Today’s COVID taskforce presser was the most obvious manipulation of the event as a propaganda show in service of the Trump election campaign. Trump tried to rewrite history much like there’s little information about the deaths in nursing homes that might actually be part of the total COVID-19 death toll. Trump’s control of emergency powers will constitute much of the remaining conflict to come.
President Trump just now: "When somebody is the president of the United States, the authority is total."
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) April 13, 2020
Fact Check: That is definitely not true.
The tactics are the same. The simplistic message ignores how Trump deliberately delayed action in the face of expert analysis and reporting during a critical, early phase of the spread, and can be shown to have been a failure by comparison to numerous other nations.
“The problem is that he mixes lies with truth” — Captain Adama on interrogating a cylon in Battlestar Gallactica
Trump 2016: “I alone can fix it.”
Trump, March 13, 2020:“I don’t take any responsibility at all.”
Trump, April 13, 2020:“When somebody is president of the United States your authority is total.”
And now: pic.twitter.com/2m2UCFapL5
— Vicky Ward (@VickyPJWard) April 13, 2020
.@CNN please give the chyron writer a raise https://t.co/OfJfx7p54r
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) April 13, 2020
One of the unusual things here is that Trump and co. are asserting total emergency power to stop states from continuing their emergency measures.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 13, 2020
.@kaitlancollins tells Trump it's not true that he has "total" authority here. Trump, again not responding directly, says, "We're going to write up papers on this…the governors need us one way or another…"
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 13, 2020
She asks who told him he has total authority. "Enough," he responds.
- Trump: When somebody is the president, “the authority is total.”!?!?!
- A bit later, Trump says that “the authority is total” for the president with regard to this particular subject. (Still extremely false.)
- Trump on state (or local?) officials: “They can’t do anything without the approval of the president of the United States.” Extreeemely false.
- Trump, pressed on state and federal powers, avoids the powers issue and says: If states refuse to open, I’d like to see that person run for election.
- Trump again making his highly questionable claim about his power to reopen things, not citing any law/precedent/constitutional clause but declaring, “The president of the United States calls the shots.”
"We inherited broken testing," Trump says. "Now we have great testing."
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 13, 2020
There were no inherited coronavirus tests. This virus was identified this year.
You mean just after we worked out a safe way to complete the Census with mail and Internet? WEIRD! https://t.co/SL9H9bxUm7
— Eric Garland (@ericgarland) April 14, 2020
1. Former Birther
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) April 13, 2020
2. Unqualified daughter of President
3. Guy who bought his way into Harvard and married his way into the WH
3. Producer of Suicide Squad
4. Failed TV Pundit
5. Who?
6. Famous for sleeping through meetings https://t.co/JxLUOlpc4A
It will probably report to them then.
— Mike Tchirkine (@tchirkine) April 13, 2020
Somehow the frothy right decided that they could trade blue states CO and NM and purple states FL, GA, and TX, for KY, WV, and a DC state to be named later. https://t.co/4k3N7qN3mC
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) April 14, 2020
During a visit to Minsk in August 1941, Himmler witnessed an Einsatzgruppen mass execution first-hand and concluded that shooting Jews was too stressful for his men.[119] By November he made arrangements for any SS men suffering ill health from having participated in executions to be provided with rest and mental health care.[120] He also decided a transition should be made to gassing the victims, especially the women and children, and ordered the recruitment of expendable native auxiliaries who could assist with the murders.[120][121]
