Fact check: Trump's Saturday coronavirus briefing was littered with false claims, old and new

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/18/politics/fact-check-coronavirus-briefing-april-18/index.html

 It's hard to know where to begin fact checking.

President Donald Trump's latest coronavirus press conference on Saturday afternoon was littered with false claims about both the pandemic crisis and various unrelated matters Trump decided to talk about, from North Korea and Iran to Chinese tariffs.

Trump continued to be dishonest on the critical subject of coronavirus testing, wrongly claiming he "inherited" faulty tests -- they were developed this year, during his presidency -- and painting an overly rosy picture of the US testing situation.

He also repeated several of the false claims he likes to make at his campaign rallies.

Here's a rundown of the claims and the facts.

Speaking about testing for the coronavirus, Trump said, "I inherited broken junk." This is a claim he has made multiple times, and which we have fact checked multiple times as well.

Facts First: The faulty initial test for the coronavirus was created during Trump's administration in early 2020 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since this is a new virus that was first identified this year, the bad tests couldn't possibly be "inherited."

"He is lying. He is lying 100%. He is lying because he is trying to shift blame to others, even if the attempt is totally nonsensical," Gregg Gonsalves, an assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases at the Yale School of Public Health, said of an earlier version of this Trump claim.

 In addition to claiming President Obama left him with a depleted stockpile of medical supplies, Trump said Obama left him with "no ammunition."

"If you remember when I first came in, we didn't have ammunition," Trump said. "Not a good way to fight a war. President Obama left us no ammunition, OK."

Facts First: It's not true that the US had "no ammunition" at the beginning of Trump's presidency. Rather, according to the public comments of military leaders, there was a shortfall in certain kinds of munitions, particularly precision-guided bombs, late in the Obama presidency and early in the Trump presidency.

In the past, the President has attributed this claim to an unnamed general. While we don't know what a general might have told him in private, you can read a full fact check of Trump's claims about munitions levels here.

Elizabeth Goitein: Trump 'Doesn't Quite Understand' COVID-19 Pandemic Is Not A War | MSNBC

Antiviral drug remdesivir prevents COVID-19 progression in monkeys - study

https://www.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/Antiviral-drug-remdesivir-prevents-COVID-19-progression-in-monkeys-study-625102

The study, led by the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases involved two groups of six rhesus macaque monkeys that were intentionally infected with the respiratory disease.

President of Taiwan: How My Country Prevented a Major Outbreak of COVID-19

https://time.com/collection/finding-hope-coronavirus-pandemic/5820596/taiwan-coronavirus-lessons/

Taiwan is an island of resilience. Centuries of hardship have compelled our society to cope, adapt, and survive trying circumstances. We have found ways to persevere through difficult times together as a nation, and the COVID-19 pandemic is no different. Despite the virus’s highly infectious nature and our proximity to its source, we have prevented a major outbreak. As of April 14, we have had fewer than 400 confirmed cases.

 

King Trump asks you to liberate America

After being insulted by "experts", telling him that contrary to his claims he lacks absolute powers to do what he wants - Trump said he would show everyone that he has more power than they could imagine and has brilliantly retaliated by asking residents of three  states run by Democrats to liberate them from the restrictive health measures suggested by his own federal health experts to stop the Chinese virus

I protest strongly why just these 3 states? 

All of America needs to revolt against the Democracy run by the deep state Democrats Leftists and the Fake media  to liberate it and appoint Trump as king.

All Americans should have this freedom to be stupid and not be told what to do by Nanny state agents. Only the stable genius- appointed by Divine decree- should guide us over the cliff. It is inherent in nature that Man was created to be free to be stupid. Only the Science worshiping Democrats insist on taking away this freedom. Join Trump the Republican party and Fox News and all true lovers of freedom in returning Mankind to its intended state of freedom and moral purity! Trump 2020 and forever!

