Blame Anybody Else

In his address Wednesday night Donald Trump excluded travel from parts of Europe, treating Europe (but no countries in which he owns golf properties) as a source of the coronavirus.

Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34153071

Friday morning Trump tweets blamed Obama and Biden for the spread of the virus. Completely false, of course, but standard Trump: knowing his administration is taking fire for their passive and dishonest response, Trump pins his faults on others.

Whiny little brat.

Apart from a minor financial market bounce, today's news is grim.

In a "Morning Joe" interview, Dr. Anthony Fauci was asked whether our sluggish response to the virus has put us on Italy's path. I'll let the Washington Post's Greg Sargent take it from here:

Scarborough directly asked Dr. Fauci whether we “started early enough” with “aggressive containment” to “avoid that peak that Italy is experiencing.”

Dr. Fauci replied by praising Trump’s decisions to limit travel from China early and more recently from Europe. But he avoided directly answering whether we’d started our mitigation efforts early enough, saying we must “continue” with them.

Three people who participated in Trump's Mar-a-Lago dinner with Brazilian president Bolsonaro have tested positive for the virus itself. This includes Bolsonaro himself, who claims a second test clears him (maybe?), and the mayor of Miami.

Then came the reports about Trump's Wednesday night address, which sent markets into panic. Turns out, Stephen Miller and Jared Kushner led the speechwriting process, but neither one has been involved in the coronavirus response. Jared did at least do some research: he asked a doctor for advice, and the doctor took the question to Facebook. The doctor posted, "I have direct channel to person now in charge at White House," and sent Jared about a dozen recommendations.

And who might this doctor be? The dad of model Karlie Kloss, who is married to Kushner's brother.

But hey, the White House doesn't want us to know any of this, having classified conversations about the pandemic among federal health officials.

In case you missed it, Jerry Falwell, Jr., went on FoxNews this morning to suggest that the virus is a North Korean attack in partnership with the Chinese. And to say we shouldn't get too worked up about it. Which is it, Jerry?

While the White House haggles with House Democrats over legislation to help us through the crisis.... Wait, this morning Mnuchin backed out on a provisional agreement. Anyway, they're still up to evil. Regulation changes from the Department of Education will make it harder for poor school districts to access funding.