shareblue--2020-09-14--Fact check: Trump spent weekend telling dangerous lies about coronavirus

Playing defense on his handling of the coronavirus , Donald Trump is letting the falsehoods fly .
Over the weekend , he railed against cases of voting fraud that did n't exist , asserted that COVID-19 was `` rounding a corner '' despite what his top health advisers say , and blasted Joe Biden for supposed positions on energy and health care that his Democratic rival does n't hold .
TRUMP : `` We are rounding the corner . ''
— remarks Sunday at a Latino roundtable event in Las Vegas .
TRUMP : The coronavirus `` is rounding the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — remarks Saturday to reporters in Reno , Nevada .
THE FACTS : To be clear , that 's not what his top health advisers say .
`` I 'm sorry but I have to disagree with that , '' Dr. Anthony Fauci , the government 's top infectious diseases expert , told MSNBC on Friday , calling the current coronavirus levels seven months into the pandemic `` disturbing . ''
He expressed concern about a potential spike in cases following the Labor Day holiday beyond a present rate of 40,000 cases a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we do n't want to see is going into the fall season , when people will be spending more time indoors — and that 's not good for a respiratory-borne virus — you do n't want to start off already with a baseline that 's so high , '' Fauci said .
Fauci this past week also cautioned that people should not `` underestimate '' the pandemic and they will `` need to hunker down and get through this fall and winter because it 's not going to be easy . ''
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Robert Redfield , director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , have warned of a potentially bad fall because of dual threats of the coronavirus and the flu season .
TRUMP : `` Remember , Miami Cubans gave me the highly honored Bay of Pigs Award for all I have done for our great Cuban Population ! ''
— tweet Sunday .
THE FACTS : No such award exists .
Trump got an endorsement in 2016 from the Bay of Pigs Veterans Association , the first ever from the group of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ States ' failed attempt to overthrow the Cuban government in the 1961 invasion .
But no award comes with it .
TRUMP : `` We 're developing a vaccine in record time .
It will be ready before the end of the year and maybe much sooner than that . ''
— rally Saturday in Minden , Nevada .
TRUMP : `` You 'll have this incredible vaccine , and ... in speed like nobody has ever seen before .
This could 've taken two or three years , and instead it 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be done in a very short of period of time .
Could even have it during the month of October . ''
— news conference on Sept. 7 .
THE FACTS : He 's almost certainly raising unrealistic hopes as the November election approaches .
The Food and Drug Administration already has told manufacturers it wo n't consider any vaccine that 's less than 50 % effective .
Getting the right math before November , as Trump has promised , is `` incredibly unlikely , '' said Dr. Larry Corey of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is overseeing the U.S. government 's vaccine studies .
Public health experts are worried that Trump will press the FDA to approve a vaccine before it is proven to be safe and effective .
Dr. Anthony Fauci , the government 's top infectious diseases expert , has said he is `` cautiously optimistic '' that a coronavirus vaccine will be ready by early next year .
Even then , Fauci made clear that the vaccine would not be widely available right away .
`` Ultimately , within a reasonable period of time , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who needs a vaccine to get it within the year 2021 , '' Fauci told Congress last month .
Dr. Francis Collins , the director of the National Institutes of Health , also expressed `` cautious optimism '' this past week that one of the vaccines being tested will pan out by year 's end .
But he warned : `` Certainly to try to predict whether it happens on a particular week before or after a particular date in early November is well beyond anything that any scientist right now could tell @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' is Nov. 3 , Election Day .
TRUMP , on Biden : `` He wants to do a complete shutdown . ''
— Nevada rally on Saturday .
TRUMP : `` The approach to the virus is a very unscientific blanket lockdown by the Democrats . ''
— news conference Thursday .
TRUMP : `` Biden 's plan for the China virus is to shut down the entire U.S .
economy . ''
— news conference on Sept. 7 .
THE FACTS : That 's not Biden 's plan at all .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the economy only if scientists and public health advisers recommended he do so to stem the COVID-19 threat .
He said he would follow the science , not disregard it .
Biden told ABC last month he `` will be prepared to do whatever it takes to save lives '' when he was asked if he would even be willing to shut the country again .
`` I would listen to the scientists , '' he said .
If they said to shut it down , `` I would shut it down .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ protections for preexisting conditions . ''
— Nevada rally on Saturday .
THE FACTS : This is baseless .
Biden proposes building on `` Obamacare '' and does not seek to strip that law 's insurance protections for people with preexisting illness .
The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court for full repeal of the health law , including provisions that protect people with preexisting conditions from health insurance discrimination .
Republicans say they 'd put new protections in place , but they have n't spelled them out .
Trump has frequently @ @ @ @ @ @ @ despite evidence to the contrary and has even asserted falsely that he was the one who `` saved '' such protections .
With the Obama-era law still in place , preexisting conditions continue to be covered by regular individual health insurance plans .
Insurers must take all applicants , regardless of medical history , and charge the same standard premiums to healthy people and those who are in poor health , or have a history of medical problems .
TRUMP : `` He wants to ban fracking . ''
— Nevada rally on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not Biden 's position at all .
In a March 15 primary debate , Biden misstated his fracking policy but his campaign quickly corrected the record .
Biden has otherwise been consistent on his middle-of-the-road position , going so far as to tell an anti-fracking activist that he `` ought to vote for somebody else '' if he wanted an immediate fracking ban .
Fracking , or hydraulic fracturing , opened up a yearslong oil and gas boom in parts of the Southwest , Northeast and High Plains when the technique went into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ although the coronavirus pandemic and a global petroleum glut have now driven down prices and demand .
Biden floundered in the March primary debate when Sen. Bernie Sanders spoke of his own proposal , saying he was intending to wind down fracking entirely .
`` So am I , '' Biden replied .
`` No more — no new — fracking . ''
Biden 's campaign contacted reporters to say he misspoke , and the candidate and his campaign have been consistent in public statements of Biden 's position since .
Biden supports @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , fracking included , on federal land .
But most U.S. production is on private land — the U.S. Bureau of Land Management says production on federal land accounted for less than 10 % of oil and gas in 2018 .
That amounts to a far more limited restriction than a full `` ban '' as Trump asserts .
TRUMP : `` When Joe Biden was vice president , his failed approach to the swine flu was disastrous .
... And 60 million Americans got H1N1 in that period of time .
... @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a disaster . ''
— news conference Thursday .
THE FACTS : This is a distorted history of a pandemic in 2009 that killed far fewer people in the United States than the coronavirus is killing now .
For starters , Biden as vice president was n't running the federal response .
And that response was faster out of the gate than when COVID-19 came to the U.S. Then , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 's flu surveillance network sounded the alarm after two children in California became the first people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this country .
About two weeks later , the Obama administration declared a public health emergency against H1NI , also known as the swine flu , and the CDC began releasing anti-flu drugs from the national stockpile to help hospitals get ready .
In contrast , Trump declared a state of emergency in early March , seven weeks after the first U.S. case of COVID-19 was announced , and the country 's health system struggled for months with shortages of critical supplies and testing .
More than 190,000 people have died from COVID-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the U.S. death toll from the 2009-2010 H1N1 pandemic at about 12,500 .
TRUMP : `` Was Andy McCabe ever forced to pay back the $ 700,000 illegally given to him and his wife , for his wife 's political campaign , by Crooked Hillary Clinton while Hillary was under FBI investigation , and McCabe was the head of the FBI ?
?
?
Just askin ' ? ''
— tweet Saturday .
THE FACTS : Trump is distorting facts .
This tweet refers to a campaign contribution received by the wife of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her unsuccessful bid for the Virginia state Senate .
Almost everything Trump says about it is wrong .
The contribution to the campaign was not from Hillary Clinton but rather from a political action committee of her ally , former Virginia Gov .
Terry McAuliffe , and there was nothing illegal about it .
McCabe did not become involved in the FBI investigation into Clinton 's email practices until after his wife 's campaign had ended , and at no point during the probe — which concluded in 2016 — was he ever @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not happen until May 2017 , when Trump fired James Comey as FBI director , making McCabe the acting director for several months .
TRUMP : `` We brought you a lot of car plants , you know that right ?
...
I saved the U.S. auto industry . ''
— Michigan rally Thursday .
BIDEN , on Michigan 's economy : `` Donald Trump squandered it — and hardworking Michiganders are paying the price every day . ''
—tweet Wednesday .
THE FACTS : Both Trump and Biden are overstating it .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but he certainly did n't bring an auto industry boom , either .
In fact , the number of auto and parts manufacturing jobs in the state fell slightly between Trump 's inauguration and February of this year , before the coronavirus took hold .
When Trump took office there were 174,200 such jobs , and that dropped to 171,800 in February , according to Labor Department statistics .
While most plants shuttered for about eight weeks after the pandemic hit , many are back running near capacity again , at least @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most recent figures available , Michigan had 154,400 auto and parts manufacturing jobs .
Michigan Gov .
Gretchen Whitmer , a Democrat , recently said the state 's economy was operating now at 87 % of pre-pandemic levels , citing figures from Moody 's Analytics and CNN .
TRUMP : `` Instead of focusing on radical ideology , my administration is focused on delivering real results .
And that 's what we have .
Right now we have the cleanest air ever we 've ever had in this country — let 's say @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — remarks Tuesday in Jupiter , Florida .
FACTS : He 's not responsible for all of the progress — far from it .
All six air pollution measurements monitored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency showed that in 2019 the U.S. air was the cleanest on record .
But the most important pollutant , tiny particles , was essentially about the same as 2016 , only down 1 % , according to Carnegie Mellon University environmental engineering professor Neil Donahue .
The same figures also showed that air pollution rose in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ before falling greatly in 2019 .
Donahue and three other outside experts in air pollution said the president was wrongly taking credit for what years , even decades , of ever-increasing emissions restrictions caused .
H. Christopher Frey , an engineering professor at North Carolina State University and former chief of the EPA 's air quality scientific advisory board , said that `` current trends in air quality are for reasons irrespective of , or despite , policies of the Trump administration . ''
Instead he and Donahue attributed it to a shift @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shift the Trump administration has fought against — and to newer , cleaner cars replacing older vehicles .
TRUMP : `` We 're pretty much out of Syria . ''
— news conference Thursday .
THE FACTS : Not so much .
Last year close to 30 U.S. troops moved out of two outposts near the border area where a Turkish attack on the country was initially centered .
But the U.S. currently has about 700 troops deployed to Syria , a number that has n't changed a lot lately .
TRUMP , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sending it back ?
Who 's signing ?
They do n't even have to have an authorized signature in Nevada . ''
— Nevada rally on Saturday .
THE FACTS : Not true .
Nevada 's existing law requires signature checks on mail ballots .
A new law also spells out a process by which election officials are to check a signature against the one in government records .
In Nevada 's June primary , nearly 7,000 ballots were thrown out due to mismatched or missing signatures .
TRUMP , on Democrats : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ election ...
Tiny amounts , a congressional race in New York , a small number of votes .
If you go to New Jersey , if you go to Virginia , if you go to Pennsylvania , if you go to California , look at some of these races , every one of these races was a fraud , missing ballots . ''
— Nevada rally on Saturday .
TRUMP , retweeting an Associated Press analysis projecting the number of ballots that get rejected will soar this fall because of increased mail-in voting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tweet Tuesday .
THE FACTS : No , defective ballots do not equate to fraud .
The overwhelming majority are n't .
According to the Brennan Center for Justice , the vast majority of ballots are disqualified because they arrive late — what Trump describes as going `` missing '' — a particular worry this year because of recent U.S .
Postal Service delays and an expected surge in mail-in voting during the coronavirus pandemic .
Ballots also are deemed defective if there is a missing signature — common with newer voters unfamiliar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ n't match what 's on file .
In addition , some states require absentee voters to get a witness or notary to sign their ballots .
`` None of those are fraud , '' said Wendy Weiser , director of Brennan 's democracy program at NYU School of Law .
When suspected cases are investigated for potential fraud , studies have borne out the main reason for defects is voter mistake .
The AP analysis published on Sept. 7 found that rejections of absentee ballots could triple compared with 2016 in some battleground @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It said voters `` could be disenfranchised in key battleground states '' and that nullified votes could be `` even more pronounced in some urban areas where Democratic votes are concentrated and ballot rejection rates trended higher during this year 's primaries . ''
That 's far from an election `` rigged '' against Trump .

