Trump Rebooting White House Coronavirus Briefings

President Trump is rebooting his reality tv-style coronavirus briefings, months after backing away from them and as COVID-19 cases spike across the country.

Trump announced on Monday morning that he is bringing back the White House briefings, which came to a halt after he suggested during one in April that people infected with COVID-19 should take an “injection” of disinfectant to recover from the virus. Since then, Trump has repeatedly downplayed the coronavirus and complained that increased testing is to blame for spiking cases (it’s not).

Speaking to reporters during a pool spray at the White House Monday, Trump spoke of the briefings like a seasoned television producer. Trump claimed the briefings, which were held nearly every day for weeks at the beginning of the pandemic, were “very successful” and garnered record ratings.

“There’s never been anything like it,” Trump said. “And we were doing very well and I thought it would be sort of automatic and a lot of positive things were happening.”

The President went on to outline his plan for the briefings.

“So I think what we’re going to do is I’ll get involved and we’ll start doing briefings whether it’s this afternoon or tomorrow — probably tomorrow,” Trump said. “And I’ll do briefings. And I think part of the briefing much more so than last time because last time we were nowhere with vaccines and therapeutics. And let’s say that ended six weeks ago and we’ll start them again.”

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During the first season of Trump’s briefings, the President often went on bizarre and unrelated tangents. He also often used the briefings to attack the assembled journalists in the room. At one briefing, Trump almost completely ignored the coronavirus threat and instead detailed his administration’s operations to go after MS-13. Cable news networks often cut away from the briefings altogether, in search of actual news on the pandemic.

Trump added Monday that the new briefings will be “a great way to get information out to the public” when it comes to the status of vaccines, therapeutics and “generally speaking where we are” on the COVID-19 outbreak.

The President reiterated the briefing will start “probably tomorrow” during the “good slot” of 5 p.m. and predicted that a lot of people will tune in. Trump said that White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany will continue her briefings separately, but that his briefings will discuss the coronavirus and “perhaps some other things.”

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President Trump Threatens to Veto Defense and Coronavirus Bills

Trump’s issue is with House and Senate base-renaming provisions in the pending National Defense Authorization Act.

President Trump continues to threaten veto legislation that would rename U.S. military bases named after Confederate figures, despite having support from Congress and the military.

The president appeared on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace saying “I don’t care what the military says. I’m supposed to make the decision.”

“Fort Bragg is a big deal,” Trump said, referring to the huge military base in North Carolina. “We won two World Wars … out of Fort Bragg. We won out of all of these forts that now they want to throw those names away.”

Trump’s issue is with House and Senate base-renaming provisions in the pending National Defense Authorization Act, which authorize $740 billion for defense spending in fiscal 2021.

The president has remained adamant, appearing concerned in the Fox interview that history would be lost if the names of military bases were changed. “We can’t forget that the North and the South fought,” he said. “We have to remember that, otherwise we’ll end up fighting again.“

The president went on to pepper Wallace with questions over a new name for Fort Bragg. “We’re going to name it after the Rev. Al Sharpton?” Trump asked. “What are you going to name it, Chris?”

The pending defense policy bill was not the only measure Trump threatened to veto during the wide-ranging and oftentimes combative Fox interview. He also said he would consider rejecting any new coronavirus stimulus bill with no provision for a payroll tax cut, which he has repeatedly touted despite little congressional support.

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“I want to see it. I want to see it,” Trump said of the payroll tax cut, adding if it weren’t included in a new bill, “I would consider not signing it.”

Trump also spent a portion of the interview laying into Joe Biden, incorrectly claiming his presumptive Democratic rival wanted to defund and abolish the police and attacking his mental fitness.

“Joe doesn’t know he’s alive, OK?” the president said, claiming he also could best Biden in a mental fitness test.

Wallace responded, “I took the test too. It’s not the hardest test.”

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Accusing Wallace of misrepresenting the test, Trump then told Wallace: “I’ll bet you couldn’t even answer the last five questions.”

“I’ll guarantee you that Joe Biden could not answer those questions,” Trump said.

Finally, near the end of what Trump allowed had been a tough interview by Wallace, the president chided, “Let Biden sit through an interview like this, he’ll be on the ground crying for mommy. He’ll say, ‘Mommy, mommy, please take me home.'”

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ICYMI: Your TWL Weekend News Roundup

White House’s Misguided Campaign Against Fauci

• The White House’s effort to discredit infectious disease expert and White House Coronavirus Task Force member Dr. Anthony Fauci ramped up this week. The White House issued a statement saying that several administration officials were “concerned about the number of times Dr. Fauci has been wrong on things.”
• The White House tried to downplay the statement, saying it was simply an answer to a “direct question.”
• But outside Trump economic adviser Stephen Moore is reportedly working on his own anti-Fauci memo titled “Dr. Wrong.”
• A number of Republican Trump allies publicly backed Fauci this week, including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) told reporters in Kentucky that he has “total” confidence in Fauci.
• Still, the White House’s misguided effort continued with trade adviser Peter Navarro penning a scathing op-ed against Fauci in USA Today.
• Fauci, for his part, told the Atlantic that efforts to discredit him are a “major mistake” that ultimately hurts President Trump.

Just Wear A Dang Mask!

• Wearing a mask in public is one of the easiest ways we can prevent the spread of the coronavirus. And a number of governors and businesses have come around to the idea this week.
• Walmart became the largest retailer in the U.S. to require masks in its stores.
• Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) instituted a mask mandate in her state as cases there surge. Colorado and Arkansas followed suit.
• There were, however, a couple notable exceptions. After testing positive for coronavirus, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said he wasn’t considering a mask mandate at all. And Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp took things a step further, explicitly banning mask mandates in his state and filing a lawsuit against the city of Atlanta over its mask requirement.

