Why public approval of Trump's coronavirus response may not save him in November

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/07/politics/2020-election-trump-approval-covid-pandemic/index.html

As America faces a potentially unprecedented domestic death toll, the political situation facing Trump may echo those confronting other presidents during wartime. In classic research on the Korean and Vietnam wars, several political scientists found that public support for those wars, and the presidents pursuing them, declined as casualties increased. In the 2009 book "Paying the Human Costs of War," Feaver and two colleagues qualified that research to argue that in fact, the public is much more tolerant of casualties when it believes that launching the war was the right decision and that the US is headed toward success, than if it concludes the war effort is doomed to fail.

That means the casualty level alone typically doesn't decide a president's fate in war-time, Feaver maintains. Instead, presidents face not only a "prospective" judgment about whether they will win the war but a "retrospective" verdict on whether launching the war was the right choice at all. The equivalent in November, he says, might be a division between a "prospective" judgment that the nation is heading out of the coronavirus ordeal and a "retrospective" judgment that Trump compounded the problem by initially reacting too slowly and downplaying the problem.

 

Navarro's laughable claim that he knows better than Fauci

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/06/opinions/peter-navarro-anthony-fauci-hydroxychloroquine-expertise-hemmer/index.html

(CNN)Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), has yet to embrace hydroxychloroquine, the drug the President touts, without evidence, as a miracle treatment for Covid-19.

 

But someone in the administration has stepped up to promote the drug: Peter Navarro.

 

Navarro may seem like an odd person to be stepping into this role. Unlike Fauci, an infectious disease specialist who has directed NIAID under six presidents, Navarro is an economist. His principal role in the White House is to oversee trade policy.

But Navarro is ready to put his credentials up against Fauci's any day. As he told CNN on Monday: "My qualifications in terms of looking at the science is that I'm a social scientist. I have a PhD. And I understand how to read statistical studies, whether it's in medicine, the law, economics or whatever."

While that's more expertise than President Trump claims -- "I'm not a doctor, but I have common sense," Trump said while promoting the drug on Sunday -- it's a specious claim to expertise, one that fits in well with the administration's long-running war against experts.

'Bad testing policy, lack of leadership, danger of irreparable damage'

https://www.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/In-critical-report-Knesset-coronavirus-cmte-gives-govt-exit-strategy-623908

The Knesset coronavirus task force's report offered the government recommendations, such as making changes to the country’s testing policies and establishing a national crisis-management body.

Trump taunts media as mutual disgust reaches new depths

https://www.foxnews.com/media/trump-taunts-media-as-mutual-disgust-reaches-new-depths

A number of people on my Twitter feed agree with Trump and Trotter that reporters are peppering the president with “gotcha” questions. These are usually along the lines of “you said X and now you’re doing Y.” But every politician faces gotcha questions--some fair, some unfair--and finessing them is part of the job. I don’t recall Trump supporters demanding that reporters be positive when Barack Obama or Bill Clinton was grappling with difficulties.

 

In such a polarized country, somewhere around half the public is going to cheer Trump’s evisceration of the press, and somewhere around half is going to applaud the journalistic denunciations of the president. But right now people are dying. We’re facing what Trump’s surgeon general called a Pearl Harbor moment. And yet the two sides keep carpet-bombing each other.

Cabinet approves nationwide lockdown at 7 p.m., curfew from Wednesday afternoon

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-april-7-2020/

According to new regulations approved by the cabinet, Jerusalem residents will be confined throughout the lockdown within their respective regions sketched out by government officials, dividing the city — which has the largest number of virus cases in the country — into seven portions.

Rich humans, some born in Israel, created coronavirus, Argentinian TV host says

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/278405

An Argentinean journalist apologized after saying that the coronavirus was created by rich Americans and Israelis during a prime-time news program.

Tomás Méndez, host of the popular ADN Tv, said on Wednesday that “bats are not responsible for the coronavirus, humans are.”

