dismissed COVID-19 across yet another month? (timeline pt. 3)

As with the first and second timelines, COVID-19 case numbers for this post are taken from https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/, and there may be a lag between Trump’s statements and the day’s reported numbers.

Apr. 20 – 808,540 US cases, 43,632 US deaths. 2.5 million cases and 173,000 deaths worldwide.

Now we’re going toward 50 – I’m hearing, or 60,000 people. One is too many. I always say it. One is too many, but we’re going toward 50 or 60,000 people. That’s at the lower – as you know the lower (end of the projections) was supposed to be 100,000 people.

Trump compares a testing swab to a Q-Tip.

This is what it’s about, right? Does it remind you of something? Reminds you of this, right? One’s a swab, one’s a Q-Tip. It’s actually different. It’s very sophisticated, actually.

Apr. 21 – 835,402 cases, 46,380 deaths. Trump again brags about his press conference’s ratings, again comparing them to The Bachelor.

Apr. 22 – 866,683 cases, 48,790 deaths. Trump shuts down immigration via Executive Order.

Apr. 23 – 898,081 cases, 51,191 deaths. Trump proposes investigating whether using UV light and injecting disinfectants could combat COVID-19.

So, supposing we hit the body with a tremendous, whether its ultraviolet or just very powerful light… And I then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in one minute, and is there a way you can do something like that by injection inside, or almost a cleaning

Apr. 24 – 934,555 cases, 53,183 deaths.

Trump says he made comments about UV light and injecting disinfectant “sarcastically.”

Apr. 25 – 969,206 cases, 55,295 deaths.

Trump defends himself from charges that he had called coronavirus a Democrat hoax.

Apr. 26 – 995,057 cases, 56,467 deaths.

Apr. 27 – 1,018,913 cases, 57,871 deaths.

Trump brushes off reports of people taking his former suggestions about using UV light and injecting disinfectant seriously.

I can’t imagine why [people are ingesting disinfectants].

Apr. 28 – 1,044,752 cases, 60,406 deaths. COVID-19 deaths now surpass all US deaths from the Vietnam War.

Apr. 29 – 1,073,600 cases, 62,852 deaths.

It’s going to go. It’s going to leave. It’s going to be gone. It’s going to be eradicated.

Trump repeats past claims that Joe Scarborough is a murderer.

Apr. 30 – 1,104,914 cases, 65,127 deaths.

We did a spectacular job…

Trump again warns against mass voter fraud, which he previously claimed is why he lost the 2016 popular vote.

May 1 – 1,141,084 cases, 67,077 deaths. Trump replaces watchdog who identified critical medical shortages and threatens China with new tariffs as retaliation for COVID-19.

May 2 – 1,170,057 cases, 68,809 deaths.

Hopefully we’re going to come in under that 100,000 lives lost.

May 3 – 1,196,402 cases, 69,985 deaths.

We’re going to lose anywhere from 75, 80 to 100,000 people. That’s a horrible thing.

May 5 – 1,247,549 cases, 73,733 deaths. Trump discusses shutting down the coronavirus response team.

Trump complains about aggressive reporters.

Paula Reid, she’s sitting there and I say, ‘How angry. I mean, What’s the purpose?’ They’re not even tough questions, but you see the attitude of these people, it’s like incredible.

Trump tours a mask facility without wearing a mask, while the song Live and Let Die plays over the loudspeakers.

I think it’s a mask facility, right? If it’s a mask facility, I will. Yeah. I don’t know if it’s a mask facility.

May 6 – 1,273,101 cases, 76,312 deaths. Signs Proclamation in Recognition of National Nurses Day.

Trump speaks on Dr. Bright, a vaccine expert who was fired for pushing back against the unproven drugs Trump promoted.

I never met Dr. Bright. I don’t know who he is. I didn’t hear good things about him. I did not hear good things about him at all. To me, he seems like a disgruntled employee that’s trying to help the Democrats.

Trump reversed prior remarks on dissolving the coronavirus response team.

I thought we could wind it down sooner. But I had no idea how popular the task force is until, actually, yesterday when I started talking about winding it down.

