Today's Liberal News

Trump’s doctors try to downplay his condition, but blow up the timeline of Trump’s illness

Donald Trump was flown to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Friday evening. At the time, he was apparently suffering from coughing, fever, lethargy, and some difficulty in breathing. The decision to send him to the hospital at that point appears to have been made not just out of an abundance of caution, but because, as The Washington Post reports, with Trump’s condition worsening, they wanted to move while Trump was “still able to walk to Marine One on his own.

Trump’s campaign strategy implodes

Over the course of 24 hours, the central pillar of Donald Trump’s campaign strategy came crashing down. At almost any cost, Trump had diligently worked to suspend reality, put the coronavirus in the rearview mirror, and train the country’s attention on Joe Biden’s supposedly weak constitution and frailty. But what Trump never counted on was the possibility that he himself might pay the price for his studied ignorance.

Donald Trump, Superspreader

Following months of peddling false information, the president attended at least one event after showing symptoms of COVID-19, putting an untold number of innocent people at risk.

The President Is Not Well

In a 24-hour period between Thursday and yesterday evening, the world learned a week’s worth of news about President Donald Trump. None of the news was good.

Trump Thought He’d Never Get It

Donald Trump has always thought of himself as above the rules. He has demonstrated this conviction throughout his life: in his business, in his personal behavior, and for almost four years as president of the United States. So we know what to expect from him.

Trump Is a Super-Spreader of Disinformation

A super-spreader—a term we didn’t much use nine months ago—is a person with a contagious disease who gives it to a lot of other people. In the coronavirus pandemic, super-spreaders have played an outsize role. Scientists have identified super-spreaders who have infected dozens of people with the virus, while others with the illness haven’t infected anyone at all.

It May Be Time to Invoke the Twenty-Fifth Amendment

On March 30, 1981, President Ronald Reagan was shot as he entered his limousine after a speech at a Washington hotel. Reagan’s condition soon stabilized. He was released from the hospital April 11 and spoke to a joint session of Congress on April 28.But in the first few hours, it was not clear whether the president would live or die. Paperwork was prepared to appoint Vice President George H. W. Bush as acting president. You can see it here, courtesy of the Reagan Library.

Hope Hicks was not the vector for bringing COVID-19 into the White House, it was Donald Trump

Though early concerns about the availability of protective gear for hospital workers caused medical advisers to caution against ordinary people buying up the few available masks, by late March the CDC had already informed the White House that routine wearing of masks by everyone was necessary to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. At his very next public appearance, Donald Trump talked about masks … and immediately said that he was not going to wear one.

Friday Night Owls: An alarming 865,000 women left the workforce last month

Night Owls, a themed open thread, appears at Daily Kos seven days a week

The 19th is a non-profit newsroom whose goal “is to empower those we serve— particularly women, people of color, and those historically underserved by American media—with the information, resources and community they need to be equal participants in our democracy.

Joe Biden tests negative for COVID-19

Former Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, have tested negative for COVID-19, his campaign announced Friday. The Bidens had the PCR test, which can detect the presence of an antigen, meaning it can be effective earlier than antibody tests.

Outbreak at the White House: Positive, Negative, and TBD

When White House adviser Hope Hicks received positive COVID-19 test results on Thursday, Donald Trump’s team tried to cover up those results and keep them “private.” But once the news leaked out, Trump was forced to admit that he also had tested positive. Since then, there has been an anxious scramble to test everyone who has been in contact with the Trump team over the past week.