Those humans, he said, are “the richest of the world, some born in the United States, others in Israel and another in Europe,” who “are the owners of your life, who created this virus.” He singled out the Rothschild family, who often appear in anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, and Bill Gates.

His comments triggered harsh criticism

 

US rabbis: Stay home for Passover, don't visit family even in your city

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/278408

Revising previous guidance, Orthodox groups say no shared Passover seders should take place.

 

Inside DOJ's nationwide effort to take on China

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/07/justice-department-china-espionage-169653

The department’s targets range from Chinese military officers to American college professors — evidence, its leadership says, that the Chinese government is targeting every sector of American public life. The Chinese government has denied allegations of state-sponsored theft, according to media reports, and its embassy in Washington did not respond to POLITICO’s requests for comment on this story. 

Last month in West Virginia, for instance, a former West Virginia University professor pleaded guilty to fraud. According to the charging document, he asked the university to give him time off so he could care for his newborn. But instead, he secretly used the time to work in China as part of its Thousand Talents Plan, an effort by the Beijing government to recruit and draw talented researchers to China that U.S. officials say is thinly disguised economic espionage.

 

Data shows nearly 1/3rd of all virus cases centered in Jerusalem and Bnei Brak

https://www.timesofisrael.com/data-shows-nearly-1-3rd-of-all-virus-cases-centered-in-jerusalem-and-bnei-brak/

Defense Ministry-led research shows three-quarters of capital’s carriers live in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods, recommends hardest-hit areas be isolated from other portions of city

Millions of eggs land in Israel to ease pre-Passover scramble

https://www.timesofisrael.com/millions-of-eggs-land-in-israel-to-ease-pre-passover-scramble/

Fragile cargo strapped into passenger seats on El Al planes in bid to relieve national shortage that has left supermarket shelves bare ahead of coming festival

The Problem with Telling Children They’re Better Than Others

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-problem-with-telling-children-theyre-better-than-others/

When parents ask, “What grade did you get?” there is a common follow-up question: “So who got the highest grade?” The practice of making such social comparisons is popular in all corners of the world, research shows. Many educators select and publicly announce the “best student” in a class or school. Adults praise children for outperforming others. Sports tournaments award those who surpass others. Last year the Scripps National Spelling Bee awarded winners with $50,000 cash prize and their own trophy—just for being better than others. Most social comparisons are so common in daily life that they are usually glossed over.

 

Rivka and Yitzchok: Torah Shleima Bereishis 24:64

can anyone explain the comments at #237

A Federal Report Found Coronavirus Test Shortages at U.S. Hospitals. Trump Attacked the Author

 https://time.com/5816134/covid-us-hospitals-patients/

President Donald Trump on Monday disputed the veracity of a federal survey that found hospitals faced severe shortages of coronavirus test supplies, questioning whether its conclusions were skewed by politics.

With coronavirus cases rocketing toward their expected peak, the nonpartisan Health and Human Services inspector general’s office reported Monday morning that a shortage of tests and long waits for results were at the root of mounting problems faced by hospitals.

“Hospitals reported that severe shortages of testing supplies and extended waits for test results limited (their) ability to monitor the health of patients and staff,” the report said.

Three out of 4 U.S. hospitals told the inspector general’s office they are already treating patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19, and they expect to be overwhelmed. The report did not criticize Trump administration actions.

Asked by a reporter about the survey’s finding on testing, Trump responded, “It is wrong.”

Hydroxychloroquine Questions Intensify as Journal Says Its Drug Study 'Did Not Meet Expected Standards'

https://www.newsweek.com/hydroxychloroquine-questions-intensify-journal-says-its-drug-study-did-not-meet-expected-1496459

In Monday's press briefing, President Trump would not allow his medical expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, to answer a question about the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, which has gotten a lot of attention recently as a possible treatment for COVID-19.

This particular question, posed by a CNN reporter, turns out to be especially pertinent: "What is the medical evidence?"