May 7 – 1,302,758 cases, 78,485 deaths. The Department of Justice drops charges against former Trump national security advisor Michael Flynn.

May 8 – 1,331,927 cases, 80,202 deaths.

This is why the whole concept of tests aren’t necessarily great. The tests are perfect, but something can happen between a test where it’s good and then something happens and all of the sudden.

May 9 – 1,357,470 cases, 81,656 deaths.

May 10 – 1,377,665 cases, 82,872 deaths. Trump tweets over 100 times during Mother’s Day.

May 11 – 1,397,037 cases, 83,948 deaths. Trump storms out of press conference.

May 15 – 1,498,606 cases, 91,154 deaths.

Joe has absolutely no idea what’s happening. AOC is a disaster. She wants all fossil fuel out. She wants everything out. She wants wind, which is expensive — kills all the birds. You know, I’m also an environmentalist. But wind is a disaster.

May 16 – 1,522,117 cases, 92,396 deaths.

We used to make our own product, would you believe it? We used to make our product, right. We don’t need 37 pencils, we can buy two pencils, and make them be better.

Trump tweets a video of himself giving the Presidential speech from the 1996 film Independence Day.

May 17 – 1,541,642 cases, 93,280 deaths.

Vaccine or no vaccine, we’re back.

CNN – April 21 coronavirus news
The Independent – Trump revises coronavirus deaths prediction to ‘hopefully’ under 100,000
Vanity Fair – Trump Casually Doubles the Number of Americans He’d Be Okay Losing to the Coronavirus
Forbes – ‘I Can’t Imagine Why’: Trump Denies Responsibility For Spike In Disinfectant Emergency Calls
The Hill – Trump says coronavirus will be ‘eradicated’
The New York Times – Trump Moves to Replace Watchdog Who Identified Critical Medical Shortages
New York Magazine – Trump to Boost Confidence in Handling Second Wave As First Still Rages: Report
The Independent – Trump tweets more than 100 times in one day as coronavirus death toll nears 80,000
The New York Times – Trump Foresees Virus Death Toll as High as 100,000 in the United States
Business Insider – Trump says Biden has ‘no idea what’s happening’ seconds before claiming that AOC ‘wants wind’ that ‘kills all the birds’
MSNBC – Trump declares ‘vaccine or no vaccine, we’re back,’ as coronavirus deaths approach 90,000
National Geographic – U.S. coronavirus deaths now surpass fatalities in the Vietnam War

was named as a co-conspirator in campaign finance felonies by Michael Cohen?

Michael Cohen was Trump’s personal lawyer and fixer for over a decade. Cohen pleaded guilty to eight counts of campaign finance violations and tax evasion regarding a payment of $130,000 in hush money to Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election, with whom Trump had an affair.

Michael Cohen headshot.jpg
Michael Cohen / Wikipedia

Expenditures in defense of a candidate’s political outcome can be considered campaign contributions, subject to laws that bar corporate donations and establish donation limits. After acting as an intermediary for the payment to Stormy Daniels, Cohen filed fake invoices to Trump’s company.

As part of Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections, Cohen’s home and office were raided in April 2018 by the FBI. In August 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to 8 counts of tax evasion, bank fraud, and campaign finance violations. He later pleaded guilty to an additional count of lying to a Senate and House Intelligence Committees regarding the proposed Trump Hotel Moscow.

In February 2019, Cohen asserted that all he had done was at Trump’s direction. While his testimony was colored by his previous lie to Congress, Cohen claimed that he then only sought to tell the truth as he was no longer working to defend the President.

Last fall I pled guilty in federal court to felonies for the benefit of, at the direction of, and in coordination with Individual Number 1. And for the record, Individual Number 1 is President Donald J. Trump.

Cohen’s attorney, Lanny J. Davis, noted that Cohen had committed his felonies at the request of Trump to influence the election: “He stood up and testified under oath that Donald Trump directed him to commit a crime by making payments to two women for the principal purpose of influencing an election. If those payments were a crime for Michael Cohen, then why wouldn’t they be a crime for Donald Trump?”

Trump said he never directed Cohen to do anything illegal.

