- McKay Coppins wrote a great breakdown on the Trump campaign’s revisionism in trying to say he never downplayed the risk of the outbreak. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/04/trump-coronavirus-message/610009/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
- Michael Caputo has been named Health and Human Services spokesman. Caputo is a conspiracy theorist who has worked for the Russian government and is close friends with convicted Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone.
- The president was set to announce a formal private-public partnership group regarding re-opening the country. He spent several minutes on Tuesday reading out a list of companies and individuals who would be involved. Several of the companies Trump named as being part of the group had not even been contacted by the government. The first they’d heard of their own involvement is when the president announced it. On a group call between the White House and some of the companies, the president made clear he wants businesses open again on May 1, but the companies expressed the need for mass testing before their businesses can resume.
- As the president continues to push for businesses to re-open May 1, states are still hamstrung by a lack of tests. The president continues to insist procuring tests are up to the state and local governments, that has been a disastrous policy. The WHO, now maligned by the president, had an excellent test which was offered early on to the United States. For unknown reasons, it was rejected while the CDC developed its own test. Their initial try did not work and cost precious time. This is absolutely a problem the Trump administration could address by coordinating shipment, production, and prices under the DPA, but they have refused to take that action.