Three days before, on April 3, the publisher of the scientific paper that first brought the drug to the attention of public health experts--and President Trump—cast doubt on the reliability of the original research.

"The article does not meet the [publisher's] expected standard," said the International Journal of Anti-Microbial Agents in a statement. The journal, which published "Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as a treatment of Covid-19: results of an open-label non-randomized clinical trial" on March 20 after an accelerated peer review, stopped short of retracting the article.

Jerusalem municipality to collect chametz for burning ahead of Passover

https://www.jerusalem.muni.il/he/residents/environment/sanitation/containers-for-pickling-chametz/

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/jerusalem-municipality-to-collect-chametz-for-burning-ahead-of-passover/ 

The Jerusalem municipality says it will be collecting chametz, or leaven products, to burn ahead of Passover.

Special trash bins will be distributed in each neighborhood and collected by Wednesday at 9 a.m.

The city will oversee the burning, it says.

Sell your Chametz online

https://www.gov.il/en/service/chametz_sale

Use this service to sell your Chametz online n Israel or abroad through the Chief Rabbinate of Israel.

 https://www.chabad.org/holidays/passover/sell_chometz_cdo/jewish/Sell-Your-Chametz-Online.htm

 Chabad.org facilitates this service here at no charge. Note: Halachic authorities have ruled that online authorizations are acceptable for this sale (though transacting the authorization personally with one's rabbi is normally preferable).

How a Ship’s Coronavirus Outbreak Became a Moral Crisis for the Military

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/us/politics/coronavirus-navy-secretary-roosevelt-crozier.html

Like much in the Trump administration, what began as a seemingly straightforward challenge — the arrival of coronavirus onboard a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier — has now engulfed the military, leading to far-reaching questions of undue command influence and the demoralization of young men and women who promise to protect the country. At its heart, the crisis aboard the Theodore Roosevelt has become a window into what matters, and what does not, in an administration where remaining on the right side of a mercurial president is valued above all else.

Mr. Modly’s decision to remove Captain Crozier without first conducting an investigation went contrary to the wishes of both the Navy’s top admiral, Michael M. Gilday, the chief of naval operations, and the military’s top officer, Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“I am appalled at the content of his address to the crew,” retired Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, said in a telephone interview, referring to Mr. Modly.

Mr. Modly, Admiral Mullen said, “has become a vehicle for the president. He basically has completely undermined, throughout the T.R. situation, the uniformed leadership of the Navy and the military leadership in general.”

 Several current and former Navy and national security officials said the Roosevelt episode illustrated how civilian leaders in this administration made questionable decisions based on what they feared Mr. Trump’s response would be.

NYT: January memo warned White House of pandemic risks

New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman talks about her new report detailing a memo dated January 29 from White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro that warned of the risk of a pandemic hitting the US. Haberman says it is not known if President Donald Trump saw the memo.

Trump Demands Praise As Surgeon General Warns Of A 'Pearl Harbor Moment' | The 11th Hour | MSNBC

Government Watchdog: Hospitals Face Severe Shortages Of Medical Gear | Morning Joe | MSNBC

Coronavirus: Trump voices hope for ‘levelling-off’ in US hotspots

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52175746

Optimism from Dr Birx and Mr Trump contrasted with other leading US experts, including top advisor Dr Anthony Fauci, who earlier said the short-term outlook was "really bad".

 

How did coronavirus break out? Theories abound as researchers race to solve genetic detective story

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/06/us/coronavirus-scientists-debate-origin-theories-invs/index.html

A vacuum of knowledge about the origins of the new coronavirus ravaging the world has provided fertile ground for all manner of theories -- from the fantastic, to the dubious to the believable.

It was a bioweapon manufactured by the Chinese. The US Army brought the virus to Wuhan. It leaked -- like a genie out of a bottle -- from a lab in an accident. It took root at a wildlife market in Wuhan.

