Trump Skips World Leaders’ COVID-19 Meeting to Play Golf

“Donald Trump skipped the G20 summit’s ‘Pandemic Preparedness’ event to visit one of his golf clubs on the same day that a record 195,500 new Covid-19 infections were reported in a 24-hour period in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins.

The summit, attended by world leaders from across the globe, is being held virtually this year because of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has now killed more than 250,000 Americans – by far the largest total in the world.

Trump’s apparent disinterest in the summit started earlier on Saturday when he started tweeting about the election results after the scheduled start time of the summit at 8am ET. The president appeared via video link during the summit’s opening remarks but by 10am, Trump was leaving the White House to go to his golf course outside of Washington DC, according to CNN.”

— “Trump skips G20 pandemic event to visit golf club as virus ravages US,” Lauren Aratani, The Guardian

More:

“G20 Meets On Coronavirus As Trump Makes 298th Golf Trip Of Presidency,” Andrew Solender, Forbes

“COVID-19: Donald Trump plays golf while world powers discuss pandemic at G20 summit,” Amy Coles, Sky News

“Trump skips G20 coronavirus meeting to play golf and tweet bogus election claims,” Dave Goldiner, NY Daily News

“G20 leaders close Riyadh summit with calls for coordinated response to coronavirus pandemic,” Kareem Fahim, Washington Post

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Thanksgiving: 250,000 Reasons to Stay Home

As the number of Americans dead from COVID-19 rises past 250,000, The Centers for Disease Control advises you to stay the hell home for Thanksgiving:

“More than 1 million COVID-19 cases were reported in the United States over the last 7 days.

As cases continue to increase rapidly across the United States, the safest way to celebrate Thanksgiving is to celebrate at home with the people you live with.

Gatherings with family and friends who do not live with you can increase the chances of getting or spreading COVID-19 or the flu.”

— “Celebrating Thanksgiving,” CDC

Gatherings in the home seem to account for the greatest number of new infections. Currently, at least 3 million Americans are infected with coronavirus. As Colorado’s governor put it, holding a large family Thanksgiving dinner is like holding a loaded pistol to Grandma’s head.

More:

“CDC recommends against Thanksgiving travel amid surge of coronavirus cases,” Brittany Shammas, Washington Post

Related:

“The trauma of Thanksgiving for Native communities during a pandemic,” Rachel Ramirez, Vox

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Trump COVID Advisor Scott Atlas: It’s Grandma’s Last Thanksgiving!

Trump COVID-19 advisor Scott Atlas, MD, is not an epidemiologist or an infectious disease expert. He’s a renowned expert in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Dr. Atlas has no pandemic expertise and hasn’t practiced medicine in 10 years, but he’s a fellow in Health Care Policy at Stanford’s conservative Hoover Institution and bloviates on Fox News, so he’s the go-to White House medico. When it comes to coronavirus, Dr. Atlas wants to let lots of people get it to bring about “herd immunity.” Real pandemic experts estimate it would require the deaths of 2 million Americans to achieve “herd immunity” in the U.S.

That hasn’t deterred Dr. Atlas. He says Americans aren’t doing enough to collaborate with the virus. They should ditch those masks, ignore advice on social distancing, and celebrate at the table with Grandma, bringing about her “last Thanksgiving.”

Many of his former medical colleagues are appalled, and Stanford University is distancing itself from Dr. Atlas. No so Mr. Trump.

More:

“On Fox News, Dr. Scott Atlas encourages large holiday gatherings: ‘For many people this is their last Thanksgiving,’” Media Matters

“Trump adviser Scott Atlas criticizes plans to avoid seeing elderly for Thanksgiving,” Brett Samuels, The Hill

“Trump COVID Adviser Scott Atlas Is on a Hot Streak of Dumb Ideas,” Matt Stieb, New York Magazine

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Thanksgiving 2020

In this pandemic year, many people have decided not to visit Grandma for Thanksgiving, since giving her COVID-19 in exchange for roast turkey and green bean whoopie seems unfair. With smaller holiday gatherings, the market for great big turkeys has collapsed, as farmers see seasonal profits gobbled up by social distancing. Many small pandemic pod parties want smaller turkeys, but growers have not been able to get those big fat birds to lose weight. If you’ve been binge eating during quarantine, maybe you can relate.

More:

“Turkey farmers fear that, this year, they’ve bred too many big birds,” Laura Reiley, Washington Post

“Scaled-back Thanksgiving plans leave turkey farmers in limbo,” Dee-Ann Durbin, Associated Press

“Fauci says small gatherings driving new Covid outbreaks, worries about Thanksgiving,” Sara G. Miller, NBC News

“Thanksgiving In The Time Of COVID-19: To Grandmother’s House Or No?” April Fulton, NPR

“CDC issues new guidance for Thanksgiving gatherings,” Joseph Choi, The Hill

“Traditional Thanksgivings Off the Table As Coronavirus Surges,” Emma Coleman, Route Fifty

“‘A loaded pistol for Grandma’s head’: Colorado governor asks people not to bring COVID to Thanksgiving table,” Alexander Kirk, Nate Lynn, and Jennifer Campbell-Hicks, Fox West Texas

Trump White House Election Night Party Spreads COVID-19

Tuesday’s crowded White House election night watch party ended in uncertainty as the slow business of counting millions of mail-in ballots dragged on, but two predictable things happened:

1. Donald Trump falsely claimed victory before all the votes were in; and
2. Some of the 250 partygoers got COVID-19.

White House guests including Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson MD, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Trump Campaign official David Bossie, and campaign aide Nick Trainer are among those now testing positive.

Mr. Trump tasked Daivid Bossie with leading his legal challenge to the election results that make him a loser.

