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

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

PFAW Member,

Since this blog’s [ [link removed] ]previous update, the death toll in the United States
has risen above [ [link removed] ]a harrowing 80,000 people and the nationwide
unemployment rate has soared to [ [link removed] ]more than 14.7 percent of the working
populace; about [ [link removed] ]20.5 million Americans lost their jobs in April alone.
In spite of these worrisome figures, Donald Trump claimed on May 11 that
[ [link removed] ]“we’ve prevailed” against the threat of coronavirus. The unfortunate
reality is that this couldn’t be further from the truth, and Trump’s
denial has become increasingly dangerous, both [ [link removed] ]to our lives and our
economy.

* When multiple White House staff members were reported to have tested
positive for the novel coronavirus, Trump stated that he was [ [link removed] ]“not
worried” about the infection’s spread within the administration’s
inner sanctum. However, within days, he was telling aides that he
[ [link removed] ]“doesn’t want to be near” any person who hasn’t been tested. The
same day he said that he had [ [link removed] ]“prevailed” against COVID-19,
administration staff were ordered to start wearing masks in the White
House, with one person even saying that working there was [ [link removed] ]“scary.”
Even so, Trump continued his reckless push to reopen the national
economy. And he still [ [link removed] ]won’t wear a face mask.
* This week, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Robert Redfield, and Admiral Brett
Giroir [ [link removed] ]testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and
Pensions Committee. As some of the nation’s most respected experts and
leaders on the country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, their
grim assessment of the Trump administration’s failure to prevent
needless harm repeatedly clashed with Trump’s inaccurate assertions
about the public health crisis and the federal aid that individuals
and states need in order to weather it. Dr. Fauci indirectly refuted
[ [link removed] ]Trump’s argument that lifting stay-at-home restrictions is
critical for alleviating strain on the economy by pointing out that
opening too early [ [link removed] ]“could even set you back on the road to try to
get economic recovery.” Less than 24 hours prior, Trump told reporters
that the numbers of confirmed cases [ [link removed] ]“are coming down very rapidly
all throughout the country,” and a few days before that, he stated
that COVID-19 was going to [ [link removed] ]“go away without [a] vaccine,” despite
a lack of evidence for either statement. The testimony from these
experts serves as yet another example of the clear disconnect between
what Trump says and the continued nationwide spread of the virus.
* Voting rights during the pandemic continue to be at risk as Trump
engaged even more forcefully this week in [ [link removed] ]legal battles to depress
mail-in voting. To support this aim, the GOP has increased its budget
to fight Democratic lawsuits over voting laws to $20 million, and
[ [link removed] ]Republican officials are mounting brazen challenges to initiatives
geared towards voters’ safety during this public health crisis.
Additionally, far-right influencers are now claiming that opposing
vote-by-mail is [ [link removed] ]a “spiritual battle” for “control of the free
world.”
* As evidenced by the [ [link removed] ]shelving of a detailed Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) document on reopening the economy, Trump
continued his efforts to block oversight of his administration’s
response to the pandemic this week. Nonetheless, Dr. Rick Bright, the
ousted vaccine expert who submitted [ [link removed] ]a whistleblower complaint
about the administration’s coronavirus response, and Michael Bowen,
the owner of the largest domestic mask producer, both testified on
Thursday in a House health subcommittee hearing. In short, both
experts testified that the administration was [ [link removed] ]warned of the
impending personal protective equipment supply shortages in January –
and then chose to do nothing for months as the infection ravaged the
country. To quote Dr. Bright: [ [link removed] ]“Alarms were not responded to with
action.”
* American citizens and public officials alike continue to criticize
Trump and his administration for the dangerous delay in boosting the
country’s testing capacity. [ [link removed] ]Sen. Mitt Romney, R-UT, criticized the
Trump administration on Tuesday for its dereliction of duty. Americans
across the country are still experiencing severe testing shortages,
yet in stark contrast [ [link removed] ]the White House had immediate access to
testing after some of its staff tested positive for coronavirus. And
despite many experts having warned Trump back in February about the
impending testing kit shortages, a recent report revealed that [ [link removed] ]the
administration took until the end of April to increase production of a
key component of the tests. In fact, [ [link removed] ]one health expert testified
on Wednesday that the severe economic shutdown had been necessary
because of the government’s failure to provide a robust testing
infrastructure at the start of the pandemic.
* Corporations and the rich continue to benefit from federal aid marked
specifically for pandemic relief – thanks, in large part, to
[ [link removed] ]Trump’s recent moves to suppress congressional oversight. Even
while unemployment rises and small businesses struggle to stay afloat,
[ [link removed] ]Wall Street seems to be thriving, as are the stocks of big private
equity firms, both of which are clear indicators that investors
believe the bailout is succeeding in helping the richest among us. At
least 41 publicly-traded companies that already had enough funds to
float themselves for a few months of the coronavirus lockdown still
succeeded in [ [link removed] ]obtaining $104 million in federal aid through the
coronavirus stimulus. Meanwhile, small businesses that were [ [link removed] ]unable
to receive aid have been [ [link removed] ]forced to close down across the country,
and are increasingly desperate for aid that the [ [link removed] ]Trump
administration instead allowed to be funneled to wealthy allies.
* Trump has renewed his fixation on [ [link removed] ]irrationally blaming President
Obama for the current pandemic and on [ [link removed] ]striking down the Affordable
Care Act – in the middle of a public health crisis where [ [link removed] ]at least
27 million Americans have been forced off their health insurance. On
May 10, Trump went on [ [link removed] ]a 126-tweet rampage that repeatedly focused
on critics and political rivals – all while the pandemic raged outside
his doors.

During his hearing, Dr. Fauci called the death rate from coronavirus in
the U.S. [ [link removed] ]“unacceptable.” He’s right, but there’s more to it:

It’s unacceptable that [ [link removed] ]already-vulnerable communities across the
country are suffering even greater harm during the pandemic.

It’s unacceptable that Trump has [ [link removed] ]deemed certain workers "essential"
even while [ [link removed] ]he refuses to provide them [ [link removed] ]adequate protection or
compensation.

It’s unacceptable that [ [link removed] ]Trump decided to barrel towards reopening the
economy despite marked [ [link removed] ]increases in confirmed cases nationwide.

But that’s why we must work together to support initiatives such as the
[ [link removed] ]House Democrats-proposed HEROES Act, which should form the basis of
the next stage of federal coronavirus relief. This piece of legislation
proposes that funding be allocated specifically for the U.S. Postal
Service, election security measures, state and local governments, housing
assistance, and other vital aid, and will be imperative for ensuring that
the country can make it through the next few months of the pandemic.

PFAW is working hard to hold the Trump administration accountable, and to
do that, we need engaged supporters like you. Keep an eye on PFAW’s
channels for how to get involved from home during this unprecedented time.

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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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