Scientists have banded together across international borders to condemn the nationalist-tinged conspiracy theories. And yet, they are divided on what was once widely thought the most likely culprit: a so-called wet market in Wuhan, where wild animals are kept in cages and sold as pets or food. It is believed that a bat-infected animal -- perhaps a pangolin -- infected the first human.

Anderson Cooper rips Trump for hijacking coronavirus briefing

Did Trump Golf, Hold Rallies After Learning About COVID-19 Threat?

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-golf-rallies-coronavirus/

McConnell told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that the outbreak “came up while we were tied down on the impeachment trial. And I think it diverted the attention of the government, because everything every day was all about impeachment.” 

Shortly after McConnell made these remarks, a number of op-eds were published refuting this claim. Trump even responded, saying, “I don’t think I would have done any better had I not been impeached.”

U.S. President Donald Trump golfed several times and held a number of rallies after learning about the threat of the coronavirus.

 

True

A timeline of Trump promises and predictions on coronavirus -- and how they stack up against the facts

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/05/politics/timeline-trump-promises-coronavirus/index.html

 

Washington (CNN)It's been almost a month since the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic. In that time, the virus has swept across the US, which has gone from having just a few outbreaks to now leading the world in infections.

 Throughout, the Trump administration has issued a series of promises, predictions and proclamations as it has tried to calm the American people and give the impression the virus is under control. But on topics ranging from testing, to treatments, to the critical supplies that health workers need, reality has continued to fall short of President Donald Trump's rhetoric.

While this is a fluid situation, with facts changing every day, here's a look back at some of the promises and predictions the President has made and how they stack up against reality as of Sunday April 5.

Watchdog report finds severe shortages and significant challenges to hospitals' coronavirus responses

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/06/politics/department-of-health-and-human-services-shortages/index.html

When asked about the report during Monday's coronavirus press briefing, President Donald Trump questioned whether politics tinged the findings of the report.

"Give me the name of the inspector general. Could politics be entered into that?" Trump said.

Trump also questioned the integrity of the leadership in HHS' Office of the Inspector General, saying, "Well where did he come from, the inspector general? What's his name?"

The report was signed by a woman -- Christi Grimm, the principal deputy inspector general for HHS. Grimm has served in the federal government for more than two decades in both Democratic and Republican administrations.

 

Trump’s Statements About the Coronavirus

https://www.factcheck.org/2020/03/trumps-statements-about-the-coronavirus/

“This is a pandemic,” President Donald Trump said at a March 17 press conference. “I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic.”

While it’s not possible to know what Trump “felt,” there’s no doubt that Trump had minimized the threat of the new coronavirus for weeks in statement after statement.

 

Trump angrily lashes out when confronted with critiques of coronavirus response

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/06/politics/donald-trump-coronavirus-angry-defensive/index.html

Trump was short-tempered and rude during much of his daily briefing on Monday as he refused to even listen to questions about shortcomings in the federal government effort. On Sunday, Trump muzzled the country's top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci before he could contradict his own gushing assessment of an unproven Covid-19 therapy. On Monday, the President also blasted a report by an experienced Health and Human Services Department watchdog official that found critical supply shortages at hospitals all over the country, claiming it was politically motivated.

Fox News Is Finally Being Sued For Constantly Lying To Their Viewers

PM: Israel in lockdown for Passover holy days, confined to homes on Seder night

https://www.ynetnews.com/article/Hyd3ogtwU

The prime minister said the nationwide lockdown would last from 4 pm Tuesday until 7 am Friday. The curfew will last from 6 pm Wednesday until 7 am Thursday,m during which time people would be confined to their homes.

Don't scapegoat the haredim for the coronavirus crisis

https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Dont-scapegoat-the-haredim-for-the-coronavirus-crisis-623813

Pictures of haredim holding large weddings after the government prohibited gathering of more than 10 people are maddening, But so, too, were photos of crowded Tel Aviv beaches.

