A new message from your friends at People For the American Way.

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[ [link removed] ]45's Falshoods and Failures: Weekly Coverage of Trump During COVID-19

PFAW Member,

The prolonged social isolation necessary for lessening the spread of
COVID-19 is having negative effects on all of us, but Donald Trump’s
[ [link removed] ]responses are causing millions of people great harm. This week’s
round-up showcases the way that the pandemic has exacerbated Trump’s worst
impulses, including dishonesty, self-congratulation, anger, and
selfishness.

* In the wake of Trump’s dangerous comments suggesting the injection of
disinfectant into COVID-19 patients last week, he was widely rebuked
by allies, [ [link removed] ]public health officials, and the media. After trying to
argue that [ [link removed] ]the statement had been “sarcastic,” he finally stepped
back from daily coronavirus press briefings over the weekend – only to
release a torrent of invective on Twitter that Sunday, claiming that
[ [link removed] ]the briefings themselves weren’t “worth the time & effort.”
Unsurprisingly, Trump did another about-face when he returned to the
briefing podium on Monday and then continued to appear all week. Trump
can’t resist the media spotlight for longer than one weekend.
* [ [link removed] ]Continuing his fixation on using COVID-19 as a vehicle for
advancing anti-immigration policies, Trump stated that he might
initiate a quid pro quo offer to Democratic states in exchange for
federal coronavirus assistance, suggesting that [ [link removed] ]Democratic state
governments could “adjust” their sanctuary city programs to better
align with his administration’s extreme anti-immigrant agenda to
receive economic aid. As usual, Trump is playing politics with
people’s lives.
* Relatedly, Trump has escalated [ [link removed] ]his efforts to blame China for the
crisis, and the intelligence community revealed [ [link removed] ]administration
officials’ attempts to press analysts to find evidence that the
coronavirus outbreak originated from a government laboratory in Wuhan,
China. Considering [ [link removed] ]Trump’s frequent use of racist language to
connect the pandemic to the Chinese people, there is little doubt that
his bigoted, racist comments reflect his desire to redirect blame from
his own poor leadership. Today also marks the start of Asian American,
Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and this year
more than ever it is vital to show support for these communities
nationwide, as [ [link removed] ]they have suffered a wave of hate in the wake of
[ [link removed] ]Trump’s racism.
* While the country remains focused on fighting the spread of
coronavirus, Trump and his administration are plotting new attacks on
our basic rights, including:

* [ [link removed] ]Trump’s hostility toward vote-by-mail initiatives could have
influenced the Treasury Department’s possible move to [ [link removed] ]take
unprecedented control of the U.S. Postal Service by imposing
restrictions on an emergency loan from Congress. Last month,
Trump reportedly refused to sign the CARES Act if it included a
[ [link removed] ]USPS bailout, and if he gets his way and USPS shutters,
people’s fundamental right to vote could be harmed this November.
* Furthering the right-wing campaign to harm reproductive health
care rights, a [ [link removed] ]Trump appointee to the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the Eighth Circuit allowed Arkansas to ban abortions during
the coronavirus pandemic.
* The [ [link removed] ]Trump administration is close to finalizing the removal
of a policy that protected LGBTQ patients from discrimination in
health care – even in the middle of a pandemic, when it is of the
utmost importance that everyone receives equal care.

* As [ [link removed] ]more states began to relax stay-at-home orders, public health
officials continued to sound the alarm that it is much too soon for
such a move, given a fatality total that has now reached [ [link removed] ]more than
60,000 in the U.S. and a nationwide testing capacity that is still far
too low. On Monday, Trump released a “blueprint” for states to ramp up
testing to begin reopening their economies. Trump’s [ [link removed] ]proposal
functionally “passes the buck” to states and only lists the federal
government as a [ [link removed] ]“supplier of last resort,” rather than the
national leader and partner that it should be, enabling him to
abdicate all responsibility to end a testing crisis that [ [link removed] ]he helped
to create.
* Trump also muddied the waters about a realistic timeline for
increasing testing capacity, stating that the U.S. would be able to
provide five million tests per day – the number that public health
experts recommend as a minimum for lifting lockdowns – [ [link removed] ]“very
soon.” That comment came mere hours after the [ [link removed] ]assistant secretary
of health told reporters that COVID-19 testing on that scale wasn’t
currently feasible. Throughout the pandemic, Trump has continued to
offer unsupported [ [link removed] ]assurances that testing isn’t a “problem at
all,” although it clearly is.
* Once again prioritizing the agendas of big corporations over the
American people, [ [link removed] ]Trump announced a new coronavirus financial
program that would lend $500 billion to large companies – but would
provide no oversight in terms of limiting executives’ pay or requiring
them to preserve jobs.
* Finally, honing in on what motivates far too many actions Trump has
taken as president, The New York Times determined that [ [link removed] ]he had
praised himself almost ten times more often than he has displayed
empathy for those affected by the pandemic in his daily briefings.
From [ [link removed] ]berating critics to [ [link removed] ]bringing a thousand West Point cadets
back to campus just to witness his commencement speech, Trump’s
primary concern this spring has not been reassuring the country in the
face of coronavirus or helping to stem the infection’s spread – it’s
been to make himself look good.

Today is May Day, which much of the world outside of the U.S. recognizes
as Labor Day. Around the world, people recognize the [ [link removed] ]contributions,
struggles, and sacrifices of the worker on this day, but this year, it
unfortunately also serves as a reminder of how badly the Trump
administration has failed during the coronavirus crisis. Workers
nationwide are [ [link removed] ]taking action to remind the government that leadership
needs to do [ [link removed] ]a better job of protecting them, now more than ever. In
fact, the repercussions of Trump’s abdication of responsibility extend far
beyond our borders, as the world presses on through the pandemic
[ [link removed] ]without looking to American leadership as it often did in previous
crises, including World War II and the Great Depression.

Trump has no excuse for failing our country, its people, and the entire
world at every stage of the pandemic.

The best way to hold him and the Republican Party accountable will be at
the ballot box, be it remote or in person, come November.

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The [ [link removed] ]Falsehoods and Failures series will appear every Friday on our
blog. [ [link removed] ]You can find last week's post here. For ongoing coverage of
Trump and the Right Wing's response to the coronavirus, check out PFAW's
[ [link removed] ]Right Wing Watch.

Thanks as always for your ongoing support – stay safe and healthy!

– Sarah, PFAW

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