Jared Kushner, senior advisor to President Trump and brain genius who considered covid-19 a matter more of “public psychology than…health” as late as mid-March, displayed his brilliant power of deduction yet again Wednesday morning on Fox and Friends. After claiming that the United States has surpassed its covid-19 testing goal for the month of April—a dubious idea considering ongoing the fact that only 5.6 million tests have been conducted—Kushner went on to spin America’s massive failure into a success story.
“We’re on the other side of the medical aspect of this and I think that we’ve achieved all of the different milestones that are needed,” Kushner said. “So the federal government rose to the challenge and this is a great success story. And I think that that’s what really needs to be told.”
This was Kushner’s “Mission Accomplished” moment, but even less believable than when George W. Bush gave it a go.
To be clear: nearly 60,000 people have died in the United States from covid-19, and over 1 million have become infected. The United States is currently the covid-19 epicenter of the world, and the death toll is on a steady rise. So it’s hard to fathom the American people interpreting the facts as, “wow, we’ve done a great job.”
Unfortunately, Kushner has a big hand in the Trump administration’s covid-19 response, so expect more mealy-mouthed lies coming from his paper thin lips from here on out.
A former Tea Party Republican turned Independent turned Libertarian is running for president now, because what’s an election year without some third party drama?
CNN reports that Michigan congressman Justin Amash threw his hat into the race Tuesday night after more than a year of deliberation.
From CNN:
“Americans are ready for practical approaches based in humility and trust of the people,” [Amash] said in his announcement. “We’re ready for a presidency that will restore respect for our Constitution and bring people together. I’m excited and honored to be taking these first steps toward serving Americans of every background as president.”
[…]
Whether a strong Amash showing on Election Day could hurt the Republican candidate or the Democratic candidate more remains unclear.
President Donald Trump has continually earned high approval ratings among the overwhelming majority of self-identified Republicans throughout his presidency, but Amash could win support among traditionally Republican or conservative voters who are dissatisfied with Trump. He could also appeal to progressive voters who are unhappy with Joe Biden’s candidacy and agree with Amash on issues like civil liberties and foreign policy.
Amash’s website is barebones and doesn’t include a sliver of insight into his actual policies. The notion that diehard progressives will line up behind him is hard to believe. The man is anti-abortion, adamantly opposed to Medicare-for-all and government spending on damn near anything that people on the left hold dear. He also has the distinct honor of being the only Michigan congressman who opposed a federal aid bill in response to the Flint water crisis.
On Wednesday, Amash tweeted, “This election is too important for Donald Trump or Joe Biden to be running for president. But they have the right to run like anyone else. The answer to bad candidates is not to keep others off the ballot, but rather to give the people honest, practical, and capable alternatives.”
For anyone interested in a country not overwhelmed by constant needless death, Amash isn’t that alternative. Still, unlike the other options, he hasn’t been accused of sexual assault yet, so at least he has that going for him.
The bar is officially on the floor, folks!
- Florida plans on reopening… after being “closed” for less than a month. What could go wrong? [NBC]
- Andrew Yang is back, baby. And he’s…suing the New York Board of Elections! [Courthouse News]
- He’s also… the Asian Shirley Chisholm? [New York Times]
- Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro doesn’t give a fuck that over 5,000 Brazilians have died from covid-19. [Guardian]
- Boris Johnson is a daddy now. But he will never be a zaddy. [BBC]
- Hey, remember death panels?