 

Thousands of NY COVID patients are being treated with anti-malarial drug

https://nypost.com/2020/04/05/ny-coronavirus-patients-being-treated-with-anti-malarial-drug/

I n terms of the NYU clinical trial regarding prevention, researchers are enrolling 2,000 adult volunteers at six sites.

They are recruiting people who lack any COVID-19 symptoms but have been in close contact with others who have a confirmed or pending diagnosis.

On a random basis, the trial participants will receive either hydroxychloroquine or a placebo pill — vitamin C — every day for two weeks.

Trump grilled over continued promotion of hydroxychloroquine to treat coronavirus – video

https://www.theguardian.com/global/video/2020/apr/06/trump-grilled-over-continued-promotion-of-hydroxychloroquine-to-treat-coronavirus-video

 US president Donald Trump has again urged Americans to try the drug hydroxychloroquine to treat coronavirus. Though the drug has not undergone tests to prove its effectiveness in treating the virus, Trump has continued to advocate for it, telling reporters: ‘What do you have to lose?’ Dr Anthony Fauci, the top doctor on infectious diseases in the US and a key member of the White House task force, told CBS Face the Nation program there was nothing to suggest the medicine had any benefit against coronavirus. ‘The data are really just at best suggestive. There have been cases that show there may be an effect and there are others to show there’s no effect’. When asked at the daily press briefing, Trump refused to allow Dr Fauci to answer questions about the drug’s effectiveness

Berman to Navarro: Why are you qualified to weigh in on coronavirus treatments?

Opinion | Sean Hannity wants to rewrite history on Fox's coronavirus coverage. He can't.

How Bill de Blasio Failed New York City

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/04/how-bill-de-blasio-failed-new-york-city/609379/

 

Much has been wanting about Trump’s response to the outbreak. But de Blasio’s fulminations against Trump are clearly meant to divert from his own failures of leadership. De Blasio equivocated on obvious measures like closing schools. He could not even bring himself to close the city’s playgrounds. When these were finally shuttered, it was by decree of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. De Blasio went along with the plan reluctantly—“I respect that,” he said of the decision—like a child being dragged to the dentist by his determined dad. On WYNC on Friday, he said researchers had only discovered “in the last 48 hours” that asymptomatic people can spread the disease. If Trump made the same preposterous claim, there would be howling calls for impeachment, renewed questions about his state of mind. Public-health professionals have known for months how the coronavirus spreads and who can do the spreading. If de Blasio didn't know, the fault is fully his own.

ZAKA head: Ultra-Orthodox ‘completely confused’ by virus, looking for leadership

https://www.timesofisrael.com/zaka-head-ultra-orthodox-completely-confused-by-virus-looking-for-leadership/

The head of the ZAKA voluntary emergency organization, which has been helping implement restrictions in ultra-Orthodox communities in order to halt the spread of the coronavirus, said Sunday that there is vast confusion among Israel’s Haredim about the pandemic, and a growing sense of disappointment among the community that their leadership has failed them.

After Trump Bans All N95 Mask Exports, Canadians Remind U.S. That They Helped Americans After 9/11

https://time.com/5816072/canada-n95-mask-ban-reaction/

Canadians across the country expressed hurt and disappointment that their neighbor and longstanding ally is blocking shipments of the masks from the United States to ensure they are available in the U.S. during the coronavirus pandemic. Canadian health care workers — like those in the U.S. — are in dire need of the masks that provide more protection against the virus that causes COVID-19.

Black hat hackers: 6 things to know for April 6

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/black-hat-hackers-6-things-to-know-for-april-6/

 

 

Netanyahu reportedly waffles on expanding closures to additional Haredi towns and neighborhoods as ultra-Orthodox ministers accuse him of singling out their community

Jared Kushner's spine-chilling new role

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/03/opinions/jared-kushners-spine-chilling-new-role-ghitis/index.html

Kushner's translucent presence -- his affect, bereft of even the slightest hint of empathy, in perfect synchrony with his callous words -- was a spectacle suitable for our nightmarish times.