White House Advisor Reportedly Compares Protesters Fighting States' Stay-at-Home Orders to Rosa Parks

https://time.com/5823799/white-house-trump-rosa-parks/

Conservative economist Stephen Moore compared protestors demonstrating against states’ stay-at-home orders to the Civil Rights Era icon Rosa Parks, according to a Washington Post article published Friday night.

Groups of protestors have reportedly rallied in at least six states this week to demand state governments lessen orders requiring the closure of nonessential businesses and schools in an attempt to stem the spread of coronavirus.

In a statement to the Washington Post, conservative economist Stephen Moore reportedly said, “I think there’s a boiling point that has been reached and exceeded.” Moore belongs on the White House council focused on “re-opening” the country’s economy and as well as a coalition of conservative leaders advocating for steps to lessen the country’s lockdown, according to the Post.

“I call these people the modern-day Rosa Parks — they are protesting against injustice and a loss of liberties,” Moore said about the protesters, according to the Post.

Coronavirus immunity offered to donors of charity linked to major rabbi

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Rabbi-Chaim-Kanievsky-promises-coronavirus-immunity-for-donors-of-NIS-3000-625053

 A charity organization run by one of the most senior rabbinic leaders of the ultra-Orthodox world, Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, promises complete protection from the coronavirus in return for a donation of NIS 3,000.

The charity association named Kupat Ha’ir (City Fund) advertised on its Facebook page that anyone who donates NIS 3,000 will be protected from getting the coronavirus. The idea behind the website’s campaign is that by donating money to sick families and people in need, donors will be protected according to the Jewish halachic principle of middah k’neged middah or “measure for measure.”

Rabbi Edelstein: Take care to maintain precautions during prayer

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/278833

Rabbinic leader says it's still better to pray alone if precautions cannot be maintained in group prayer, after restrictions loosened.
 
The dean of the Ponivezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak and the president of Degel Hatorah’s Council of Torah Sages, Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, urged his students to be stringent and pray individually if precautions cannot maintained, despite the government's decision loosening restrictions on public prayer.
The government on Sunday morning adopted new guidelines for dealing with the coronavirus, including permission to hold prayer groups of up to 19 people, at a distance of up to 500 meters from one's residence or place of work and in an open area, with a distance of at least 2 meters between people.

Coronavirus deniers take aim at hospitals as pandemic grows

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/coronavirus-deniers-take-aim-hospitals-pandemic-grows-n1172336

 Two videos illustrate the stark disparity in how the coronavirus outbreak is being portrayed on different parts of the internet.

Jon Meacham: Trump's Temperament Is A National Security Issue | The 11th Hour | MSNBC

Trump falls on his face trying to justify his tweets encouraging uprisings

Trump responds to criticism over his 'liberation' tweets

Trump tweets about 'liberating' some states

Trump Tells Three States To 'LIBERATE' As U.S. Death Toll Tops 36,000 | The 11th Hour | MSNBC

Chanting ‘lock her up,’ Michigan protesters waving Trump flags mass against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s coronavirus restrictions

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/04/16/michigan-whitmer-conservatives-protest/

If all roads in Michigan lead to the state capitol, conservative protesters on Wednesday made sure they were closed.

For miles, thousands of drivers clogged the streets to demand Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) ease restrictions and allow them to go back to work. They drowned downtown Lansing, Mich., in a cacophony of honking. They blared patriotic songs from car radios, waving all sorts of flags from the windows — President Trump flags, American flags and the occasional Confederate flag.

 

Trump is playing with fire

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/18/opinions/trump-is-playing-with-fire-ghitis/index.html

 President Donald Trump is playing with fire. Just 24 hours after he told the nation's governors, "You are going to call your own shots," when it comes to reopening the economy, the President posted a series of incendiary messages on Twitter that seemed to incite his followers to revolt against the current orders to stay at home.

