Good Wednesday morning.
Here is what’s on the president’s agenda today:
- The president signs a Proclamation in honor of National Nurses Day
- President Trump has lunch with the Vice President
- The president meets with the Governor of Iowa
- President Trump receives his intelligence briefing
- 4:00PM Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany holds a briefing
Trump winding down Chinese virus task force
President Trump is shifting the administration’s focus from handling the spread of the Chinese virus toward the re-opening the economy and developing vaccines. Politico wants you to know this is a “plot” rather than a plan or some value neutral term so the reader gets a sinister feeling about what Trump is doing. He is plotting, you see, not planning or moving towards. Here’s the title of their story: White House plots breakup of coronavirus task force. The political tabloid is jazzed up because” The president is turning his attention toward restarting the economy, despite ongoing concerns about a continued rise in coronavirus cases.”
The move makes sense to me as states have the tools to handle the virus on the ground and mitigation won’t stop because the task force is not officially working. We know more about this virus than we did two months ago so the government should focus on how we can operate without risking the lives of vulnerable populations. Oh, did I mention that the U.S. recorded it’s lowest one-day death tally in a month. “Novel coronavirus deaths in the United States rose by 1,015 in the past 24 hours, a tally by Johns Hopkins University showed Monday — the lowest one-day figure in a month.” But hey, don’t let a good crisis go to waste. (It’s impossible to find this news story in Google by the way.)
Fact found buried on BBC website: "The US records 1,015 virus deaths in 24 hours – the lowest one-day tally in a month." https://t.co/o2nIJMssGb
— Paul James (@paulinkjet) May 5, 2020
Efforts to mitigate the virus will be handled by FEMA. “We can’t keep our country closed for the next five years… We’ve learned a lot about the coronavirus,” Trump told reporters.
“That form is safety and opening,” Trump told reporters during a trip to Arizona. “We will have a different group probably set up.”
“We’re having a conversation about that and about what the proper time is for the task force to complete its work,” Vice President Mike Pence told reporters at a briefing Tuesday. “We’ve already begun to talk about a transition plan with FEMA.”
A White House official told Fox News the White House has been shifting focus toward re-opening the country, as outlined in Phase 1 of the administration’s “Opening Up America Again” guidelines. The official said it would be an ongoing shift over the next several weeks.
The official told Fox News that doctors will continue to play an “important advisory role” in the process, as the administration has aimed to “make sure medical guidelines are kept up to date” and Americans are able to safely return to work. The official stressed that doctors were not being removed from the equation and called any reports reflecting that “false.”
Let’s go!
Related:
Trump says Fauci, Birx will still be involved in COVID-19 efforts
“Whistleblower” Rick Bright files official complaint
The vaccine expert who was re-assigned from his job at HHS Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority has filed an official whistleblower complaint “alleging longstanding political influence at the Department of Health and Human Services.” Dr. Rick Bright claimed he was fired for not being properly enthusiastic about hydroxychlorquine but emails surfaced quickly after he started agitating that showed he had “praised the acquisition of those drugs as a win for the health department in an email exchange, causing confusion about his stance on the drug that he says caused his ouster.” Bright has hired Christine Blasey Ford’s lawyers. I think we know what’s going on here.
Bright also claims that “he warned about the virus in January and was met with hostility from Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar and other high-ranking officials in the agency. ” What does he mean by “warning”? Did he say, “this could be bad if it gets to the U.S.” because that isn’t really actionable, what were people supposed to do with that “warning”? Anyone watching the scenes from China could figure out the virus would be bad if it gets to the U.S. We will find out what he has to say when Bright testifies before the House Trump Persecution Committee. Is this sounding familiar yet?
Somewhat related, the executive branch is refusing to furnish Dr. Anthony Fauci to any House committee for a court jester show but will allow him to testify before the Senate. Smart.
“The House is a setup. The House is a bunch of Trump haters. They put every Trump hater on the committee. The same old stuff,” the president told reporters, adding that Fauci “will be testifying in front of the Senate, and he looks forward to doing that.” Trump also said, the Democrats “want our situation to be unsuccessful, which means death,” and “want us to fail so they can win an election which they’re not going to win.” He’s not wrong.
Chinese Virus model hero busted for violating stay home order
Let them eat cake! Neil Ferguson, the British epidemiologist who predicted two million Americans would die from the Chinese virus, has resigned his position advising the U.K. after he was caught violating social distancing orders by having sex with a married woman.
Ferguson had 38-year-old married woman Antonia Staats travel across the country on multiple occasions, according a report published Tuesday by The Telegraph. Ferguson, who lead the team Imperial College that produced the model that “led to the lockdown,” apologized for his “error of judgement” in a statement to The Telegraph.
“I deeply regret any undermining of the clear messages around the continued need for social distancing to control this devastating epidemic,” Ferguson told the Telegraph.
EXCLUSIVE
Professor Neil Ferguson resigns from government advisory group SAGE after Telegraph reveals he broke lockdown rules to meet his married loverhttps://t.co/qIaHFvnvdh
— Anna Mikhailova (@AVMikhailova) May 5, 2020
Other wacky predictions by Ferguson include expecting 40,000 deaths in Sweden (there are 3,000.) Ferguson’s booty call is described as a left-wing activist mom in an open marriage.
Coronavirus news:
Britain undergoing ‘mindset change’ toward Beijing, says leading lawmaker
Trump volunteers kept ‘VIP’ list of leads for medical supplies: report
GOP lawmaker calls for probe into VA referrals during pandemic
Students file lawsuits against at least 26 colleges demanding refunds
If he knows he doesn’t have the virus, why should he wear a mask? Trump tours new face-mask factory in Arizona but does not wear one
U.S. Treasury to distribute $4.8 billion in pandemic funds to tribal governments
‘Feeding My Kids Is Not Selfish’: Salon Owner Chooses Jail Over Complying With Stay-At-Home Order
New Jersey expands probe into long-term care as Murphy pledges reforms
Oh dear. Anthony Fauci was inspiration behind sultry scientist in steamy 1991 novel
Nevada’s Culinary Union details reopening demands: Workers are not ‘rats in a lab’
Shut it down. Shanghai Disneyland to reopen after shutting down for coronavirus
Sad. Disney’s profit plunged 91% last quarter as its parks closed their doors
Horrible. Dallas salon owner who reopened despite coronavirus restrictions gets 7 days in jail
Oregon sheriff says county will reopen amid coronavirus, won’t punish nonessential businesses
California ICE detainees to remain held after 9th Circuit halts coronavirus release order
What is Kawasaki disease? The rare child syndrome might have link to Covid-19
He probably was was researching Hydroxychloroquine. Professor researching Covid-19 was killed in an apparent murder-suicide, officials say
New York Reports Over 1,700 Previously Undisclosed Deaths at Nursing Homes
Other morsels:
Little Sisters of the Poor Return to U.S. Supreme Court to Defend Religious Freedom
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg hospitalized for gallbladder condition
Judge rules New York Democratic presidential primary will take place as planned
April Gun Sales Surge Amid Shutdowns
Former NYT Reporter Opposes Investigation of Biden Assault Claim: ‘I Want a Coronation’
Sanders not urging Biden to pick Warren as running mate: report
Intel chief pick tells Senate panel he sees China as ‘greatest threat actor’
Facebook takes action against QAnon conspiracy theory
Obama’s office bashed Senate Biden-Ukraine probe, linked it to ‘Russian disinformation campaign,’ letter shows
California sues Uber, Lyft over alleged labor law violations
And that’s all I’ve got, now go beat back the angry mob!