 

Now we know why Trump has put him in charge of so many intractable problems. Kushner is afflicted by a superabundance of unwarranted self-confidence. He is an introverted Trump; arrogance without flamboyance.

 

Kushner chastised governors, with citizens literally gasping for air, for asking the federal government to help find life-saving ventilators. "Don't ask us for things when you don't know what you have in your own state. Just because you're scared, you ask your medical professionals and they don't know," he reprimanded.

\

Judge Jeanine: America is at war and Trump is the leader we need

Trump Talks Up Ratings And Social Media Following At Coronavirus Briefings | The 11th Hour | MSNBC

Sen. Harris On Trump’s Virus Response: ‘This Guy Doesn’t Understand His Job’ | The Last Word | MSNBC

Lawrence: President Donald Trump Is Not A 'Wartime President' | The Last Word | MSNBC

Chris Wallace lays into surgeon general over Trump’s weak response

Coronavirus patient arrested on bus to Jerusalem

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/278320

Police arrested a coronavirus patient on a public bus on his way to Jerusalem Sunday.

The incident began when police received information from the patient's family, and a check by the police about his whereabouts revealed that the patient was most likely on a public bus making his way on Route 1, toward Jerusalem.

'He's a total disgrace': Trump defends firing U.S. intel watchdog

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-inspectorgeneral/hes-a-total-disgrace-trump-defends-firing-us-intel-watchdog-idUSKBN21M0KK

Atkinson’s firing prompted concerns among some Congressional Republicans and criticism from Democrats.

U.S. Senator Richard Burr, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, praised Atkinson, while noting Trump has the authority to fire him.

“Like any political appointee, the inspector general serves at the behest of the Executive,” Burr, a Republican from North Carolina, said in a statement on Saturday. “However, in order to be effective, the IG must be allowed to conduct his or her work independent of internal or external pressure.”

U.S. Senator Charles Grassley, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, demanded a better explanation for Atkinson’s firing.

“Congress has been crystal clear that written reasons must be given when IGs are removed for a lack of confidence,” he said. “More details are needed from the administration.”

Trump's coronavirus mismanagement again undercuts his CEO image

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/05/politics/president-management-covid-2020/index.html

In his closing argument before the 2016 election, Donald Trump pointed voters toward his "under budget and ahead of schedule" new Washington hotel: "A metaphor for what we can accomplish for this country."

Trump pitched himself as a successful businessman and an executive, even though his actual record included a string of spectacular bankruptcies and lawsuits -- including an effort during the 2008 financial crisis to sidestep a $40 million debt to Deutsche Bank by invoking a "force majeure" clause likening the economic catastrophe to riots or floods. Rather than pay what he owed, he sued the bank claiming harm to his finances and reputation, eventually settling out of court.

He has insisted the virus "snuck up on us," faulting China for failing to give "earlier notice." Earlier, when minimizing the risks posed by the disease, he said China's "very hard" work would protect Americans.

He has blamed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for years in which it "did nothing" to upgrade testing systems. Earlier, at CDC headquarters, he called testing "perfect" and available to all.

As the damage has grown, so have Trump's attempts to absolve himself.

"I don't need to have the numbers double because of one ship that wasn't our fault," he said, explaining his desire to keep a cruise ship with infected Americans offshore.

"I don't take responsibility at all," he said of the administration's testing woes.

Ultra-Orthodox community feeling stigmatized over coronavirus allegations

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Ultra-Orthodox-community-feeling-stigmatized-over-coronavirus-allegations-623673

“We have been turned into lepers and criminals.”  

These were the words of David Rubinstein, a resident of the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak, one of the main epicenters of the coronavirus in Israel and currently on a full lockdown because of the severity of the outbreak there.

 

Blackwell presses pastor: How can you be pro-life and keep your church open?