Rudy Giuliani, who was added to Trump’s legal team, admitted in a Fox News interview that Trump repaid the money to Cohen. However, he defended it by saying it wasn’t campaign money, and so there was no campaign finance law violation on Trump’s behalf. He also indicated that Trump was aware of the payment from the beginning, though Trump had repeatedly denied any knowledge of Stormy Daniels or the $130,000 in hush money.

It’s not campaign money. No campaign finance violations…[it was] funneled through a law firm, and the President repaid it.

…everybody was nervous about this from the very beginning. I wasn’t. I knew how much money Donald Trump put into that campaign. I said $130,000? You’re gonna do a couple checks for $130,000. When I heard Cohen’s retainer of $35,000, when he was doing no work for the President, I said that’s how he’s repaying, that’s how, how he’s repaying it. With a little profit and a little margin for paying taxes for Michael.

[Trump] didn’t know about the specifics of it.

For pleading guilty to the following counts, Cohen was sentenced to 3 years in federal prison, along with fines, asset forfeiture, and disbarment:

  • 5 counts of tax evasion
  • 1 count of making false statements to a financial institution
  • 1 count of willfully causing an unlawful corporate contribution
  • 1 count of making an excessive campaign contribution at the request of a candidate or campaign
  • 1 count of making false statements to a congressional committee

AP News – Cohen pleads guilty, implicates Trump in hush-money scheme
The New York Times – Prosecutors Say Trump Directed Illegal Payments During Campaign
The New York Times – Michael Cohen Says He Arranged Payments to Women at Trump’s Direction
The New York Times – Trump Improvises New Defense in Hush Money Payments
Wikipedia – Michael Cohen (lawyer)

appointed Michael Flynn as National Security Advisor despite warnings of his foreign connections?

Michael Flynn is a retired United States Army Lieutenant General who served as National Security Advisor for Trump from January to February 2017.

Retired United States Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn / Wikipedia

As part of the wider Mueller probe into Russian election interference, a phone call from 2016 was unearthed between Flynn and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. After speaking with Trump’s Presidential Transition Team, Flynn had reached out to Kislyak after Obama’s passing of Russian sanctions as punishment for 2016 election interference. Flynn urged Russia to refrain from retaliatory measures, as Trump was already President-elect and could eventually undo the sanctions. The following day, the Russian government announced they would not retaliate. Trump tweeted praise for the decision:

In his recounting of the phone call to the FBI, Flynn denied anything substantive was discussed, including sanctions. Nonetheless, Trump asked Flynn for his resignation in February 2017. He had served as National Security Advisor for a record 24 days.

Trump still defended Flynn, claiming that his lies to the FBI were not about anything illegal, and so he should not be prosecuted for them.

Flynn was charged with perjury for his false explanation to the FBI, and in December 2017, pleaded guilty.

Flynn had also failed to register as a foreign agent for lobbying work he had done on behalf of the Turkish government. Through his Flynn Intel Group Inc, an organization that provides intelligence services to businesses and governments, Flynn worked to defend Turkish hardliner President Recep Erdoğan from anti-government elements. He also failed to disclose income from Russian companies in his financial disclosure forms.

Trump had been warned about Flynn’s conflicts of interest at least 6 separate times, including by Obama during the post-election transition. Obama had himself fired Flynn in 2014.

Despite having pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, sentencing was deferred multiple times until May 7, 2020, when the Justice Department announced that it would be dropping all charges. The explanation provided in the motion to dismiss was that “Mr. Flynn’s statements were never ‘material’ to any FBI investigation.”

Trump defended the move, claiming that Flynn, and by extension himself, had been unfairly targeted by the Obama administration:

He is an innocent man. He is a great gentleman. He was targeted by the Obama administration and he was targeted in order to try and take down a president and what they’ve done is a disgrace and I hope a big price is going to be paid. A big price should be paid. There’s never been anything like this in the history of our country. What they did, the Obama administration did, is unprecedented, never happened, a thing like this has never happened before in the history of our country. And I hope a lot of people are going to pay a big price, because they’re dishonest crooked people, and they’re scum. I say it a lot, they’re scum. …Treason, it’s treason.