Trump To The Rescue For Gun-Toting St. Louis Couple?

• St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner slammed President Trump and Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (R) on Tuesday for attempting to meddle in a case involving a couple who waved their guns at a crowd of peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters.
• “Today, both the Governor and Donald Trump came after me for doing my job and investigating a case,” Gardner said in a statement.
• On Thursday, a lawyer representing the couple said that he had been in contact with the White House amid Gardner’s investigation.
• “I’ve been in direct contact with the (White House) chief of staff,” Watkins said when asked if he had heard from the White House regarding the investigation.

Rep. Justin Amash Will Not Be Running for Reelection

Rep. Justin Amash announced on Twitter that he will not be running for reelection to Congress. Amash is the congressman from Michigan who left the Republican Party after supporting the move to impeach President Donald Trump.

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“I love representing our community in Congress. I always will,” Amash wrote on Twitter. “This is my choice, but I’m still going to miss it. Thank you for your trust.”

I love representing our community in Congress. I always will. This is my choice, but I’m still going to miss it.

Thank you for your trust.

— Justin Amash (@justinamash) July 17, 2020

Amash was currently campaigning as the Libertarian candidate for president, seeking to unseat President Trump. Top Amash aide Poppy Nelson said that Amash has halted his camapign and doesn’t plan to seek the nomination for any office.

Amash, a Grand Rapids native who represents Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District, came to national prominence in May 2019, when he became the first Republican member of Congress to declare that Trump had committed impeachable offenses.

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Two months later, he revealed he was leaving the GOP to become an independent. Although Amash was a founding member of the arch-conservative House Freedom Caucus, he had emerged as a vocal critic of the president.

In April 2020, Amash said he was forming an exploratory committee for president as a Libertarian Party candidate. The announcement was met with bipartisan derision but encouraged by Trump, who tweeted that Amash “would make a wonderful candidate.”

Many Democrats feared an Amash White House run could siphon votes from their party’s presumptive nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden. But Amash scuttled his prospective bid in May after concluding that “circumstances don’t lend themselves to my success as a candidate for president this year.”

Amash’s apparent acknowledgment that he will not seek reelection in November opens up a Republican-leaning district that both parties were prepared to contest, though Democrats would have had better odds with Amash in the race.

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Michigan was one of the key battlegrounds Trump flipped in 2016 to capture office. Recent polling, however, shows Biden leading Trump in those Midwestern swing states, Michigan included, as well as among voters nationwide.

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Roger Stone Celebrates Commuted Sentence

Former political adviser and longtime friend to President Donald Trump, Roger Stone, celebrated the news of his commutation Friday night to the cheers of his supporters, saying that the president “saved my life,” and gave him “an opportunity to fight for vindication.”

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“Just a few minutes ago I had a very gracious call from the president of the United States, who told me that he had decided to use his extraordinary powers of clemency to commute my sentence — what he called a ‘full commutation of my sentence,’” Stone told reporters outside of his Florida home late Friday, according to ABC News. He added that although he had not seen the papers yet, he believed that under the terms of a commutation he would be able to pursue two appeals he had filed regarding his conviction.

The longtime ally of the president welcomed the occasion with a black and white “Free Roger Stone!” face mask and a “Roger Stone Still Did Nothing Wrong!” T-shirt.

Stone, who was recently denied a request to delay serving his sentence citing health concerns due to the risk of coronavirus infection in the close quarters of prison, expressed relief and his confidence in winning on appeal.

“I believe I will expose an enormous amount of corruption in my trial on appeal, but I have to live long enough to get to the appeal,” Stone said. “And at 67 years old with a history of respiratory problems and other underlying health issues, the danger was very real.”

On Friday, the White House condemned the “unjust sentence of Roger Stone” in a statement announcing the president’s decision to grant his friend clemency. The statement painted Stone as “a victim of the Russia Hoax” that Democrats and the media “perpetuated for years in an attempt to undermine the Trump Presidency.”

Stone’s lawyer Grant Smith told ABC News in a statement that Stone was “incredibly honored” that Trump used “his awesome and unique power under the Constitution of the United States for this act of mercy.”

The commutation was the latest move by the Trump administration to twist the justice system and provide favors to the president’s convicted allies – and more specifically those who remain loyal to the very end. Ahead of the news on Friday NBC’s Howard Fineman said that in a talk with Stone a commutation was preferable to a pardon – and that he anticipated Trump would deliver since Stone had not caved under
“enormous pressure to turn on [Trump].”

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Stone came under scrutiny during Robert Mueller’s Russia probe into foreign meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Stone was convicted of lying to Congress on several issues central to the investigation, including communications he had with Trump campaign to discuss WikiLeaks’ documents that could damage Trump’s Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.

In February, Stone was sentenced to 40 months in prison after he was found guilty of obstructing justice, witness tampering and lying to Congress. Stone’s 40-month sentence was already far shorter than an original sentence of up to nine years that was recommended by federal prosecutors before Attorney General William Barr stepped in to undercut the recommendation after the president criticized the sentence as too harsh. Stone was expected to report to prison on July 14.

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House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) rebuked Trump’s use of executive power to rescue”criminal friends” from prison time, suggesting that the move undermined the rule of law.

“With this commutation, Trump makes clear that there are two systems of justice in America: one for his criminal friends, and one for everyone else,” Schiff said in a statement obtained by The New York Times. Schiff added that Trump, Barr, and “all those who enable them pose the gravest of threats to the rule of law.”

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