 

"LIBERATE MICHIGAN!" one tweet shouted in capital letters. He issued similar tweets calling for the liberation of Minnesota and Virginia, including a disturbing addendum for loyalists to "save your great 2nd Amendment," adding, "It is under siege!" It is unclear why Trump brought up gun rights in apparent references to pandemic mitigation measures, but the language is familiar. Who can forget his comments at a rally in 2016, when he considered the possibility that Hillary Clinton might win the presidential election? "If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do folks," Trump said before adding, "Although the Second Amendment people -- maybe there is, I don't know."

A Key G.O.P. Strategy: Blame China. But Trump Goes Off Message.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/18/us/politics/trump-china-virus.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

Republicans increasingly believe that elevating China’s culpability for spreading the coronavirus may be the best way to improve their difficult election chances. The president is muddying the message.

 

Rising Shortage of Dialysis Units Alarms Doctors

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/18/us/coronavirus-updates.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage

Kidney specialists now estimate that 20 percent to 40 percent of patients in intensive care suffered kidney failure and needed emergency dialysis. Outside of New York, the growing demand for kidney treatments is becoming a major burden on hospitals in emerging hot spots like Boston, Chicago, New Orleans and Detroit.

 

White House defends Ivanka Trump's personal travel amid lockdown

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52317673

The White House has defended Ivanka Trump's personal trip to New Jersey last week even as federal guidelines advise Americans to remain at home.

The president's eldest daughter and her family travelled from Washington DC to the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster to celebrate Passover.

Time to fire Jared and Ivanka

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/16/opinions/fire-ivanka-and-jared-passover-travel-bergen/index.html

 The hypocrisy of the Kushner and Trump's behavior is breathtaking.

Kushner has now positioned himself as the overall czar of the coronavirus relief effort. Just like his dismal peace-making efforts in the Middle East, Kushner has added another layer of confusion to the muddled White House coronavirus response by, for example, promoting the speedy development of drive-thru nationwide testing sites that still haven't materialized.

Meanwhile Ivanka Trump, a White House adviser, has positioned herself as an avatar of social distancing, telling her 8.5 million followers on Twitter on April 12, "There's no substitute for social distancing."

 Ivanka Trump traveled to New Jersey to celebrate Passover despite coronavirus guidelines

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/16/politics/ivanka-trump-travels-to-new-jersey-coronavirus/index.html

  Ivanka Trump traveled with her family from Washington to Bedminster, New Jersey, last week to celebrate Passover, a White House official said Thursday.

Trump's decision to leave Washington, first reported by The New York Times, disregarded the federal coronavirus guidelines advising against discretionary travel that she has urged other Americans to follow.

"Ivanka -- with her immediate family -- celebrated Passover at a closed down facility considered to be a family home. Her travel was no different than had she been traveling to/from work and the location was less populated than the surrounding area near her home in D.C.," the official told CNN in a statement Thursday.

The official continued, "While at Bedminster she has been practicing social distancing and working remotely. Her travel was not commercial. She chose to spend a holiday in private with her family."

U.K. Paid $20 Million for New Coronavirus Tests. They Didn’t Work.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/16/world/middleeast/coronavirus-antibody-test-uk.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

 The two Chinese companies were offering a risky proposition: two million home test kits said to detect antibodies for the coronavirus for at least $20 million, take it or leave it.

The asking price was high, the technology was unproven and the money had to be paid upfront. And the buyer would be required to pick up the crate loads of test kits from a facility in China.

Yet British officials took the deal, according to a senior civil servant involved, then confidently promised tests would be available at pharmacies in as little as two weeks. “As simple as a pregnancy test,” gushed Prime Minister Boris Johnson. “It has the potential to be a total game changer.”

There was one problem, however. The tests did not work.