Throughout Flynn’s legal troubles, Trump has repeatedly defended him over Twitter:

Business Insider – Trump officials were warned about Mike Flynn at least 6 separate times before removing him
NPR – Michael Flynn Pleads Guilty To Lying To FBI
The New York Times – Michael Flynn Pleads Guilty to Lying to the F.B.I. and Will Cooperate With Russia Inquiry
Axios – Here’s what Michael Flynn has admitted
The Hill – Turkey and Michael Flynn: Five things to know
The New York Times – Michael Flynn Failed to Disclose Income From Russia-Linked Entities
AP News – Justice Department dropping Flynn’s Trump-Russia case
Wikipedia – Michael Flynn

 

invited Kanye West to the White House?

Kanye West has been a vocal supporter of Trump throughout his Presidency, citing their shared “dragon energy.”

In October 2018, Trump invited Kanye to the White House. During his visit, Kanye embarked on a stream-of-consciousness speech for some 20 minutes.

Referencing his MAGA hat, Kanye said, “It was something about when I put this hat on, it made me feel like Superman. You made a Superman.” He went on to say Trump was “on a hero’s journey right now.”

Kanye also boasted about his IQ, and noted his diagnosis for bipolar disorder before seguing into how “we can empower pharmaceuticals, we can empower our industries, we can empower our factories.”

On his past remarks about Bush not caring about black people in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Kanye explained, “I was programmed to think from a victimized mentality. A welfare mentality.”

On improving crime and education in Chicago, Kanye continued, “we have to make it more exciting. We have to mix curriculums. You play basketball while you’re doing math. You learn about music while you meditate in the morning.”

After Kanye finished, Trump concluded, “What do you after that? …That was quite something.”

During an interview amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Kanye explained his continued support: “I buy real estate. It’s better now than when Obama was in office. They don’t teach you in school about buying property. They teach you how to become somebody’s property.”

The New York Times – Kanye West’s White House Rant Steals Trump’s Spotlight
NPR – ‘Quite Something’: Kanye West Makes A Statement In The Oval Office
USA Today – Here’s every word of Kanye West’s bizarre meeting with President Trump
ABC News – Kanye West during Trump meeting at White House: ‘If he don’t look good, we don’t look good’
GQ – Inside Kanye West’s Vision for the Future

fired the Intelligence Community Inspector General for passing on the Ukraine whistleblower complaint?

Michael Atkinson, who had served as the intelligence community inspector general since May 2018, was the first to alert Congress last year of an “urgent” whistleblower complaint. The complaint was about Trump’s attempt to solicit foreign aid in the 2020 election by withholding military aid from Ukraine in exchange for dirt on Joe Biden. The complaint was submitted by a CIA official assigned to the White House under the provisions of the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act, making it a lawful disclosure. Atkinson, upon further investigation, found the claim to be credible and urgent, submitting it to the Direct of National Intelligence. In this way, Atkinson served merely to determine if any further investigation was needed, acting as a messenger.

Trump was ultimately impeached for the ensuing findings. He referred to the impeachment as a lynching. He also lied about the Ukranian President having exonerated him. After impeachment, Trump was acquitted by the Senate, which requires 67 votes to convict. The only Senator to break party lines was Republican Mitt Romney. Trump made a teasing remark upon discovering he was in isolation for COVID-19.

Trump directly stated that his firing of Atkinson’s firing amid the COVID-19 pandemic was reprisal for the “fake report.”

The New York Times – Trump Pressed Ukraine’s Leader on Inquiry Into Biden’s Son
Reuters – Trump fires intelligence official involved in his impeachment probe
The Hill – Trump fires intelligence community watchdog who flagged Ukraine whistleblower complaint

defended former adviser and convicted felon Roger Stone?

Roger Stone is a longtime Republican strategist who has served as campaign adviser for Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and Donald Trump. He pushed several conspiracy theories during the campaign, including birtherism and the murder of Seth Rich by Democratic operatives. He was arrested during the Mueller investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, which Trump referred to as an “attempted coup.”