More:

“Was Donald Trump’s White House watch party a super-spreader event?” The Guardian

“Looks Like Trump May Have Held Another Superspreader Event,” Claire Lampen, The Cut

Updates:

“Two more people from Trump’s Election Night party at White House test positive for coronavirus,” Dan Mangan, CNBC

“White House political director tests positive for coronavirus, official says,” Kaitlan Collins and Maegan Vazquez, CNN

“Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski tests positive for coronavirus,” Oriana Gonzalez, Axios

“RNC Chief of Staff Richard Walters tests positive for COVID-19,” Xeni Jardin, BoingBoing

Related:

“Amid White House COVID-19 outbreak, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner pulled their 3 kids from a DC Jewish school,” Ron Kampeas, Jewish Telegraphic Service

“Javanka Pulled Kids Out of D.C. School After Parents Complained: Report,” Tori B. Powell, Daily Beast

“Parents Say Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump Wouldn’t Adhere to Covid Protocols at Their Kids’ School—So the Family Left,” Daniella Byck, Washingtonian

“More than 130 Secret Service officers reportedly under coronavirus quarantine,” Ursula Perano, Axios

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Virus-Infested North Dakota Elects Legislator Who Died of COVID-19

North Dakota re-elected Governor Doug Burgum, who championed a Libertarian “light touch” coronavirus policy, even though the state’s COVID-19 rate leads the country. The state is so pro-coronavirus that it elected a state legislator who had already died of COVID-19.

More:

“A North Dakota state legislature candidate who died from Covid-19 appears to have won his election,” Harmeet Kaur, CNN

“A North Dakota Republican died of covid-19 in October. He still won his election.” Teo Armus, Washington Post

Updates:

“With North Dakota hospitals at 100% capacity, Burgum announces COVID-positive nurses can stay at work,” Jeremy Turley, Grand Forks Herald

“North Dakota nurses call for mask mandate, reject policy allowing COVID-19-positive workers to stay on job,” Nathaniel Weixel, The Hill

Related:

“Coronavirus surge is filling North Dakota’s hospitals,” James MacPherson, Associated Press

“Dr. Deborah Birx calls out North Dakota for poor mask use during pandemic,” Meredith Deliso, ABC News

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Back-to-School Special: COVID-19

Strained by managing on-line schooling and providing their own daytime childcare during this pandemic, many parents favor in-person schooling for their offspring. After all, the president says it’s safe, right?

The facts say otherwise. Last week, more than 61,000 American children caught the novel coronavirus, the highest weekly increase since the start of the pandemic. So far, 853,000 children in the U.S. have contracted the disease since the outbreak began, and a third of them needed ICU hospitalization. From February though July, at least 121 children have died. Long-term effects of COVID-19 infection in children are suspected.

More:

“More than 61,000 children got Covid-19 last week, a record,” Erika Edwards, NBC News

“Cases of Covid-19 in children on rise, with highest 1-week spike yet,” Sandee LaMotte, CNN

Related:

“I’m Scared to Death’: How Teachers Feel About COVID-19 School Safety,” Healthline

“Risk for Severe COVID-19 Illness Among Teachers and Adults Living With School-Aged Children,” Adam W. Gaffney, MD, MPH, David Himmelstein, MD, and Steffie Woolhandler, MD, MPH, Annals of Internal Medicine

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Son-In-Law-In-Chief Kushner Reassures Us About COVID-19

Back in April, the Secretary of Slim Suits, Trump son-in-law, and Senior Advisor to the President Jared Kushner, fresh from bringing peace to the Middle East, was running a shadow task force on COVID-19. He called the Trump Administration’s coronavirus response “a great success story” on MAGA-friendly Fox & Friends.

It turns out he also told Bob Woodward the reason for this great success:

“There were three phases. There’s the panic phase, the pain phase and then the comeback phase. That doesn’t mean there’s not still a lot of pain and there won’t be pain for a while, but that basically was, we’ve now put out rules to get back to work. Trump’s now back in charge. It’s not the doctors. They’ve kind of — we have, like, a negotiated settlement.”

Trump Plans Superspreader Election Night Watch Party

After successfully infecting the Republican leadership at the Rose Garden Amy Barrett reveal party, Donald Trump is planning a November 3rd COVID-Fest at the now-empty hotel he somehow leases from the federal government:

“President Donald Trump has his eye on hosting an election night party at his own hotel in the nation’s capital.

Over the past several days, the campaign has pushed out fundraising emails in the president’s name offering donors the chance to enter a drawing ‘to join Team Trump at the Election Night Party in my favorite hotel,’ in Washington, suggesting he will use his luxury hotel as the backdrop for reacting to election results. The campaign has also spotlighted plans for the party in fundraising blasts from the president’s son Donald Trump. Jr.”

—“Trump eyes hosting election night party at his DC hotel,” Aamer Madhani, Associated Press

More:

“No Dancing, No Live Music, No Standing: What an Election Night Party at the Trump Hotel Might Look Like,”Andrew Beaujon, Washingtonian

UPDATE:

“Trump changes election night plans, cancels party at Trump International: report,” Celine Castronuovo, The Hill

Related:

“How Trump Became the Pro-Infection Candidate,” Dhruv Khullar, The New Yorker

“America Is About to Choose How Bad the Pandemic Will Get,” Ed Yong, The Atlantic

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The Haunted Mansion

The White House had a children’s Halloween party last weekend. That’s pretty frightening given the rate of COVID-19 infection at the White House. Thanks to Donald Trump’s ineptitude, the Executive Mansion is now haunted by the souls of 230,000 dead Americans. The Biden Transition Team better have a skilled exorcist on board.

More:

“Trumps celebrate Halloween at the White House,” Jean Lotus, UPI

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