 

White House adviser to 60 Minutes: Show me your pandemic story

Failure: Debunking Trump's Dangerous New Attack On W.H.O During Pandemic | MSNBC

A Crime Against Humanity.’ Why Trump’s WHO Funding Freeze Benefits Nobody

https://time.com/5821122/who-funding-trump-covid19-coronavirus-china/

Public health experts have savaged President Donald Trump’s decision to cut U.S. funding to the World Health Organization (WHO), which he says failed in its “basic duty” during the coronavirus pandemic by promoting “disinformation” from China.

 

The move represents another stunning turnaround for Trump, who in late February praised the WHO for “working hard and very smart,” before souring on the world body in recent days as the U.S. death toll soared. Still, it remains in line with his longstanding distrust of multilateral institutions more generally.

Critics have accused the President of attempting to shift blame away from his own torpid response to the pandemic. The WHO declared a public health emergency on Jan. 30, after which Trump continued to speak at rallies and belittle COVID-19 as “the flu.”

Critics agree the WHO’s response suffered missteps at the outset of the coronavirus outbreak. There was a focus on government information rather than non-official sources, such as whistleblowers like Dr. Li Wenliang. Officials could have investigated how many healthcare workers had become infected, which was clear evidence of human-to-human transmission before official confirmation came Jan. 23. It advised nations not to close borders.

Trump threatens to invoke never-used authority

Ultra-Orthodox Enclave in Israel Opens to Outsiders to Fight a Virus

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/15/world/middleeast/virus-israel-Orthodox-Bnei-Brak.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

When an insular religious community became an epicenter for the coronavirus, its leaders did the unthinkable, calling on the military to help turn things around.

Forbes Magazine: Israel the safest country from coronavirus

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/278720

A study published in Forbes Magazine presents a comprehensive analysis examining the steps taken in various countries around the world as part of the fight against the spread of the Corona virus.

In the study, 60 countries are ranked according to different factors, including safety, risk level, treatment efficacy, and government support for people affected by the economic impact of the virus.

According to Forbes, Israel is the safest country in the world against the virus. In second place are Germany, South Korea and Australia. China is in fifth place.

In the risk index, Italy was ranked as the most dangerous, followed by the US, UK, Spain and France.

Pelosi vows to challenge Trump's 'dangerous, illegal' move to freeze WHO funding

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pelosi-vows-to-challenge-trumps-dangerous-illegal-move-to-freeze-who-funding

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi blasted President Trump’s decision to freeze funding for the World Health Organization, vowing Wednesday to “swiftly” challenge the action amid the coronavirus crisis.

 

Trump’s move to freeze aid to the W.H.O., supported by conservatives, draws criticism.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/15/us/coronavirus-cases-update-live.html

 

President Trump’s public campaign against the World Health Organization — and his order to freeze all money to the group in the middle of a pandemic — is the culmination of mounting anger among his White House advisers, Republican lawmakers and conservative media about the organization’s lavish praise of China’s response to the coronavirus.

Mr. Trump’s decision to attack the W.H.O., a unit of the United Nations, comes as he is under intense fire at home for his administration’s failure to respond aggressively to the virus, which as of Wednesday had claimed more than 25,000 lives in the United States and infected at least 600,000 people in all 50 states.

And the organization was praised by a leading American health official. Dr. Robert R. Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, praised the organization on Wednesday morning, in tones at odds with the president’s harsh criticisms. He told “CBS This Morning” that questions about its pandemic response should be left until “after we get through this.”

Trump retreats from absolute authority claim as he deflects blame for coronavirus crisis to WHO

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/15/politics/trump-coronavirus-crisis/index.html

Deep into his remarks, Trump edged away from his position on Monday that a president could order states to do what he wanted. In face-saving language that lacked constitutional grounding, he said he was "authorizing each individual governor of each individual state to implement a reopening and a very powerful reopening plan of their state." 

 

Trump has spent several days preparing the ground for his attack on the WHO with which he led his news conference. He tapped into legitimate criticism of the WHO's response to the outbreak and complaints that it was too deferential to China and did not act quickly enough to raise the alarm about the novel coronavirus and its pandemic potential.

