- The Trump campaign is running an ad showing black protesters turning a white man into police but labeling the protesters as violent. The man was breaking apart a sidewalk to throw at the protesters.
- Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman announced his retirement from the military. Vindman was a key witness during Trump’s impeachment in the House. In a statement via his lawyer, Vindman blamed “a campaign of bullying, intimidation, and retaliation” from Donald Trump.
- Multiple universities including Harvard, MIT, USC, and Northeastern are suing the government over ICE’s policy stating those on student visas will be deported if their schools switch to online only instruction because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Administrative Practices Act, key to the recent DACA case decided by the Supreme Court, is also at issue here. I am not well versed enough to judge the case on its merits, but there’s a high possibility this suit could delay any such deportations until after the election.
- This morning the White House hosted a meeting on re-opening schools in the fall. Dr. Fauci was told not to attend in person which prevented him from answering press questions afterward. The president this morning tweeted out that since Germany, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden are opening schools, the US should too. He threatened to cut off funding to states which do not open their schools. Yesterday, Denmark had 10 new Covid-19 cases. The US had over 62,000 new cases. The president then stated he disagreed with the CDC guidelines on opening schools. I will note that these guidelines have received criticism for being far too relaxed. In response, CDC director Redfield acquiesced to Trump and said the agency will be re-issuing new guidelines for schools. Vice-president Pence said the authority he trusted the most on school re-openings is his wife. Karen Pence holds a masters in Education and has no medical experience.