Stone was investigated for his connections to Wikileaks, which disseminated emails from Hillary Clinton that had been hacked by Russian intelligence. Trump famously called on Russia to hack Clinton’s emails.

On November 15, 2019, Stone was convicted of one count of obstruction, one count of witness tampering, and five counts of false statements regarding his testimony to Congress. On February 20, 2020, he was sentenced to 40 months in prison.

During the trial, Stone’s threats to Wikileaks intermediary Randy Credico were unearthed: “you are a rat. A stoolie. You backstab your friends…I am so ready. Let’s get it on. Prepare to die.” Stone’s rocky trial also included a a gag order from the court, which he violated by posting a photo of the judge with a crosshairs in the corner on his Instagram. He later claimed he thought that the crosshairs were a Celtic symbol.

Stone is known for his unorthodox style of dress and back tattoo of Richard Nixon’s face, as well as his self-avowedly dirty political strategies. He paid an operative to infiltrate Democrat George McGovern’s presidential campaign, which was revealed during the Watergate hearings. No stranger to the dissemination of conspiracy theories, he penned a 2013 book in which he suggested that LBJ was responsible for John F. Kennedy’s assassination. He is also the subject of the 2017 Netflix documentary, Get me Roger Stone.

Roger Stone at Trump’s inauguration. stoneonstyle/Twitter
View image on Twitter
Roger Stone’s back tattoo alongside Alex Jones. ellefs0n/Twitter

Over the course of Stone’s trial, Trump took to Twitter in Stone’s defense multiple times, including upon his conviction and his sentencing.

Even though prosecutors recommended nine years of prison time, the Justice Department intervened with their own recommendation of a drastically shorter sentencing. Four federal prosecutors withdrew from the case in protest. Stone was ultimately sentenced to 40 months in prison.

On the day of the sentencing, Trump spoke at length in Stone’s defense, attacking his detractors as liars and leakers.

Trump ultimately commuted Stone’s sentence altogether.

The Atlantic – Roger Stone’s Secret Messages with WikiLeaks
The New York Times – Prosecutors Quit Roger Stone Case After Justice Dept. Intervenes on Sentencing
NPR – Prosecutors Quit Roger Stone Case After DOJ Seeks Less Prison Time For Trump Ally
Politico – Roger Stone sentenced to over 3 years in prison
The Week – 5 awkward excuses Roger Stone gave for his threatening Instagram photo
San Francisco Gate – Why Roger Stone loved Nixon enough to get a back tattoo of the president’s face
Wikipedia – Roger Stone
Wikipedia – 2016 Democratic National Committee email leak

appointed Mike Pence to lead the COVID-19 task force?

On February 26, 2020, Trump appointed Vice President Mike Pence as leader of the federal government’s task force on COVID-19. At the time, the United States reported a total of 58 cases. One month later, the US reported a total of over 100,000.

Pence drew criticism when he toured the Mayo Clinic on April 28 without a mask, noticeably being the only one present without one. By then, the US reported over 1 million total cases.

Pence, former governor of Indiana, has a controversial past regarding his record on public health and science:

Smoking

In 2000, Pence claimed in an op-ed about smoking,

Time for a quick reality check. Despite the hysteria from the political class and the media, smoking doesn’t kill.

The CDC considers smoking the leading cause of preventable death in the United States.

Rush Limbaugh, who has made similar claims about smoking, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Trump in 2020.

web.archive.org

AIDS

Amid an AIDS outbreak in his state, after a 2015 meeting with officials from the Indiana State Department of Health and the CDC, Pence said he would “go home and pray on it.” A few days later, Pence allowed for the opening of an HIV testing clinic and a non-state funded needle exchange program. However, on the same day, he signed a bill into law that increased criminal punishment for possession of syringes without a prescription, even if unused. Within two years, 217 AIDS cases had been attributed to the outbreak. Critics claimed that Pence’s long-held attempts to close down Planned Parenthood, a leading HIV testing resource in the state, helped lead to the outbreak in the first place.

As a result of the outbreak, former CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden said that Austin, Indiana had a higher incidence of HIV than “any country in sub-Saharan Africa,” and “more people infected with HIV through injection drug use than in all of New York City last year.”