Playing defense on his handling of the coronavirus, Donald Trump is letting the falsehoods fly.
Over the weekend, he railed against cases of voting fraud that didn’t exist, asserted that COVID-19 was “rounding a corner” despite what his top health advisers say, and blasted Joe Biden for supposed positions on energy and health care that his Democratic rival doesn’t hold.
A recent sampling:
VIRUS
TRUMP: “We are rounding the corner.” — remarks Sunday at a Latino roundtable event in Las Vegas.
TRUMP: The coronavirus “is rounding the turn, rounding the corner.” — remarks Saturday to reporters in Reno, Nevada.
THE FACTS: To be clear, that’s not what his top health advisers say.
“I’m sorry but I have to disagree with that,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious diseases expert, told MSNBC on Friday, calling the current coronavirus levels seven months into the pandemic “disturbing.”
He expressed concern about a potential spike in cases following the Labor Day holiday beyond a present rate of 40,000 cases a day and 1,000 deaths.
“What we don’t want to see is going into the fall season, when people will be spending more time indoors — and that’s not good for a respiratory-borne virus — you don’t want to start off already with a baseline that’s so high,” Fauci said.
Fauci this past week also cautioned that people should not “underestimate” the pandemic and they will “need to hunker down and get through this fall and winter because it’s not going to be easy.” He and other health experts such as Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have warned of a potentially bad fall because of dual threats of the coronavirus and the flu season.
___
AWARDS and HONORS
TRUMP: “Remember, Miami Cubans gave me the highly honored Bay of Pigs Award for all I have done for our great Cuban Population!” — tweet Sunday.
THE FACTS: No such award exists.
Trump got an endorsement in 2016 from the Bay of Pigs Veterans Association, the first ever from the group of Florida-based veterans who fought in the United States’ failed attempt to overthrow the Cuban government in the 1961 invasion. But no award comes with it.
___
VACCINE
TRUMP: “We’re developing a vaccine in record time. It will be ready before the end of the year and maybe much sooner than that.” — rally Saturday in Minden, Nevada.
TRUMP: “You’ll have this incredible vaccine, and … in speed like nobody has ever seen before. This could’ve taken two or three years, and instead it’s going to be — it’s going to be done in a very short of period of time. Could even have it during the month of October.” — news conference on Sept. 7.
THE FACTS: He’s almost certainly raising unrealistic hopes as the November election approaches.
The Food and Drug Administration already has told manufacturers it won’t consider any vaccine that’s less than 50% effective. Getting the right math before November, as Trump has promised, is “incredibly unlikely,” said Dr. Larry Corey of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute, who is overseeing the U.S. government’s vaccine studies.
Public health experts are worried that Trump will press the FDA to approve a vaccine before it is proven to be safe and effective.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious diseases expert, has said he is “cautiously optimistic” that a coronavirus vaccine will be ready by early next year. Even then, Fauci made clear that the vaccine would not be widely available right away.
“Ultimately, within a reasonable period of time, the plans now allow for any American who needs a vaccine to get it within the year 2021,” Fauci told Congress last month.
Dr. Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health, also expressed “cautious optimism” this past week that one of the vaccines being tested will pan out by year’s end. But he warned: “Certainly to try to predict whether it happens on a particular week before or after a particular date in early November is well beyond anything that any scientist right now could tell you.”
The “particular date” is Nov. 3, Election Day.
___
ON BIDEN
TRUMP, on Biden: “He wants to do a complete shutdown.” — Nevada rally on Saturday.
TRUMP: “The approach to the virus is a very unscientific blanket lockdown by the Democrats.” — news conference Thursday.
TRUMP: “Biden’s plan for the China virus is to shut down the entire U.S. economy.” — news conference on Sept. 7.
THE FACTS: That’s not Biden’s plan at all. Biden has said he would shut down the economy only if scientists and public health advisers recommended he do so to stem the COVID-19 threat. He said he would follow the science, not disregard it.
Biden told ABC last month he “will be prepared to do whatever it takes to save lives” when he was asked if he would even be willing to shut the country again.
“I would listen to the scientists,” he said. If they said to shut it down, “I would shut it down.”
___
TRUMP: Biden will “destroy protections for preexisting conditions.” — Nevada rally on Saturday.
THE FACTS: This is baseless. Biden proposes building on “Obamacare” and does not seek to strip that law’s insurance protections for people with preexisting illness.
The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court for full repeal of the health law, including provisions that protect people with preexisting conditions from health insurance discrimination. Republicans say they’d put new protections in place, but they haven’t spelled them out.
Trump has frequently claimed he will always protect preexisting conditions despite evidence to the contrary and has even asserted falsely that he was the one who “saved” such protections.
With the Obama-era law still in place, preexisting conditions continue to be covered by regular individual health insurance plans.
Insurers must take all applicants, regardless of medical history, and charge the same standard premiums to healthy people and those who are in poor health, or have a history of medical problems.
___
TRUMP: “He wants to ban fracking.” — Nevada rally on Saturday.
THE FACTS: That’s not Biden’s position at all.
In a March 15 primary debate, Biden misstated his fracking policy but his campaign quickly corrected the record. Biden has otherwise been consistent on his middle-of-the-road position, going so far as to tell an anti-fracking activist that he “ought to vote for somebody else” if he wanted an immediate fracking ban.
Trump continually ignores the correction.
Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, opened up a yearslong oil and gas boom in parts of the Southwest, Northeast and High Plains when the technique went into widespread use under the Obama administration, although the coronavirus pandemic and a global petroleum glut have now driven down prices and demand.
Biden floundered in the March primary debate when Sen. Bernie Sanders spoke of his own proposal, saying he was intending to wind down fracking entirely. “So am I,” Biden replied. “No more — no new — fracking.”
Biden’s campaign contacted reporters to say he misspoke, and the candidate and his campaign have been consistent in public statements of Biden’s position since.
Biden supports banning only new oil and gas permits, fracking included, on federal land. But most U.S. production is on private land — the U.S. Bureau of Land Management says production on federal land accounted for less than 10% of oil and gas in 2018. That amounts to a far more limited restriction than a full “ban” as Trump asserts.
___
TRUMP: “When Joe Biden was vice president, his failed approach to the swine flu was disastrous. … And 60 million Americans got H1N1 in that period of time. …We did everything wrong, it was a disaster.” — news conference Thursday.
THE FACTS: This is a distorted history of a pandemic in 2009 that killed far fewer people in the United States than the coronavirus is killing now. For starters, Biden as vice president wasn’t running the federal response. And that response was faster out of the gate than when COVID-19 came to the U.S.
Then, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s flu surveillance network sounded the alarm after two children in California became the first people diagnosed with the new flu strain in this country.
About two weeks later, the Obama administration declared a public health emergency against H1NI, also known as the swine flu, and the CDC began releasing anti-flu drugs from the national stockpile to help hospitals get ready. In contrast, Trump declared a state of emergency in early March, seven weeks after the first U.S. case of COVID-19 was announced, and the country’s health system struggled for months with shortages of critical supplies and testing.
More than 190,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the U.S. The CDC puts the U.S. death toll from the 2009-2010 H1N1 pandemic at about 12,500.
___
FBI INVESTIGATION
TRUMP: “Was Andy McCabe ever forced to pay back the $700,000 illegally given to him and his wife, for his wife’s political campaign, by Crooked Hillary Clinton while Hillary was under FBI investigation, and McCabe was the head of the FBI??? Just askin’?” — tweet Saturday.
THE FACTS: Trump is distorting facts. This tweet refers to a campaign contribution received by the wife of former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe during her unsuccessful bid for the Virginia state Senate. Almost everything Trump says about it is wrong.
The contribution to the campaign was not from Hillary Clinton but rather from a political action committee of her ally, former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, and there was nothing illegal about it.
McCabe did not become involved in the FBI investigation into Clinton’s email practices until after his wife’s campaign had ended, and at no point during the probe — which concluded in 2016 — was he ever head of the FBI. That did not happen until May 2017, when Trump fired James Comey as FBI director, making McCabe the acting director for several months.
___
TRUMP: “We brought you a lot of car plants, you know that right? … I saved the U.S. auto industry.” — Michigan rally Thursday.
BIDEN, on Michigan’s economy: “Donald Trump squandered it — and hardworking Michiganders are paying the price every day.” —tweet Wednesday.
THE FACTS: Both Trump and Biden are overstating it. Trump did not wreck Michigan’s economy, but he certainly didn’t bring an auto industry boom, either.
In fact, the number of auto and parts manufacturing jobs in the state fell slightly between Trump’s inauguration and February of this year, before the coronavirus took hold.
When Trump took office there were 174,200 such jobs, and that dropped to 171,800 in February, according to Labor Department statistics. While most plants shuttered for about eight weeks after the pandemic hit, many are back running near capacity again, at least for now. In July, the most recent figures available, Michigan had 154,400 auto and parts manufacturing jobs.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, recently said the state’s economy was operating now at 87% of pre-pandemic levels, citing figures from Moody’s Analytics and CNN.
___
ENVIRONMENT
TRUMP: “Instead of focusing on radical ideology, my administration is focused on delivering real results. And that’s what we have. Right now we have the cleanest air ever we’ve ever had in this country — let’s say over the last 40 years.” — remarks Tuesday in Jupiter, Florida.
FACTS: He’s not responsible for all of the progress — far from it.
All six air pollution measurements monitored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency showed that in 2019 the U.S. air was the cleanest on record. But the most important pollutant, tiny particles, was essentially about the same as 2016, only down 1%, according to Carnegie Mellon University environmental engineering professor Neil Donahue. The same figures also showed that air pollution rose in the first two years of the Trump administration before falling greatly in 2019.
Donahue and three other outside experts in air pollution said the president was wrongly taking credit for what years, even decades, of ever-increasing emissions restrictions caused.
H. Christopher Frey, an engineering professor at North Carolina State University and former chief of the EPA’s air quality scientific advisory board, said that “current trends in air quality are for reasons irrespective of, or despite, policies of the Trump administration.” Instead he and Donahue attributed it to a shift from use of dirtier coal — a shift the Trump administration has fought against — and to newer, cleaner cars replacing older vehicles.
___
TRUMP: “We’re pretty much out of Syria.” — news conference Thursday.
THE FACTS: Not so much.
Last year close to 30 U.S. troops moved out of two outposts near the border area where a Turkish attack on the country was initially centered. But the U.S. currently has about 700 troops deployed to Syria, a number that hasn’t changed a lot lately.
___
NOVEMBER ELECTION
TRUMP, on mail-in voting: “Who’s sending it back? Who’s signing? They don’t even have to have an authorized signature in Nevada.” — Nevada rally on Saturday.
THE FACTS: Not true. Nevada’s existing law requires signature checks on mail ballots. A new law also spells out a process by which election officials are to check a signature against the one in government records.
In Nevada’s June primary, nearly 7,000 ballots were thrown out due to mismatched or missing signatures.
___
TRUMP, on Democrats: “They’re trying to rig this election … Tiny amounts, a congressional race in New York, a small number of votes. If you go to New Jersey, if you go to Virginia, if you go to Pennsylvania, if you go to California, look at some of these races, every one of these races was a fraud, missing ballots.” — Nevada rally on Saturday.
TRUMP, retweeting an Associated Press analysis projecting the number of ballots that get rejected will soar this fall because of increased mail-in voting: “Rigged Election!” — tweet Tuesday.
THE FACTS: No, defective ballots do not equate to fraud. The overwhelming majority aren’t.
According to the Brennan Center for Justice, the vast majority of ballots are disqualified because they arrive late — what Trump describes as going “missing” — a particular worry this year because of recent U.S. Postal Service delays and an expected surge in mail-in voting during the coronavirus pandemic.
Ballots also are deemed defective if there is a missing signature — common with newer voters unfamiliar with the process — or it doesn’t match what’s on file. In addition, some states require absentee voters to get a witness or notary to sign their ballots.
“None of those are fraud,” said Wendy Weiser, director of Brennan’s democracy program at NYU School of Law. When suspected cases are investigated for potential fraud, studies have borne out the main reason for defects is voter mistake.
The AP analysis published on Sept. 7 found that rejections of absentee ballots could triple compared with 2016 in some battleground states, potentially tipping the election outcome.
It said voters “could be disenfranchised in key battleground states” and that nullified votes could be “even more pronounced in some urban areas where Democratic votes are concentrated and ballot rejection rates trended higher during this year’s primaries.” That’s far from an election “rigged” against Trump.


