Good morning everyone! Hope you had a good weekend. If you didn’t, better luck next time?
Trump now admits that the U.S. death toll could reach 100,000: and that hasn’t seemed to stop him from pressing states to reopen. Last month, the president predicted 60,000 lives would be lost.
MSNBC’s Chris Hayes covered the Tara Reade story: and Joe Biden faced questioning from the same network’s Mika Brzezinski. The fallout? “#FireChrisHayes” ended up trending on Twitter.
Small business loans are ending up in the hands of major Trump donors: among other issues that the Paycheck Protection Program is riddled with.
Hey all you cool cats and kittens: the world is only kinda burning. Chill out and read some news!
TRUMPOCALYPSE
Trump Now Says U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll Could Reach Six Figures
President Trump is now saying that the death toll brought about by coronavirus ravaging the nation may end up reaching as high as 100,000. That’s a grim reality that needs to be addressed; however, it’s important to remember what Trump’s language has looked like up until this point.
Setting the Record Straight
Let’s look at what’s been the story up ‘til this chapter.
Last month, Trump said the death toll would level out around 60,000. Currently, there have been over 65,000 coronavirus deaths.
At the end of February, Trump told reporters, “We have it very much under control in this country” when asked about coronavirus. He also said “this is their new hoax” at a rally. He also said there would be zero cases by the start of March.
In late March, Trump acknowledged that if the virus were left unchecked, the death toll could be as many as 2.2 Americans. He also said if we keep it between 100 to 200,00, “we altogether have done a very good job.”
That’s a Whole Lotta Different Numbers
You know, it may be easy to chalk the constant revisions up to complete stupidity, but the Trump strategy of throwing whatever at the wall and seeing what sticks could end up be effecting in washing his image after all of this.
Trump’s always going to avoid blame; at the same townhall where he threw the 100,000 number out, he also said that when he was first briefed on coronavirus that “it was not a big deal.”
The worst-case scenarios all put the death tolls in the millions, so provided it doesn’t actually get that high, he can run damage control by saying he mitigated losses by a huge margin.
Bottom line: throwing out body counts to cover your trail is vile and disgusting. We shouldn’t ever forget just how badly this administration screwed this all up.
READE REPORT
Chris Hayes Reports on Reade Allegations; Biden is Interviewed and Denies All Allegations
MSNBC: a mostly awful network that was wrapped up in much of the Tara Reade / Joe Biden developments of last week. Let’s take a look at the two major instances that took place on TV over the weekend.
Chris Hayes Covered the Story—and People Aren’t Happy
Chris Hayes sparked the ire of plenty of those who are ridin’ with Biden by covering Tara Reade’s sexual assault allegations against the former Vice President.
As a result of the coverage, #FireChrisHayes ended up trending on Twitter.
Some believe Biden over Reade. Others don’t care whether Biden did anything wrong or not and just want Trump out. Some people attacked Reade’s character or motivations.
Somehow, this ended up being more controversial than it should be: the details Hayes cited were already reported by The New York Times (which, ironically, some Biden fans have said “debunks” Reade’s accusations. The New York Times says it does not.)
Joe Biden Was Interviewed. Reactions? Mixed.
On Friday, MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” co-host, Mika Brzezinski, interviewed Joe Biden regarding Tara Reade’s allegations.
Biden denied everything that Reade has accused him of.
Something to note: Biden was pushed on whether or not he’d allow for a search of Reade’s name in his senatorial documents, which some have said may contain information about the incident. Biden insists that those files wouldn’t contain any personnel information and will not release the documents.
Brzezinski also drew lines of comparison to Brett Kavanaugh.
Bottom line: it’s not too late, is it? We could just pick someone else, right? All jokes aside: it’s good that this is getting some mainstream coverage but it’s bad that it’s being met with so much vitriol. Reade is facing a lot of harassment right now; the kind of harassment meant to make an accuser scared to say more and to signal to everyone else that coming out with these kinds of accusations makes your life difficult. Regardless of what you think about Reade’s story, she’s deserving of respect.
CORONAVIRUS
Coronavirus Relief Loans Are Ending Up in the Pockets of Major Trump Donors
The Paycheck Protection Program. Rolled out because of the CARES Act, the program is intended to award loans that convert into grants provided certain conditions are met to small businesses. Now, major Trump donors are having their PPP loan applications quickly approved according to Securities and Exchange Commission records.
PPP Loans
The process for acquiring one of these loans is mired with controversy: the conditions are unclear, minority-owned businesses are getting fewer loans by what may be a huge margin, huge corporations are somehow qualifying via loopholes, preference has been given to wealthy customers or businesses in Republican-leaning states.
Another discrepancy in how the loans are being awarded? The Intercept reports that many Trump megadonors are getting their loans approved easily.
Bottom line: incredibly scummy but showing preference based on political ties is all part of the modus operandi of Trump’s handling of coronavirus.
END OF THE LINE...
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The Bread Line
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