In a 2002 interview with Wolf Blitzer, Pence claimed about condoms and their ability to prevent the spread of disease,

I just simply believe the only truly safe sex, Wolf, as the president believes, is no sex…The problem is it was too modern of an answer, Wolf. It was — it truly was a modern, liberal answer to a problem that parents like me are facing all over America, and frankly, all over the world.

The head of the CDC at the time of the COVID19 pandemic has also claimed that AIDS reflects god’s judgement.

Conversion Therapy

Pence’s website in which he published his views on smoking also espoused support for conversation therapy. In writing about the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, Pence’s site stated,

Congress should support the reauthorization of the Ryan White Care Act only after completion of an audit to ensure that federal dollars were no longer being given to organizations that celebrate and encourage the types of behaviors that facilitate the spreading of the HIV virus. Resources should be directed toward those institutions which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior.

While Pence has also called being gay a “choice” and “learned behavior,” there is no known evidence of his otherwise specifically voicing support for conversion therapy.

Climate Change

Pence has repeatedly deflected questions on his beliefs regarding climate change.

Trump has referred to climate change as a “Chinese hoax,” while his administration has rolled back protections on endangered species, offshore drilling, coal pollution, and fuel economy standards.

Evolution

Pence has long criticized evolution, espousing a flawed understanding of what constitutes a scientific theory. In 2002, he gave a speech to the House of Representatives, where he demanded that evolution be taught alongside religious alternatives:

Charles Darwin did offer a theory on the origin of species, which we’ve come to know as evolution. Charles Darwin never thought of evolution as anything other than a theory. He hoped that some day it would be proven by the fossil record, but did not live to see that, nor have we.
…let us demand that educators around America teach evolution not as fact, but as theory.

He has also avoided directly answering the question of whether he believes in evolution in later interviews.

Politico – Trump puts Pence in charge of coronavirus response
Politico – Pence flouts hospital policy, goes maskless in Mayo Clinic visit
CBS News – Mike Pence said smoking “doesn’t kill” and faced criticism for his response to HIV. Now he’s leading the coronavirus response
CDC.gov – Smoking & Tobacco Use
Politico – How Mike Pence Made Indiana’s HIV Outbreak Worse
Courier Journal – What we know about Austin, Indiana’s struggles with drugs and HIV
Snopes – Did Mike Pence Say ‘Condoms Are Too Modern and Liberal’?
CNN – CNN WOLF BLITZER REPORTS Transcript, Aired February 15, 2002
Business Insider – Mike Pence said in the 1990s that being gay was ‘a choice’ or a ‘learned behavior,’ but the White House says he isn’t ‘anti-gay’
Newsweek – FROM ‘SMOKING DOESN’T KILL’ TO CONVERSION THERAPY—MIKE PENCE’S MOST CONTROVERSIAL SCIENCE REMARKS
WebArchives.org – Mike Pence for Congress
Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University (JHU)

appointed a CDC Director who had claimed AIDS was God’s judgement?

Dr. Robert Redfield, appointed to head the Center for Disease Control in 2018, had a long and controversial history with his approach to AIDS.

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Rob...
Dr. Robert Redfield / Wikipedia

During his tenure as a Major at the Walter Reed Medical Institute, Dr. Redfield was one of the architects of Army policy regarding AIDS. It included mandatory testing with no confidentiality, and those that tested positive were quarantined, faced various administrative punishments, or were dishonorably discharged. Redfield explained, “The reason we have done what we have done is that we think it’s good medicine – and it’s medicine that might work in the civilian sector, as well.” He was a proponent of H.R. 2788 that sought to allow HIV testing without consent and force states to have doctors report the names of positive cases.

Redfield wrote an introduction to the book Christians in the Age of AIDS, which read:

It is time to reject the temptation of denial of the AIDS/HIV crisis; to reject false prophets who preach the quick-fix strategies of condoms and free needles; to reject those who preach prejudice; and to reject those who try to replace God as judge.

He also regularly denounced use of condoms and needle exchange programs to prevent its spread throughout his career. The CDC says that proper use of condoms can reduce risk of HIV transmission.