shareblue--2020-09-17--Nursing homes still need help with the virus — but the Trump team is declaring victory

The Trump administration is claiming `` resounding vindication '' from an independent commission 's report on the coronavirus crisis in nursing homes , but some panel members say that 's a misinterpretation of their conclusion that much remains to be done to safeguard vulnerable residents .
People in long-term care facilities represent less than 1 % of the U.S. population but more than 40 % of the coronavirus deaths , according to the COVID Tracking Project , which has tallied 77,000 deaths among residents and staff .
Those harsh numbers are a sensitive political issue for Donald Trump , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from older voters .
Mike Pence planned to highlight the administration 's work on nursing homes at an event Thursday with commission members .
The commission was set up by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services , or CMS .
Agency administrator Seema Verma called its findings `` an invaluable action plan for the future and a resounding vindication of our overall approach to date . ''
But with 27 major recommendations in the commission report , it 's not time for officials to take a bow , several members noted .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ in front of us , '' said Terry Fulmer , a commission member and president of the John A. Hartford Foundation , which works to improve care for older adults .
The administration says it has already acted , or made progress , on most issues flagged .
It has n't gone far enough , said Fulmer .
`` We need to get the real data that will tell us where we 're still lacking testing , ( protective equipment ) , and appropriate staffing , '' she said .
`` We need @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and really keep an close eye on any uptick with the virus — that 's what I 'm most worried about .
We do n't have a national policy that we are following so we can ensure we have quality across our entire nation , so we are looking for progress there . ''
Harvard professor David Grabowski , another member , said `` there 's a sense of 'mission accomplished ' `` coming from the administration and `` that 's just not the case . ''
`` We were charged with providing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , '' Grabowski said .
`` We were n't asked to evaluate the CMS response or provide any kind of valuation as to how they have handled the pandemic . ''
Among the top recommendations in the 186-page report : — establish a national testing strategy .
After a stumbling start in which the White House tried to delegate testing in nursing homes to the states , the administration has been shipping fast-test machines to facilities .
But there 's concern about ongoing supplies , staff training , and other issues .
— @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protective equipment .
Earlier this summer , as COVID-19 rebounded across the South and West , 1 in 5 nursing homes faced PPE shortages .
The commission called on the government to take responsibility , guaranteeing a three-month supply of high-quality gear for facilities .
The administration says it has provided money for PPE and in August began shipping N95 masks to nursing homes that reported shortages .
— safely resume family visits .
Nursing homes have been in lockdown since mid-March , and that has taken a toll on the well-being of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ allow visits again .
The commission recommended a detailed template for how nursing homes can safely resume visitation .
The administration says it has already provided guidance .
— more help with infection control .
Moving residents within a facility to separate those infected with the coronavirus is one of the main ways to contain outbreaks .
But that can involve added costs and challenges .
The commission said clearer government guidance is needed .
The ravages of the coronavirus in nursing homes have surprised and shocked many people .
Experts such as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gets into facilities from the surrounding communities , unwittingly carried by staff and visitors who may not yet have symptoms .
The commission concluded that the pandemic has exposed basic flaws in the nation 's oversight of nursing homes , which divides responsibilities among federal , state , and local authorities .
That `` resulted in a patchwork approach to infection prevention and control that many believe has contributed to our nation 's inability to contain the spread of the virus , '' the report said .
University of Chicago professor Tamara Konetzka @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reviewed the commission 's report , said the recommendations `` follow the growing consensus over the past six months about what needs to be done to stem the cases and deaths in nursing homes . ''
But she also took issue with the administration 's claims it has met the moment .
`` I would classify the CMS actions to date as a move in the right direction and better late than never , '' she said .
`` But , as we get close to 80,000 nursing home deaths and counting , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ federal response as unprecedented and successful . ''