 

President Trump Halts U.S. Payments to the World Health Organization During the Coronavirus Pandemic

https://time.com/5821007/trump-halts-payments-world-health-organization-coronavirus/

 President Donald Trump said he was cutting off U.S. payments to the World Health Organization during the coronavirus pandemic, accusing the organization of failing to do enough to stop the virus from spreading when it first surfaced in China.

Trump, who had telegraphed his intentions last week, claimed the outbreak could have been contained at its source and that lives could have been saved had the U.N. health agency done a better job investigating the early reports coming out of China.

“The WHO failed in its basic duty and must be held accountable,” Trump said at a Tuesday briefing. He said the U.S. would be reviewing the WHO’s actions to stop the virus before making any decision on resuming aid.

 

המשטרה פרצה עם סולמות לתפילה המוזיקלית של 'כיכר'

https://www.kikar.co.il/355799.html

 there are a number of people who think loudspeakers at any volume are totally permissible without concern for the neighbors totally biased article! chillul hashem!

שוטרים פרצו הבוקר אל בית פרטי בבני ברק - עם סולמות מהגג, במהלך תפילת הלל מוזיקלית שערכו האחים הזמרים יואלי ורולי דיקמן והועברה בשידור חי באתר 'כיכר השבת' • צפו ברגעי הפריצה

Police break into Bnei Brak apartment to stop the music

 http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/278695

 

They set up an amplification system in their home with a loudspeaker on the porch, and began to sing the Hallel prayer of thanksgiving with musical accompaniment - until police arrived.

 

 

 

 

רב מ'הפלג' חלה בקורונה; יצא לתפילות וחטף קנס

https://www.kikar.co.il/355817.html

רב באחת הישיבות המזוהות עם "הפלג הירושלמי" נדבק בנגיף ה'קורונה', אך למרות זאת יצא לתפילות. בהוראת רבנים, הועבר דיווח למשטרה והבוקר הוא קיבל קנס כבד

Virginia pastor who defiantly held church service dies of coronavirus

https://nypost.com/2020/04/13/virginia-pastor-who-held-packed-church-service-dies-of-coronavirus/

An evangelical pastor died of COVID-19 just weeks after proudly showing off how packed his Virginia church was — and vowing to keep preaching “unless I’m in jail or the hospital.”

 

Cuomo Responds To Trump Claim That States ‘Can’t Do Anything Without His Approval’ | All In | MSNBC

Reporter grills Trump: What did you do for entire month?

Trump falsely claims he has 'total' authority

Fox News calls out Trump ON AIR for lying about having power re-open country

Trump rages at criticism while governors craft their own plans to reopen the economy

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/14/politics/donald-trump-coronavirus-governors-economy/index.html

With 23,000 Americans dead and millions without a paycheck, President Donald Trump dimmed the lights in the White House briefing room, fired up a misleading propaganda video and boiled over.

In one of the most unchained presidential tantrums ever captured on television, Trump's Monday display flouted every notion of calm leadership by the commander in chief in a crisis.

He claimed powers never envisioned by the Constitution and insisted his "authority is total" to order states and cities to get moving again to break out of the frozen economy. His warning came as two blocs of Eastern and Western hot-spot states banded together in an implied challenge to his vow to get people back to work soon, setting off a brewing confrontation over the power of the federal government.

During the news conference, Trump moaned that the press was not giving him credit because "everything we did was right" in the coronavirus pandemic.

How Mitch McConnell Became Trump’s Enabler-in-Chief

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/04/20/how-mitch-mcconnell-became-trumps-enabler-in-chief

On Thursday, March 12th, Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, could have insisted that he and his colleagues work through the weekend to hammer out an emergency aid package addressing the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, he recessed the Senate for a long weekend, and returned home to Louisville, Kentucky. McConnell, a seventy-eight-year-old Republican who is about to complete his sixth term as a senator, planned to attend a celebration for a protégé, Justin Walker, a federal judge who was once his Senate intern. McConnell has helped install nearly two hundred conservatives as judges; stocking the judiciary has been his legacy project.

