ArchiveJuly 2020

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell released the GOP’s coronavirus relief bill, which would slash unemployment benefits to millions of laid-off workers by two-thirds but adds billions in unrelated spending, including nearly $30 billion in additional military spending. The bill would cut weekly unemployment insurance to the more than 30 million laid-off workers from $600 per week to $200...

Republican Senate candidate Kris Kobach claimed in mid-July that tallies of the number of people who have been died after being infected by the coronavirus are being exaggerated to hurt Donald Trump. “I believe that the numbers are being cooked. The books are being cooked,” Kobach said on the YouTube program “National File.” Kobach is running for the U.S. Senate in Kansas...

Donald Trump said Monday that more states need to reopen their economies, despite none of them meeting the criteria set forth by the White House to do so safely. “I really do believe a lot of the governors should be opening up states that they’re not opening,” Trump said during a visit to a North Carolina bioprocess innovation center. “We’ll see what happens with...

Donald Trump last week asked all Americans to wear a mask to help curb the spread of the coronavirus. But contrary to a claim by his press secretary that he has been consistent in his messaging about masks, his words and actions regarding them have been all over the place for months. On Friday, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany was asked why, after months of expert recommendations that...

Larry Kudlow, Donald Trump’s top economic adviser, previewed some of the provisions in the GOP’s soon-to-be-released coronavirus relief package during an interview with Fox Business on Monday, saying that aside from scaling back unemployment payments to laid-off workers, Republicans also want to give more tax breaks to businesses. “There will be increased business deductions for...

A coronavirus outbreak in Major League Baseball is threatening to end the baseball season less than a week after opening day — highlighting just how challenging it is to get back to life as normal in the midst of a pandemic. A total of 14 players and staff members from the Miami Marlins tested positive for the coronavirus after their first series of the year with the Philadelphia Phillies. That...

Donald Trump claimed Sunday that he would no longer throw out the first pitch at a New York Yankees game next month because he was too busy dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. Trump made the statement after spending the weekend golfing at his New Jersey resort. “Because of my strong focus on the China Virus, including scheduled meetings on Vaccines, our economy and much else, I...

Donald Trump spent Monday morning retweeting Republican senators’ messages of support for a bill he opposes. Trump has threatened to veto the annual must-pass defense authorization bill because it includes a provision ordering that the names of military bases that honor Confederate officers be changed. But that did not stop him from sharing at least 18 Senate Republicans’ tweets...

A teachers union warned the Department of Defense against reopening schools too soon, saying such action threatens the health of students and puts military readiness at risk. On Tuesday, the Federal Education Association wrote that reopening schools for in-person instruction at the beginning of the school year “presents unacceptable health and safety risks to students, employees, and their...

Donald Trump has used social media and public comments to promote his golf courses at least 39 times as president. This past week, Trump got into ethical hot water yet again when it was reported that he ordered his ambassador to the United Kingdom to pressure the British government to hold the British Open tournament at his Turnberry golf resort in Scotland. Trump has denied that he did so. But...