The Trump administration is claiming “resounding vindication” from an independent commission’s report on the coronavirus crisis in nursing homes, but some panel members say that’s a misinterpretation of their conclusion that much remains to be done to safeguard vulnerable residents.
People in long-term care facilities represent less than 1% of the U.S. population but more than 40% of the coronavirus deaths, according to the COVID Tracking Project, which has tallied 77,000 deaths among residents and staff. Those harsh numbers are a sensitive political issue for Donald Trump, who is trying to hang on to support from older voters.
Mike Pence planned to highlight the administration’s work on nursing homes at an event Thursday with commission members.
The commission was set up by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS. Agency administrator Seema Verma called its findings “an invaluable action plan for the future and a resounding vindication of our overall approach to date.”
But with 27 major recommendations in the commission report, it’s not time for officials to take a bow, several members noted.
“There’s an enormous to-do list in front of us,” said Terry Fulmer, a commission member and president of the John A. Hartford Foundation, which works to improve care for older adults.
The administration says it has already acted, or made progress, on most issues flagged.
It hasn’t gone far enough, said Fulmer.
“We need to get the real data that will tell us where we’re still lacking testing, (protective equipment), and appropriate staffing,” she said. “We need to really watch the autumn flu season and really keep an close eye on any uptick with the virus — that’s what I’m most worried about. We don’t have a national policy that we are following so we can ensure we have quality across our entire nation, so we are looking for progress there.”
Harvard professor David Grabowski, another member, said “there’s a sense of ‘mission accomplished’ ” coming from the administration and “that’s just not the case.”
“We were charged with providing a road map out of the crisis,” Grabowski said. “We weren’t asked to evaluate the CMS response or provide any kind of valuation as to how they have handled the pandemic.”
Among the top recommendations in the 186-page report:
— establish a national testing strategy. After a stumbling start in which the White House tried to delegate testing in nursing homes to the states, the administration has been shipping fast-test machines to facilities. But there’s concern about ongoing supplies, staff training, and other issues.
— guarantee supplies of PPE, or personal protective equipment. Earlier this summer, as COVID-19 rebounded across the South and West, 1 in 5 nursing homes faced PPE shortages. The commission called on the government to take responsibility, guaranteeing a three-month supply of high-quality gear for facilities. The administration says it has provided money for PPE and in August began shipping N95 masks to nursing homes that reported shortages.
— safely resume family visits. Nursing homes have been in lockdown since mid-March, and that has taken a toll on the well-being of residents. Some facilities have started to allow visits again. The commission recommended a detailed template for how nursing homes can safely resume visitation. The administration says it has already provided guidance.
— more help with infection control. Moving residents within a facility to separate those infected with the coronavirus is one of the main ways to contain outbreaks. But that can involve added costs and challenges. The commission said clearer government guidance is needed.
The ravages of the coronavirus in nursing homes have surprised and shocked many people. Experts such as Grabowski say their research indicates the virus gets into facilities from the surrounding communities, unwittingly carried by staff and visitors who may not yet have symptoms.
The commission concluded that the pandemic has exposed basic flaws in the nation’s oversight of nursing homes, which divides responsibilities among federal, state, and local authorities.
That “resulted in a patchwork approach to infection prevention and control that many believe has contributed to our nation’s inability to contain the spread of the virus,” the report said.
University of Chicago professor Tamara Konetzka, an expert on long-term care who reviewed the commission’s report, said the recommendations “follow the growing consensus over the past six months about what needs to be done to stem the cases and deaths in nursing homes.”
But she also took issue with the administration’s claims it has met the moment.
“I would classify the CMS actions to date as a move in the right direction and better late than never,” she said. “But, as we get close to 80,000 nursing home deaths and counting, it’s difficult to think of the federal response as unprecedented and successful.”


shareblue--2020-09-17--9 ways Trump and his campaign are making a mess of the election

Down in the polls and facing the possibility of defeat , Donald Trump is using his platform to generate mass confusion ahead of the November general election , which could make it harder for Americans to vote in the middle of a deadly pandemic .
Trump , along with the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee , have been taking numerous actions that would depress the vote for the upcoming election , which Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is currently favored to win .
Here are some of the ways Trump and his GOP allies are trying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spring , when governors began announcing plans to expand mail-voting amid the COVID-19 pandemic , Trump has been railing against the expansion of voting by mail , even though it 's a simple and safe form of casting ballots that does n't require voters to gather at polling places where the coronavirus can spread .
Nine states and the District of Columbia will mail all voters absentee ballots , while 34 other states will allow voters to request an absentee ballot to vote , according to the New York Times .
Trump has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with fraud , and susceptible to foreign interference — both of which are utterly false .
There is no evidence that voting by mail increases the instances of fraud — which are almost negligible to begin with .
And there are numerous safeguards in place with absentee ballots that make them almost impossible for foreign adversaries to replicate .
Trump has also claimed that increased access to voting by mail would benefit Democrats and his opponent , Joe Biden , but there is no evidence that voting by mail helps one party over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with Fox Business , Trump admitted he wants to block funding for the Postal Service that would assist with the influx of absentee ballots — in order to prevent states from being able to conduct their elections by mail .
Congress has still yet to pass more funding to help the Postal Service with the influx of mail expected from the rise in absentee ballots , with House Democrats passing legislation that the Republican-led Senate wo n't take up .
And while Postmaster General Louis DeJoy — a top Trump donor — said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that slowed down mail service , it 's unclear how much damage he caused to delivery was irreversible .
Spending $ 20 million to fight the expansion of voting by mail As states pressed forward with expanding access to absentee ballots , the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee doubled their initial budget for litigation in the 2020 election to $ 20 million — funds they 're using to support restrictive voter laws and fight against expanded voting by mail across the country .
In August , the Trump campaign filed a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , saying that a plan to automatically send absentee ballots to every active registered voter in the state would make `` voter fraud and other ineligible voting inevitable , '' ABC News reported .
There is no evidence that voting by mail would lead to voter fraud .
Safeguards against fraud include `` requiring people requesting absentee ballots to be registered voters , mailing ballots to the official address listed on voter registration rolls , requiring voter signatures on the external envelope , and having election authorities make sure the ballot came from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' according to the Brookings Institute .
Nevada 's Democratic Gov .
Steve Sisolak said after the Trump campaign filed a lawsuit , `` My priority is to make sure the voters have every legitimate , legal option to vote .
I think that this gives them that . ''
The Trump campaign also filed a nearly identical lawsuit against New Jersey , which is using a hybrid election model that includes mailing all eligible voters a ballot but allowing them to choose whether they want to vote by mail or in person @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the Trump campaign 's New Jersey suit is alleging that mail-in voting will increase fraud , and that `` fraudulent and invalid votes dilute the votes of honest citizens and deprive them of their right to vote in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment , '' CNN reported .
New Jersey Gov .
Phil Murphy dismissed this accusation , saying after the lawsuit was filed that `` the President 's campaign is putting itself on record as wanting to delegitimize our November election instead of working with us to ensure that voters rights @ @ @ @ @ @ @ according to CNN .
The Trump campaign filed another lawsuit in Montana , suing the state 's Democratic Gov .
Steve Bullock by alleging that Bullock engaged in a `` power grab '' when he announced that Montana counties can hold their elections by mail , the Missoulian reported .
Bullock dismissed the lawsuit , calling it `` part of a pattern of lawsuits across the country by Republican party operatives to limit access to voting during the pandemic . ''
`` Voting by mail in Montana is safe , secure , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Montana election officials seeking to reduce the risk of COVID-19 and keep Montanans safe and healthy , '' Bullock said in a statement , according to the Missoulian .
Trying to ban drop boxes in Pennsylvania The Trump campaign also filed a lawsuit against Pennsylvania to try to ban the state from using ballot drop boxes , which are perfectly safe and easy ways for people to give in their ballots without having to rely on Postal Service .
In August , a judge ruled against the Trump campaign on the lawsuit , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ any instances of fraud that emerged from the use of ballot drop boxes .
The Trump campaign intervened in another lawsuit in Ohio , in which Democrats are challenging the GOP secretary of state 's decision to only have one ballot drop box per county .
The Trump campaign is siding with the GOP secretary of state in that lawsuit , attempting to limit the number of ballot collection boxes .
However , a judge ruled on Tuesday that the one ballot drop box per county rule was `` arbitrary and unreasonable , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the legal challenges from his campaign make their way through the justice system , Trump has also asked his supporters to commit crimes on Election Day .
Multiple times now , Trump has urged his supporters in North Carolina to vote twice in the election : once by mail and once at the ballot box on Election Day .
The head of the North Carolina State Board of Elections released a statement after Trump first made this comment , saying that voting twice or even urging voters to vote twice is a felony @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their ballots by mail need to go to the polls to make sure their ballot was counted '' Let them send it in , and let them go vote , and if the system is as good as they say it is , then obviously they wo n't be able to vote , '' Trump told a local news station in North Carolina on Sept. 2 .
`` If it is n't tabulated , they wo n't be able to vote .
So that 's the way it is .
And that 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ North Carolina has an online system where voters can track their ballots , which makes going to the polls on Election Day to check their ballot status unnecessary .
By urging his voters to go to the polls to check the status , Trump could create long lines and confusion at polling sites across the state .
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation .

Down in the polls and facing the possibility of defeat, Donald Trump is using his platform to generate mass confusion ahead of the November general election, which could make it harder for Americans to vote in the middle of a deadly pandemic.
Trump, along with the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee, have been taking numerous actions that would depress the vote for the upcoming election, which Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is currently favored to win.
Here are some of the ways Trump and his GOP allies are trying to fix the election:
Attacking voting by mail
Since the spring, when governors began announcing plans to expand mail-voting amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump has been railing against the expansion of voting by mail, even though it’s a simple and safe form of casting ballots that doesn’t require voters to gather at polling places where the coronavirus can spread.
Nine states and the District of Columbia will mail all voters absentee ballots, while 34 other states will allow voters to request an absentee ballot to vote, according to the New York Times.
Trump has falsely said voting by mail is rife with fraud, and susceptible to foreign interference — both of which are utterly false.
There is no evidence that voting by mail increases the instances of fraud — which are almost negligible to begin with.
And there are numerous safeguards in place with absentee ballots that make them almost impossible for foreign adversaries to replicate.
Trump has also claimed that increased access to voting by mail would benefit Democrats and his opponent, Joe Biden, but there is no evidence that voting by mail helps one party over another.
Sabotaging the U.S. Postal Service
In an Aug. 13 interview with Fox Business, Trump admitted he wants to block funding for the Postal Service that would assist with the influx of absentee ballots — in order to prevent states from being able to conduct their elections by mail.
Trump said:
They want $3.5 billion for the mail-in votes, universal mail-in ballots. They want $25 billion, billion, for the post office. Now they need that money in order to have the Post Office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots. Now, in the meantime, they aren’t getting there. By the way, those are just two items. But if they don’t get those two items, that means you can’t have universal mail-in voting, because they’re not equipped to have it.
Congress has still yet to pass more funding to help the Postal Service with the influx of mail expected from the rise in absentee ballots, with House Democrats passing legislation that the Republican-led Senate won’t take up.
And while Postmaster General Louis DeJoy — a top Trump donor — said he was pausing some changes he implemented that slowed down mail service, it’s unclear how much damage he caused to delivery was irreversible.
Spending $20 million to fight the expansion of voting by mail
As states pressed forward with expanding access to absentee ballots, the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee doubled their initial budget for litigation in the 2020 election to $20 million — funds they’re using to support restrictive voter laws and fight against expanded voting by mail across the country.
Attacking Nevada voters
In August, the Trump campaign filed a lawsuit against Nevada’s secretary of state, saying that a plan to automatically send absentee ballots to every active registered voter in the state would make “voter fraud and other ineligible voting inevitable,” ABC News reported.
There is no evidence that voting by mail would lead to voter fraud. Safeguards against fraud include “requiring people requesting absentee ballots to be registered voters, mailing ballots to the official address listed on voter registration rolls, requiring voter signatures on the external envelope, and having election authorities make sure the ballot came from the address of an actual voter,” according to the Brookings Institute.
Nevada’s Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak said after the Trump campaign filed a lawsuit, “My priority is to make sure the voters have every legitimate, legal option to vote. I think that this gives them that.”
Accusing New Jersey of voter fraud
The Trump campaign also filed a nearly identical lawsuit against New Jersey, which is using a hybrid election model that includes mailing all eligible voters a ballot but allowing them to choose whether they want to vote by mail or in person.
Similar to the suit in Nevada, the Trump campaign’s New Jersey suit is alleging that mail-in voting will increase fraud, and that “fraudulent and invalid votes dilute the votes of honest citizens and deprive them of their right to vote in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment,” CNN reported.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy dismissed this accusation, saying after the lawsuit was filed that “the President’s campaign is putting itself on record as wanting to delegitimize our November election instead of working with us to ensure that voters rights are upheld alongside public health,” according to CNN.
Calling voting expansion in Montana a “power grab”
The Trump campaign filed another lawsuit in Montana, suing the state’s Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock by alleging that Bullock engaged in a “power grab” when he announced that Montana counties can hold their elections by mail, the Missoulian reported.
Bullock dismissed the lawsuit, calling it “part of a pattern of lawsuits across the country by Republican party operatives to limit access to voting during the pandemic.”
“Voting by mail in Montana is safe, secure, and was requested by a bipartisan coalition of Montana election officials seeking to reduce the risk of COVID-19 and keep Montanans safe and healthy,” Bullock said in a statement, according to the Missoulian.
Trying to ban drop boxes in Pennsylvania
The Trump campaign also filed a lawsuit against Pennsylvania to try to ban the state from using ballot drop boxes, which are perfectly safe and easy ways for people to give in their ballots without having to rely on Postal Service.
In August, a judge ruled against the Trump campaign on the lawsuit, after the Trump campaign could not provide any instances of fraud that emerged from the use of ballot drop boxes.
Fighting against drop boxes in Ohio
The Trump campaign intervened in another lawsuit in Ohio, in which Democrats are challenging the GOP secretary of state’s decision to only have one ballot drop box per county.
The Trump campaign is siding with the GOP secretary of state in that lawsuit, attempting to limit the number of ballot collection boxes.
However, a judge ruled on Tuesday that the one ballot drop box per county rule was “arbitrary and unreasonable,” the Associated Press reported.
Urging his supporters to commit voter fraud
As the legal challenges from his campaign make their way through the justice system, Trump has also asked his supporters to commit crimes on Election Day.
Multiple times now, Trump has urged his supporters in North Carolina to vote twice in the election: once by mail and once at the ballot box on Election Day.
The head of the North Carolina State Board of Elections released a statement after Trump first made this comment, saying that voting twice or even urging voters to vote twice is a felony.
Trump has said voters who cast their ballots by mail need to go to the polls to make sure their ballot was counted
“Let them send it in, and let them go vote, and if the system is as good as they say it is, then obviously they won’t be able to vote,” Trump told a local news station in North Carolina on Sept. 2. “If it isn’t tabulated, they won’t be able to vote. So that’s the way it is. And that’s what they should do.”
But North Carolina has an online system where voters can track their ballots, which makes going to the polls on Election Day to check their ballot status unnecessary.
By urging his voters to go to the polls to check the status, Trump could create long lines and confusion at polling sites across the state.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.


shareblue--2020-09-17--Almost 80,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 in red states. Trump thinks that's fine.

Donald Trump claimed in a press conference Wednesday night that the coronavirus death toll was n't so bad — so long as you left blue state numbers out of the equation .
`` The blue states had tremendous death rates , '' said Trump .
`` If you take the blue states out , we 're at a level that I do n't think anybody in the world would be at .
We 're really at a very low level . ''
But even the exclusion of blue states — by which Trump presumably means those run by Democratic governors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ picture he painted in his remarks .
According to the official CDC data tracker , the total coronavirus death toll for `` red '' states , or all 26 states with Republican governors , is 78,412 .
Red states with the highest deaths include Texas with 14,478 deaths , Florida with 12,939 deaths , Massachusetts with 9,244 deaths , Georgia with 6,419 deaths , and Arizona with 5,371 deaths .
Texas Gov .
Greg Abbott faced widespread criticism by experts for his decision to reopen certain businesses in his state the first week @ @ @ @ @ @ @ statewide mask order until July .
Florida , too , reopened businesses and beaches in early May , and Gov .
Ron DeSantis has refused to issue a statewide masking order , saying he trusts Floridians to make `` the right decisions . ''
While a state masking order is currently in place in Massachusetts , the state did permit the reopening of a number of businesses , including places of worship , as early as May 18 .
Georgia and Arizona both have no statewide masking order at present , with Georgia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as to sue the city of Atlanta for its city mask mandate in July .
Georgia was one of the earliest states to reopen its businesses and local establishments in late April .
Arizona was also one of the first states to reopen in May .
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump 's remarks on the virus death toll this week .
Despite the steep death toll even in red states , Trump has admitted to deliberately downplaying the severity of the virus in its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ panic .
In recordings by journalist Bob Woodward , he called the virus `` deadly stuff , '' even while telling the public it was no worse than the common flu .
Contradicting himself yet again at an ABC News town hall on Tuesday in Philadelphia , he told host George Stephanopoulous , `` I didn ’ t downplay it .
I actually , in many ways , up-played it in terms of action . ''
`` I feel that we 've done a tremendous job , actually , '' Trump added .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ don ’ t think it 's been recognized like it should . ''
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation .

Donald Trump claimed in a press conference Wednesday night that the coronavirus death toll wasn’t so bad — so long as you left blue state numbers out of the equation.
“The blue states had tremendous death rates,” said Trump. “If you take the blue states out, we’re at a level that I don’t think anybody in the world would be at. We’re really at a very low level.”
But even the exclusion of blue states — by which Trump presumably means those run by Democratic governors — doesn’t account for the rosy picture he painted in his remarks.
According to the official CDC data tracker, the total coronavirus death toll for “red” states, or all 26 states with Republican governors, is 78,412.
Red states with the highest deaths include Texas with 14,478 deaths, Florida with 12,939 deaths, Massachusetts with 9,244 deaths, Georgia with 6,419 deaths, and Arizona with 5,371 deaths.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott faced widespread criticism by experts for his decision to reopen certain businesses in his state the first week of May, and for delaying a statewide mask order until July.
Florida, too, reopened businesses and beaches in early May, and Gov. Ron DeSantis has refused to issue a statewide masking order, saying he trusts Floridians to make “the right decisions.”
While a state masking order is currently in place in Massachusetts, the state did permit the reopening of a number of businesses, including places of worship, as early as May 18.
Georgia and Arizona both have no statewide masking order at present, with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp going so far as to sue the city of Atlanta for its city mask mandate in July. Georgia was one of the earliest states to reopen its businesses and local establishments in late April. Arizona was also one of the first states to reopen in May.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s remarks on the virus death toll this week.
Despite the steep death toll even in red states, Trump has admitted to deliberately downplaying the severity of the virus in its earliest days in order to avoid a panic. In recordings by journalist Bob Woodward, he called the virus “deadly stuff,” even while telling the public it was no worse than the common flu.
Contradicting himself yet again at an ABC News town hall on Tuesday in Philadelphia, he told host George Stephanopoulous, “I didn’t downplay it. I actually, in many ways, up-played it in terms of action.”
“I feel that we’ve done a tremendous job, actually,” Trump added. “And it’s something that I don’t think it’s been recognized like it should.”
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.


