of the Republican party gathered shoulder-to-shoulder in the Rose Garden to mark Trump’s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the US supreme court, with a smaller indoors reception held earlier in the Diplomatic Room.
The Trump family before the start of the first 2020 presidential campaign debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden in Cleveland on 29 September. Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters
The next day, 27 September, senior military officers gathered indoors in the East Room of the White House to mark Gold Star Mother’s Day. All of these events were largely without masks, in a brazen violation of recommendations from the administration’s own public health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
At the Rose Garden event, guests were also in aggressive violation of social distancing protocols, spending time in close proximity and even hugging each other. Trump also attended debate preparation sessions in the run-up to his encounter with Biden that took place in a cramped indoor space – again maskless.
The sessions involved Hicks, Miller, Trump’s presidential campaign manager Bill Stepien and the former governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie. All later tested positive.
It is hard to overstate the willful indifference towards the health and safety of those around them – and of themselves – that such behavior entailed. In a wider sense, it also exuded a disregard for the security of the American people, sending a message that health protocols are for wimps, even within the beating heart of the US government.
As Carol Anderson, professor of African American studies at Emory University, put it: “The Republicans are suicide bombers aimed at our ship of state.”
Public health experts were even more aghast by the White House decision to forgo any effort at contact tracing of the Rose Garden event. Alongside testing, contact tracing is the basic building block of any effort to contain the virus, allowing officials to identify who has been exposed and get them into isolation; without contact tracing, the disease is as free to roam as a wild horse on the Texas plains.
Reiner described the lack of contact tracing as “inexcusable”. The only explanation for such an aberrant decision, he now believes, is that the White House feared that the exercise would discover the individual who was the source of the outbreak, “patient zero” – and that it would turn out to be Trump himself.
“Not to carry out formal contact tracing of a large event like the Rose Garden is the height of irresponsibility,” Reiner said. “The virus has a reproductive number of about 2.5 which means that each infected person infects two and a half others. So if there are about 30 people infected in the Trump circle, multiply that by 2.5 and then again by 2.5 – that’s how quickly the virus could spread.”
It’s not only the elite of Trump World who have been put in harm’s way by the flagrant disrespect for basic health guidelines flaunted this week. There are also the hundreds of people who serve the elite of Trump World – the “forgotten people” as Trump describes them – who have been equally imperiled.
Guests listen as Donald Trump speaks with Judge Amy Coney Barrett during a ceremony to announce Barrett as nominee to the supreme court in the Rose Garden. Photograph: The Washington Post/Getty Images
The most vivid example of this phenomenon was the two Secret Service agents who drove Trump, spewing coronavirus from every pore, in an armored presidential limousine so that he could wave to supporters outside Walter Reed. Trump was wearing a cloth mask, not an N95, which would have offered greater protection to the agents who risked their own health by accompanying the president in a hermetically sealed vehicle.
“The president placed the health of his Secret Service agents at risk for a photo op. Why would you do that?” Reiner said. “Secret Service agents didn’t sign up to take avoidable risks – and this was entirely avoidable.”
The day after his Walter Reed jaunt, Trump discharged himself from hospital and returned to the White House. Before he stepped back into the building, he removed his mask for the benefit of the cameras – so endangering the many cooks, cleaners, maintenance workers and other “forgotten Americans” who labor every day to serve him inside the residence.
The president placed the health of his Secret Service agents at risk for a photo op. Why would you do that? Jonathan Reiner
The gesture provoked a furious response from Everett Kelley, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union for federal workers in the US. “The actions of Donald Trump over the last few days have been typical of his administration’s approach to the virus. At nearly every turn, the mismanagement of the federal response by the president and his appointees has put workers’ lives at risk,” he said.
Perhaps the most egregious of all the recent spectacles was Trump’s decision to travel to his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, on 1 October. He flew there on Marine One, the presidential helicopter, hours before he was given his positive result for coronavirus but significantly hours after the White House learned that Hicks, one of Trump’s closest aides with whom he had been travelling, had been infected.
Yet no one at the fundraising event was warned of the exposure, and no masks were worn. Among those put at potential risk were up to 200 Republican supporters, 19 major donors paying up to $250,000 each for the privilege of spending an hour cooped up indoors with the president, and a further 19 staff employed by the Trump Organization who served the guests.
During the course of the event, several mandatory regulations set by New Jersey’s governor were openly flouted, including the number of people allowed to congregate in an enclosed space, the presentation of food buffet-style in contravention of social distancing rules, and the sheer fact that Trump had not informed participants that he had been exposed to the virus and should be quarantining. This summer, a health worker who was looking after older people in a residential home in Camden, New Jersey, was charged with five criminal counts of endangerment because she did not tell the people in her care that she had developed symptoms of Covid.
According to several eyewitness accounts, Trump also showed symptoms of Covid in Bedminster, yet appears to be above the law.
The Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. Photograph: Seth Wenig/AP
The events at Bedminster were of great personal interest to Sandra Diaz. Until 2014, she worked for four years as a housekeeper at Bedminster keeping Trump’s personal residence on the property spotlessly clean as he demanded.
Diaz was at that time one of many undocumented immigrants who Trump employed (she now has permanent US resident status). For her efforts, she received no health coverage from the Trump Organization.
Last week when she watched the US president bragging about how well he had done after contracting Covid-19 under the state-of-the-art experimental treatment he was receiving, she thought back to her time as a low-paid uninsured undocumented Trump employee at Bedminster. She thought too of the 581 people who have died from the disease in her New Jersey county and wondered what would have happened had she been infected without access to any treatment at all.
“A lot of people have died from this virus in my town,” she said. “A lot of families have lost fathers, mothers, brothers, uncles.”
Diaz has two friends who are still working at Trump’s golf course, a housekeeper and a landscaper. She spoke to them after the president’s fundraising visit last week, which netted Trump’s re-election campaign $5m.
“My friends are really scared,” she said. “They are really poor people, and when poor people get sick they lose their jobs and the hospitals don’t have beds. Donald Trump, he doesn’t think about them. He just thinks about himself.”