Draining the swamp - New Yorker Chronicles How McConnell Propped Up Trump WH | Morning Joe | MSNBC

Trump's poll numbers dip over handling of coronavirus pandemic

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/10/trump-poll-numbers-dip-handling-coronavirus

Support for Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus has plunged over the past week, polls show, as some of his advisers and Republican allies are said to be concerned over the US president’s daily briefings on the pandemic.

CNN Poll of Polls: Trump's approval ticking down on coronavirus response

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/10/politics/cnn-poll-of-polls-trump-approval-coronavirus-general-election-biden/index.html

A new CNN Poll of Polls out on Thursday finds President Donald Trump's approval rating and the public's approval of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic trending down in the last month.

Trump's averaged approval rating stands at 46% approve, 49% disapprove -- ticking down from 48% approval in late-March.

 

 

 

 

Top hospital head to 'Post': Coronavirus strategy failed

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/health-ministry-strategy-failed-senior-health-official-tells-post-623682

 

The Health Ministry’s strategy for tackling the coronavirus crisis is a failure, the head of one of Israel’s leading hospitals told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday as the ministry announced it had fallen far below its original test target, leaving the country without an end in sight for its isolation strategy.

“We are in the third week of isolation and the numbers continue to rise – and in big numbers,” the senior official said. “We need to think about another strategy. Isolation has not brought us any good.”

Only One President in the Last 20 Years Wasn’t Worried About a Pandemic

https://thebulwark.com/newsletter-issue/only-one-president-in-the-last-20-years-wasnt-worried-about-a-pandemic/

 

On March 30, President Donald Trump went onto the most important news venue in America, Fox & Friends, to defend his handling of the coronavirus outbreak. Here is a thing he said:

“Nobody could have predicted something like this . . .”

This is false.

The next outbreak? We’re not ready | Bill Gates

Meacham: This Could Change Us In The Way Pearl Harbor Changed Us | Morning Joe | MSNBC

What Drives Trump Administration's Stance On Re-Opening Economy | Morning Joe | MSNBC

Trump Says He Downplayed Coronavirus Because He's America's Cheerleader | The 11th Hour | MSNBC

Brutal Political Ad Calls Out Trump Coronavirus Testing Failures | NowThis

Fauci discusses how China's disinformation increased coronavirus spread

Bull Session: Ted Cruz Says the Press Is “Giddy With Glee” Over Pandemic

https://www.texasmonthly.com/politics/ted-cruz-says-press-giddy-with-glee-over-coronavirus-pandemic-bull-session/

Callooh, callay! It’s another glorious day in the mainstream media where, as Texas senator Ted Cruz recently noted, we’re all simply “giddy with glee” over this global pandemic. The sun is shining on all of God’s green earth that the governor recently closed, the birds are chirping in between the distant wail of ambulance sirens, and we members of the press are feeling particularly lighthearted, a sensation we keep checking against all the known symptoms of COVID-19. You could tell from the huge smiles on our faces, if only you could see them beneath these homemade masks.

Boy, am I ever! Personally, nothing gives me greater pleasure than waking from yet another anxiety dream about going to the grocery store, then opening my phone to find that another thousand people died overnight, a friend lost their dad, and everything remains closed indefinitely. Humming a tune by a favorite artist who was killed prematurely by a preventable public health crisis, I leap from my flop-sweat-soaked bed, eager to begin another day of cheerleading for our nation’s incipient collapse—right after my wife and I figure out how we’re going to juggle the demands of our jobs with another day of watching the two small, restless children trapped inside with us. Then, during the few allotted hours I’m able to work for an industry that is, like so many other businesses, faltering under mass layoffs, it’s party time, baby. That’s when I get to write about all this death and malfeasance for an audience that openly resents me for it! Yippee!