shareblue--2020-09-17--Mike Pence brags about meeting with a hate group at the White House

Mike Pence met on Tuesday with members of the group Alliance Defending Freedom at the White House .
Pence tweeted a photo of himself at a table with members of the group , which the Southern Poverty Law Center has identified as an anti-LGBTQ hate group , and wrote that he was `` honored '' to meet with them , saying : `` This Administration is committed to protecting religious freedom , free speech , and the sanctity of human life across this great Nation ! ''
People affiliated with the Alliance Defending Freedom have made numerous anti-LGBTQ statements over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ group published on its website : `` Men who self-identify as women are still biological men .
... And no amount of wishing or desire will ever change the fact that a feminized man will never truly experience what it is to be a woman . ''
Charles LiMandri , an attorney who has worked with the Alliance , has railed against LGBTQ people and called marriage equality the `` degradation of our human dignity . ''
The influential organization has created model legislation for bills that police transgender people 's bathroom use @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Supreme Court in cases such as Masterpiece Cakeshop Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission and R.G .
& G.R .
Harris Funeral Homes v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission .
It also trains conservative lawyers to `` defend religious liberty , '' which often means advocating for people with anti-LGBTQ views .
The Trump administration has many ties to the Alliance Defending Freedom .
Then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions spoke at the group 's Summit on Religious Liberty in 2017 and 2018 .
During his 2018 speech , Sessions spoke of Jack Phillips , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Masterpiece Cakeshop , who refused to sell a wedding cake to a gay couple based , he said , on his religious beliefs .
`` And , of course , we 've seen the ordeal faced bravely by Jack Phillips .
He simply refused to yield his beliefs .
And perhaps most tragically , I hear that his ordeal is far from over .
But that 's why ADF and other groups are right to give serious thought to and to take action on these matters , '' Sessions said .
His announcement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a `` religious liberty task force '' had also mentioned Phillips .
Last year , the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington discovered that Jennie Bradley Lichter , deputy assistant to Trump for domestic policy , went to the Alliance 's Summit on Religious Liberty and that the Alliance paid for the trip , spending over $ 2,000 for Lichter 's transportation , meals , and hotel expenses .
It also paid almost $ 4,000 for Department of Justice public affairs director Sarah Flores to attend the summit in 2018 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ choices for the Supreme Court , including some added to his short list last week , include people with ties to the ADF .
They include Allison Jones Rushing , a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit who interned with the Alliance ; Sen. Josh Hawley ( R-MO ) , who was flown to Phoenix for the group 's Blackstone Legal Fellowship ; and Sen. Ted Cruz ( R-TX ) , who helped lead the effort to prepare a brief backing Jack Phillips ' decision not to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ couple .
Alliance president and CEO Michael Farris has expressed support for Trump 's potential Supreme Court nominees .
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation .

Mike Pence met on Tuesday with members of the group Alliance Defending Freedom at the White House.
Pence tweeted a photo of himself at a table with members of the group, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has identified as an anti-LGBTQ hate group, and wrote that he was “honored” to meet with them, saying: “This Administration is committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, and the sanctity of human life across this great Nation!”
People affiliated with the Alliance Defending Freedom have made numerous anti-LGBTQ statements over the years. Last year, the group published on its website: “Men who self-identify as women are still biological men. … And no amount of wishing or desire will ever change the fact that a feminized man will never truly experience what it is to be a woman.”
Charles LiMandri, an attorney who has worked with the Alliance, has railed against LGBTQ people and called marriage equality the “degradation of our human dignity.”
The influential organization has created model legislation for bills that police transgender people’s bathroom use. It has defended anti-LGBTQ practices before the Supreme Court in cases such as Masterpiece Cakeshop Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission and R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
It also trains conservative lawyers to “defend religious liberty,” which often means advocating for people with anti-LGBTQ views.
The Trump administration has many ties to the Alliance Defending Freedom. Then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions spoke at the group’s Summit on Religious Liberty in 2017 and 2018. During his 2018 speech, Sessions spoke of Jack Phillips, the baker at the center of the Masterpiece Cakeshop, who refused to sell a wedding cake to a gay couple based, he said, on his religious beliefs.
“And, of course, we’ve seen the ordeal faced bravely by Jack Phillips. He simply refused to yield his beliefs. And perhaps most tragically, I hear that his ordeal is far from over. But that’s why ADF and other groups are right to give serious thought to and to take action on these matters,” Sessions said. His announcement a week earlier of the creation of a “religious liberty task force” had also mentioned Phillips.
Last year, the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington discovered that Jennie Bradley Lichter, deputy assistant to Trump for domestic policy, went to the Alliance’s Summit on Religious Liberty and that the Alliance paid for the trip, spending over $2,000 for Lichter’s transportation, meals, and hotel expenses. It also paid almost $4,000 for Department of Justice public affairs director Sarah Flores to attend the summit in 2018.
Some of Donald Trump’s possible choices for the Supreme Court, including some added to his short list last week, include people with ties to the ADF. They include Allison Jones Rushing, a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit who interned with the Alliance; Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), who was flown to Phoenix for the group’s Blackstone Legal Fellowship; and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who helped lead the effort to prepare a brief backing Jack Phillips’ decision not to sell a wedding cake to a gay couple.
Alliance president and CEO Michael Farris has expressed support for Trump’s potential Supreme Court nominees.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.


shareblue--2020-09-17--AG Barr is trying to help Trump and he's furious DOJ lawyers won't help him

Attorney General William Barr gave a speech Wednesday night at conservative Hillsdale College in which he admitted that he and senior Justice Department officials `` are indeed political '' and that the lower-level career attorneys who have been uncomfortable with him intervening in cases to benefit Trump are fit for `` a Montessori preschool '' but not for the DOJ .
`` The men and women who have ultimate authority in the Justice Department are thus the ones on whom our elected officials have conferred that responsibility — by presidential appointment and Senate confirmation .
That blessing by the two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ democratic legitimacy that career officials simply do not possess , '' he said .
He added , `` ...
In short , the attorney general , senior DOJ officials , and U.S. attorneys are indeed political .
But they are political in a good and necessary sense . ''
Barr also chastised FBI agents , some of whom Trump has targeted for their involvement in investigating both himself and his political allies .
`` These people are agents of the attorney general ... whose agents do you think you are ? ''
according @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Barr has been criticized repeatedly , both by scores of former intelligence and justice officials and his own prosecutors for stepping in to aid Trump in cases involving Trump 's allies .
As NPR notes , some of Barr 's employees have even testified to Congress about issues with political interference at the department .
Barr was especially critical of his prosecutors .
`` Name one successful organization where the lowest level employees ' decisions are deemed sacrosanct .
There aren ’ t any , '' he said .
`` Letting the most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a good philosophy for a Montessori preschool , but it 's no way to run a federal agency .
Good leaders at the Justice Department — as at any organization — need to trust and support their subordinates .
But that does not mean blindly deferring to whatever those subordinates want to do . ''
On Thursday , in a congressional hearing about possible threats to the United States , FBI Director Christopher Wray pushed back on Barr 's comments .
Barr 's speech came the same day the Wall Street Journal reported @ @ @ @ @ @ @ used sedition law to charge protesters involved in nationwide unrest over incidents of police brutality , and even contemplated charging the Seattle mayor for letting a police-free zone be set up in her city .
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan responded to that report , saying in a statement that Barr 's actions are `` chilling and the latest abuse of power from the Trump administration . ''
`` This is not a story about me , '' Durkan said .
`` It ’ s about the how this president and his attorney general @ @ @ @ @ @ @ use the DOJ for political purposes . ''
Barr has intervened a number times in DOJ matters on behalf of Trump , angering career prosecutors .
In April 2019 , Barr — who months earlier had questioned the legitimacy of special counsel Robert Mueller 's Russia investigation in a lengthy , unsolicited memo to the Justice Department — lied about Mueller 's findings in the nearly two-year-long probe , prior to Mueller 's final report being released to the public .
The move was seen as an early effort to get good headlines @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Russia were outlined in the report , and who the report claimed may have been involved in at least 10 possible instances of obstruction , discovered during the course of the investigation .
Barr also personally intervened in two high-profile prosecutions of Trump allies .
In February , he stepped in to try to lower the sentence for convicted Trump ally Roger Stone — causing career prosecutors on the case to resign in protest .
Barr also involved himself in DOJ matters to drop charges against former Trump aide Michael Flynn , even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the FBI in December 2017 .
That case is now tied up in the courts , as Justice officials work to get it thrown out .
Meanwhile , Barr is currently overseeing a politically motivated investigation into the origins Russia investigation to try to prove Trump 's false accusation that former President Barack Obama 's administration `` spied '' on his campaign .
One of the attorneys on the investigation resigned earlier this month over fears Barr is rushing it to be released before the election to try to hurt Trump 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation .

Attorney General William Barr gave a speech Wednesday night at conservative Hillsdale College in which he admitted that he and senior Justice Department officials “are indeed political” and that the lower-level career attorneys who have been uncomfortable with him intervening in cases to benefit Trump are fit for “a Montessori preschool” but not for the DOJ.
“The men and women who have ultimate authority in the Justice Department are thus the ones on whom our elected officials have conferred that responsibility — by presidential appointment and Senate confirmation. That blessing by the two political branches of government gives these officials democratic legitimacy that career officials simply do not possess,” he said.
He added, ” … In short, the attorney general, senior DOJ officials, and U.S. attorneys are indeed political. But they are political in a good and necessary sense.”
Barr also chastised FBI agents, some of whom Trump has targeted for their involvement in investigating both himself and his political allies. “These people are agents of the attorney general … whose agents do you think you are?” according to Washington Post reporter Matt Zapotosky.
Barr has been criticized repeatedly, both by scores of former intelligence and justice officials and his own prosecutors for stepping in to aid Trump in cases involving Trump’s allies. As NPR notes, some of Barr’s employees have even testified to Congress about issues with political interference at the department.
Barr was especially critical of his prosecutors.
“Name one successful organization where the lowest level employees’ decisions are deemed sacrosanct. There aren’t any,” he said. “Letting the most junior members set the agenda might be a good philosophy for a Montessori preschool, but it’s no way to run a federal agency. Good leaders at the Justice Department — as at any organization — need to trust and support their subordinates. But that does not mean blindly deferring to whatever those subordinates want to do.”
On Thursday, in a congressional hearing about possible threats to the United States, FBI Director Christopher Wray pushed back on Barr’s comments.
“We, the FBI, work for the American people,” Wray said , according to Politico’s Kyle Cheney.
Barr’s speech came the same day the Wall Street Journal reported that Barr wanted to employ a rarely used sedition law to charge protesters involved in nationwide unrest over incidents of police brutality, and even contemplated charging the Seattle mayor for letting a police-free zone be set up in her city.
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan responded to that report, saying in a statement that Barr’s actions are “chilling and the latest abuse of power from the Trump administration.”
“This is not a story about me,” Durkan said. “It’s about the how this president and his attorney general are willing to subvert the law and use the DOJ for political purposes.”
Barr has intervened a number times in DOJ matters on behalf of Trump, angering career prosecutors.
In April 2019, Barr — who months earlier had questioned the legitimacy of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation in a lengthy, unsolicited memo to the Justice Department — lied about Mueller’s findings in the nearly two-year-long probe, prior to Mueller’s final report being released to the public. The move was seen as an early effort to get good headlines for Trump, whose campaign ties to Russia were outlined in the report, and who the report claimed may have been involved in at least 10 possible instances of obstruction, discovered during the course of the investigation.
Barr also personally intervened in two high-profile prosecutions of Trump allies.
In February, he stepped in to try to lower the sentence for convicted Trump ally Roger Stone — causing career prosecutors on the case to resign in protest.
Barr also involved himself in DOJ matters to drop charges against former Trump aide Michael Flynn, even though Flynn had pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in December 2017. That case is now tied up in the courts, as Justice officials work to get it thrown out.
Meanwhile, Barr is currently overseeing a politically motivated investigation into the origins Russia investigation to try to prove Trump’s false accusation that former President Barack Obama’s administration “spied” on his campaign.
One of the attorneys on the investigation resigned earlier this month over fears Barr is rushing it to be released before the election to try to hurt Trump’s rival, former Vice President Joe Biden.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.


shareblue--2020-09-17--Barr slammed over 'ridiculous, tone-deaf, God-awful' slavery comments

Attorney General William Barr drew sharp condemnation Thursday for comparing lockdown orders during the coronavirus pandemic to slavery .
In @ @ @ @ @ College in Michigan , Barr had called the lockdown orders the `` greatest intrusion on @ @ @ @ @ '' since slavery .
Rep. James Clyburn ( D-SC ) , the No .
3 @ @ @ @ @ CNN that Barr 's remarks were `` the most ridiculous , tone-deaf , God-awful things @ @ @ @ @ because they wrongly equated human bondage with a measure aimed at saving lives .
`` @ @ @ @ @ lives .
It was about devaluing lives , '' Clyburn said .
`` This pandemic @ @ @ @ @ life . ''
This is not the first occasion that Barr has condemned stay-at-home orders @ @ @ @ @ that some orders were `` disturbingly close to house arrest , '' and the Justice @ @ @ @ @ states warning that some of their virus-related restrictions might be unlawful .
Prosecutors also filed @ @ @ @ @ civil cases challenging some of the restrictions .

Attorney General William Barr drew sharp condemnation Thursday for comparing lockdown orders during the coronavirus pandemic to slavery.
In remarks Wednesday night at Hillsdale College in Michigan, Barr had called the lockdown orders the “greatest intrusion on civil liberties in American history” since slavery.
Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), the No. 3 House Democratic leader, told CNN that Barr’s remarks were “the most ridiculous, tone-deaf, God-awful things I’ve ever heard” because they wrongly equated human bondage with a measure aimed at saving lives.
“Slavery was not about saving lives. It was about devaluing lives,” Clyburn said. “This pandemic is a threat to human life.”
This is not the first occasion that Barr has condemned stay-at-home orders.
He has previously said that some orders were ” disturbingly close to house arrest,” and the Justice Department sent letters to several states warning that some of their virus-related restrictions might be unlawful. Prosecutors also filed statements of interest in several civil cases challenging some of the restrictions.


shareblue--2020-09-17--Almost every single House Republican voted against bill to condemn racism

Nearly every single House Republican on Thursday voted against a resolution to condemn the anti-Asian sentiment that 's spread across the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic .
The resolution still passed , with 229 Democrats and just 14 House Republicans voting for it , according to CSPAN 's Craig Caplan .
However , 164 House Republicans voted against the resolution , which introduced by Asian American Rep. Grace Meng ( D-NY ) .
Anti-Asian hate crimes have skyrocketed during the coronavirus , with racist people directing their anger about the pandemic at people of Asian descent .
More than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reported between March and June , according to a report from CBS News .
Meng tweeted Thursday morning before the vote that passing her bill would send `` unified message that such bigotry , hatred & xenophobia will not be tolerated . ''
The resolution `` calls on all public officials to condemn and denounce anti-Asian sentiment , racism , discrimination , and religious intolerance related to COVID-19 ( i.e.
, coronavirus disease 2019 ) , and to call on federal law enforcement officials , working with state and local officials , to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a summary of the bill .
Yet almost every Republican still voted against the resolution .
Donald Trump and Republicans have helped stoke that violence by using racist terms for the virus — l ike `` Kung Flu , '' `` China virus , '' and `` Wuhan virus '' — ignoring warnings from the World Health Organization against using geographic locations to name viruses due to the unfair stigma it places on people of certain races and ethnicities .
Trump has even defended his use of racist terms for the virus , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : `` I do too have great Asian support .
And they understand exactly what it is that we 're doing and saying .
And they understand how China has hurt our country , you know , very much . ''
Rep. Judy Chu ( D-CA ) , the first Chinese American woman ever elected to Congress , condemned her GOP colleagues for voting against the resolution .
`` Not only have Republicans refused to drop their racist language , they have refused to acknowledge the problem at all , '' Chu said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so dismayed to see my Republican colleagues , one after the other , come to the floor today and tell the Asian American community that their suffering does not matter , and that they are indifferent to the consequences of the hate they are spreading . ''
Chu said Republicans voted against the resolution because they did n't want to upset Trump .
`` It is more important to Republicans that they spare Donald Trump any responsibility for the spread of the coronavirus than it is that they spare even one family from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hate crime , '' Chu said .
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation .

Nearly every single House Republican on Thursday voted against a resolution to condemn the anti-Asian sentiment that’s spread across the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The resolution still passed, with 229 Democrats and just 14 House Republicans voting for it, according to CSPAN’s Craig Caplan.
However, 164 House Republicans voted against the resolution, which introduced by Asian American Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY).
Anti-Asian hate crimes have skyrocketed during the coronavirus, with racist people directing their anger about the pandemic at people of Asian descent. More than 2,100 hate incidents against Asian Americans were reported between March and June, according to a report from CBS News.
Meng tweeted Thursday morning before the vote that passing her bill would send “unified message that such bigotry, hatred & xenophobia will not be tolerated.”
The resolution “calls on all public officials to condemn and denounce anti-Asian sentiment, racism, discrimination, and religious intolerance related to COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019), and to call on federal law enforcement officials, working with state and local officials, to take specified steps,” according to a summary of the bill.
Yet almost every Republican still voted against the resolution.
Donald Trump and Republicans have helped stoke that violence by using racist terms for the virus — l ike “Kung Flu,” “China virus,” and “Wuhan virus” — ignoring warnings from the World Health Organization against using geographic locations to name viruses due to the unfair stigma it places on people of certain races and ethnicities.
Trump has even defended his use of racist terms for the virus, telling radio host Giraldo Rivera in August: “I do too have great Asian support. And they understand exactly what it is that we’re doing and saying. And they understand how China has hurt our country, you know, very much.”
Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA), the first Chinese American woman ever elected to Congress, condemned her GOP colleagues for voting against the resolution.
“Not only have Republicans refused to drop their racist language, they have refused to acknowledge the problem at all,” Chu said in a statement. “I was so dismayed to see my Republican colleagues, one after the other, come to the floor today and tell the Asian American community that their suffering does not matter, and that they are indifferent to the consequences of the hate they are spreading.”
Chu said Republicans voted against the resolution because they didn’t want to upset Trump.
“It is more important to Republicans that they spare Donald Trump any responsibility for the spread of the coronavirus than it is that they spare even one family from the pain of being victims of a hate crime,” Chu said.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.


shareblue--2020-09-17--FBI director: Russia's making 'very active efforts' to 'denigrate' Biden

FBI Director Christopher Wray testified in Congress on Thursday that his agency and other U.S. intelligence officials are observing `` very active efforts by the Russians to influence our elections '' in an effort to `` denigrate Vice President Biden . ''
The intelligence community previously determined that Russia had made such efforts during the 2016 presidential election as part of a campaign to assist Donald Trump .
Trump has consistently downplayed and disputed those findings .
On Tuesday , Trump told reporters that he believes `` the massive mail-in ballot '' is `` much more dangerous '' than Russian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by mail because of the COVID-19 pandemic that has killed nearly 200,000 Americans on Trump 's watch .
From a Sept. 17 hearing of the House Committee on Homeland Security : REP. BENNIE THOMPSON ( D-MS ) : Can you tell me if , as of this date , you have information that Russia is trying to influence the election for 2020 ?
CHRISTOPHER WRAY : Yes , I think the intelligence community 's consensus is that Russia continues to try to influence our election , primarily through what we would call malign @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we saw in 2016 where there was also an effort to target election infrastructure , you know , cybertargeting ?
We have not seen that second part , yet , this year or this cycle .
But we certainly have seen very active , very active efforts by the Russians to influence our election in 2020 through what I would call more the malign foreign influence side of things : social media , use of proxies , state media , online journals , etc.
, an effort to both sow divisiveness and discord @ @ @ @ @ @ @ community has assessed this publicly , to primarily , to denigrate Vice President Biden and what the Russians see as kind of an anti-Russian establishment , that 's essentially what we 're seeing in 2020 .
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation .

FBI Director Christopher Wray testified in Congress on Thursday that his agency and other U.S. intelligence officials are observing “very active efforts by the Russians to influence our elections” in an effort to “denigrate Vice President Biden.”
The intelligence community previously determined that Russia had made such efforts during the 2016 presidential election as part of a campaign to assist Donald Trump. Trump has consistently downplayed and disputed those findings.
On Tuesday, Trump told reporters that he believes “the massive mail-in ballot” is “much more dangerous” than Russian election interference. Millions plan to vote by mail because of the COVID-19 pandemic that has killed nearly 200,000 Americans on Trump’s watch.
From a Sept. 17 hearing of the House Committee on Homeland Security:
REP. BENNIE THOMPSON (D-MS): Can you tell me if, as of this date, you have information that Russia is trying to influence the election for 2020? CHRISTOPHER WRAY: Yes, I think the intelligence community’s consensus is that Russia continues to try to influence our election, primarily through what we would call malign foreign influence, as opposed to what we saw in 2016 where there was also an effort to target election infrastructure, you know, cybertargeting? We have not seen that second part, yet, this year or this cycle. But we certainly have seen very active, very active efforts by the Russians to influence our election in 2020 through what I would call more the malign foreign influence side of things: social media, use of proxies, state media, online journals, etc., an effort to both sow divisiveness and discord and, and I think the intelligence community has assessed this publicly, to primarily, to denigrate Vice President Biden and what the Russians see as kind of an anti-Russian establishment, that’s essentially what we’re seeing in 2020.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.


shareblue--2020-09-17--Trump is running the ugliest of smear campaigns against Kamala Harris

Kamala Harris , the first Black woman in history to be nominated as a major party 's vice presidential candidate , has been the near-constant target of racist and misogynist slurs by Trump and his supporters .
American law professor John Eastman — who unsuccessfully ran in the primaries for California Attorney General in a race Harris ultimately won — was among the first to jump the bandwagon after Harris 's nomination on Aug. 11 , penning a Newsweek op-ed questioning Harris 's eligibility for the office of the vice presidency .
Eastman argued that although Harris was born in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ meet the `` natural-born citizen '' constitutional requirement for office since neither of her parents was a lawful permanent resident at the time of her birth .
This argument has been repeatedly debunked by constitutional law scholars .
Many have compared the argument to the Obama `` birtherism '' conspiracy theories , with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Ortez ( D-NY ) tweeting in August , `` Calling into question the citizenship of elected officials of color ... is one way ( white supremacy ) manifests . ''
Just days after Harris ' nomination , when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was eligible for office , he stoked the flames of racism , saying : `` I heard it today that she does n't meet the requirements .
I have no idea if that 's right .
I would have thought , I would have assumed that the Democrats would have checked that out before she gets chosen to run for vice president . ''
Trump was also swift to invoke `` angry Black woman '' stereotypes as he leveled attacks , calling Harris a `` nasty '' woman — a slur he previously @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 2016 — and claiming Harris was `` angry '' and full of `` such hatred . ''
Despite frequent corrections , Trump , Mike Pence , and Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel have also repeatedly mispronounced Harris 's Hindi first name .
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani , now serving as a personal attorney to Trump , even called her `` Pamela '' in a Fox News appearance .
And when Fox News host Tucker Carlson was called out by a guest for mispronouncing Kamala , he said `` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mispronounce it .
`` It 's an effort to diminish her , '' National Women 's Law Center Action Fund President Fatima Goss Graves told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette .
`` It 's designed to signal difference . ''
And criticism has not been confined to Harris ' race .
Misogynist mockery has also dominated the Republican political landscape since her nomination .
A line of `` Joe and the Hoe '' merchandise by third-party seller the Oxygen Bandit was removed from Amazon ( 8/20 ) after customer backlash .
Bill Baptist , an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ banned from working for the NBA after posting a `` Joe and the Hoe '' meme .
( 8/14 ) Conservative pundit Rush Limbaugh went on the air ( 8/17 ) to defend the NBA photographer , quoting an American Spectator article about Harris 's relationship approximately 25 years ago with Willie Brown , former mayor of San Francisco .
Quoting the article , Limbaugh called Harris a `` public escort and mattress '' for Brown .
He also criticized Harris for `` brazenly sleeping her way to the top , '' mocking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' Small-town Republican politicians have n't been able to resist jabs , either .
In early August , as Black candidates Harris and Stacey Abrams were being considered as nominees , Barry Presgraves , the mayor of Luray , Virginia , posted on his Facebook page that `` Joe Biden just announced Aunt Jemima as his VP pick . ''
Presgraves was met with widespread calls to resign .
The statement was later removed .
John Massoud , an elected town council member in Strasburg , Virginia , was also roundly criticized by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on his official Facebook account captioned with a crude remark about Harris 's relationship with Brown .
But it was perhaps Eric Trump , the White House occupant 's son , who set the standard for GOP misogyny when he liked an Aug. 12 tweet , now deleted , by a user called Lori Hendry .
`` Raise your hand if you think Harris was a whorendous pick , '' the tweet read .
`` May have misspelled . ''
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation .

Kamala Harris, the first Black woman in history to be nominated as a major party’s vice presidential candidate, has been the near-constant target of racist and misogynist slurs by Trump and his supporters.
American law professor John Eastman — who unsuccessfully ran in the primaries for California Attorney General in a race Harris ultimately won — was among the first to jump the bandwagon after Harris’s nomination on Aug. 11, penning a Newsweek op-ed questioning Harris’s eligibility for the office of the vice presidency.
Eastman argued that although Harris was born in Oakland, California, she did not meet the “natural-born citizen” constitutional requirement for office since neither of her parents was a lawful permanent resident at the time of her birth. This argument has been repeatedly debunked by constitutional law scholars.
Many have compared the argument to the Obama “birtherism” conspiracy theories, with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Ortez (D-NY) tweeting in August, “Calling into question the citizenship of elected officials of color … is one way (white supremacy) manifests.”
Just days after Harris’ nomination, when Trump was asked if he believed Harris was eligible for office, he stoked the flames of racism, saying: “I heard it today that she doesn’t meet the requirements. I have no idea if that’s right. I would have thought, I would have assumed that the Democrats would have checked that out before she gets chosen to run for vice president.”
Trump was also swift to invoke “angry Black woman” stereotypes as he leveled attacks, calling Harris a “nasty” woman — a slur he previously launched at his former opponent Hillary Clinton in 2016 — and claiming Harris was “angry” and full of “such hatred.”
Despite frequent corrections, Trump, Mike Pence, and Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel have also repeatedly mispronounced Harris’s Hindi first name.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, now serving as a personal attorney to Trump, even called her “Pamela” in a Fox News appearance.
And when Fox News host Tucker Carlson was called out by a guest for mispronouncing Kamala, he said “so what?” before continuing to mispronounce it.
“It’s an effort to diminish her,” National Women’s Law Center Action Fund President Fatima Goss Graves told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “It’s designed to signal difference.”
And criticism has not been confined to Harris’ race. Misogynist mockery has also dominated the Republican political landscape since her nomination.
A line of “Joe and the Hoe” merchandise by third-party seller the Oxygen Bandit was removed from Amazon (8/20) after customer backlash. Bill Baptist, an NBA photographer and independent contractor, was banned from working for the NBA after posting a “Joe and the Hoe” meme. (8/14)
Conservative pundit Rush Limbaugh went on the air (8/17) to defend the NBA photographer, quoting an American Spectator article about Harris’s relationship approximately 25 years ago with Willie Brown, former mayor of San Francisco.
Quoting the article, Limbaugh called Harris a “public escort and mattress” for Brown. He also criticized Harris for “brazenly sleeping her way to the top,” mocking the size of her “backside.”
Small-town Republican politicians haven’t been able to resist jabs, either.
In early August, as Black candidates Harris and Stacey Abrams were being considered as nominees, Barry Presgraves, the mayor of Luray, Virginia, posted on his Facebook page that “Joe Biden just announced Aunt Jemima as his VP pick.” Presgraves was met with widespread calls to resign. The statement was later removed.
John Massoud, an elected town council member in Strasburg, Virginia, was also roundly criticized by local Democrats for posting a sexist meme on his official Facebook account captioned with a crude remark about Harris’s relationship with Brown.
But it was perhaps Eric Trump, the White House occupant’s son, who set the standard for GOP misogyny when he liked an Aug. 12 tweet, now deleted, by a user called Lori Hendry.
“Raise your hand if you think Harris was a whorendous pick,” the tweet read. “May have misspelled.”
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.