Upon taking office, Redfield claimed that his views had since changed.

Redfield’s predecessor, Brenda Fitzgerald, was appointed by Trump in 2017 and resigned after a report of conflicts of interests involving her investments, including various tobacco stocks.

Vice President Mike Pence, leader of the COVID-19 task force, also has a controversial record with public health and science.

Foreign Policy – Meet Trump’s New, Homophobic Public Health Quack
CNN – Why Trump’s new CDC director is an abysmal choice
AP News – Health official who urged abstinence says views have changed
Congress.gov – H.R.2788 – Kimberly Bergalis Patient and Health Provider Protection Act of 1991
Center for Disease Control – Condom Effectiveness
The New York Times – Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, C.D.C. Director, Resigns Over Tobacco and Other Investments

altered a hurricane map with a Sharpie?

In an August, 2019 briefing on the approaching Hurricane Dorian, Trump claimed that Alabama would be affected:

And, I will say, the states — and it may get a little piece of a great place: It’s called Alabama.  And Alabama could even be in for at least some very strong winds and something more than that, it could be.  This just came up, unfortunately.  It’s the size of — the storm that we’re talking about.  So, for Alabama, just please be careful also.

The National Weather Service tweeted that this was in fact not the case. While 5 states declared national emergencies in advance of the hurricane, Alabama was not among them.

After multiple days of tweeting about how he was right, Trump displayed a hurricane map that appeared to be altered by Sharpie to extend the path into Alabama. It quickly became termed “Sharpiegate.”

Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

When questioned about this, Trump claimed he knew nothing about it.

Two days later, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), an agency within the Department of Commerce, issued an unsigned statement siding with Trump’s claims about Alabama. Shortly after, the New York Times reported that US commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, had threatened the head of the NOAA with firings unless they publicly supported Trump’s claims.

In June, 2020, the Department of Commerce’s inspector general released a report on the issue. It confirmed that “the Department and NOAA issued the Statement in response to a request by the White House then-acting Chief of Staff, Mick Mulvaney, to Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross.”

The inspector general’s report further concluded that “the Statement undercut the NWS’s forecasts and potentially undercut public trust in NOAA’s and the NWS’s science and the apolitical nature of that science.”

A separate report by the National Academy of Public Administration found that NOAA’s scientific integrity had been compromised “intentionally, knowingly, or in reckless disregard.”

Trump also previously suggested stopping hurricanes with nuclear weapons.

Whitehouse.gov – Remarks by President Trump in Briefing on Hurricane Dorian
The New York Times – Trump Insists He Was Right About Hurricane Dorian Heading for Alabama
The Atlantic – Trump’s Most Pointless Lie
The Washington Post – Investigation rebukes Commerce Department for siding with Trump over forecasters during Hurricane Dorian
The Washington Post – NOAA leaders violated agency’s scientific integrity policy, Hurricane Dorian ‘Sharpiegate’ investigation finds
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – Statement from NOAA, September 6, 2019
U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Inspector General – Evaluation of NOAA’s September 6, 2019, Statement About Hurricane Dorian Forecasts
A Report by a Panel of the National Academy of Public Administration – An Independent Assessment of Allegations of Scientific Misconduct
Wikipedia – Hurricane Dorian–Alabama controversy

awarded the Medal of Freedom to Rush Limbaugh?

Trump made the announcement during the 2020 State of the Union address. Limbaugh, a far-right radio host, had recently been diagnosed with lung cancer.

Limbaugh is notorious for his wide array of conspiracy theories and other debunked claims, including the assertion that nicotine had been proven to not be harmful or addictive. He has also made remarks like that Columbus saved the Indians from themselves, that Obama was paying lesbians to become farmers in rural states, and called 12 year old Chelsea Clinton “a dog,” among various other racist remarks.

Image via Mark Wilson/Getty Images

The New York Times – Rush Limbaugh Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom at State of the Union
USA Today – Medal of Freedom: What is it and why did Trump award it to Rush Limbaugh during State of the Union?
Snopes – Rush Limbaugh Said … What?
Vanity Fair – Rush Limbaugh’s 10 Dumbest Remarks

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