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This may be the scariest news conference about the coronavirus to date, because Donald Trump has all but said he is going to do what he can to break the mandatory quarantines and get people back to work, and he says it will happen "quickly."

His statement flies in the face of people who have devoted their lives to infectious diseases -- like Dr. Anthony Fauci -- who has said the virus and not people [politicians] set the timeline.

Trump said later in his news conference when he first learned of the disease, he thought the death toll would be way higher than it is. Yay?

And, there's this ... he said when people go back to work, they can still practice as much social distancing as possible. This suggests at times, we all have to come in close contact ... which is probably true and almost certainly dangerous.

Read more:
Donald Trump Says We Have to Get Back to Work ... Quick - TMZ

An NPR station in Seattle said that it no longer will carry live coverage of President Donald Trumps coronavirus briefings because of concerns that they feature unchecked misleading or false information.

KUOW is monitoring White House briefings for the latest news on the coronavirus and we will continue to share all news relevant to Washington State with our listeners, the station tweeted. However, we will not be airing the briefings live due to a pattern of false or misleading information provided that cannot be fact checked in real time.

Most recently, Trump has called for lifting of social distancing guidelines in the near future, perhaps by Easter, even though public health professionals are still grappling with the spread of the virus. He also has made false claims about the availability of tests, the timeline for finding a vaccine and the potential benefits of a treatment that includes the ingredient chloroquine. While there is some promising study of its potential use, it has not it has not been approved for treatment. NBC News reported on one Arizona man who died after ingesting chloroquine phosphate, and his wife said that they learned about its use after watching a briefing. The chloroquine they used was part of a product use to clean fish tanks, not for medical purposes.

The news networks have been covering the briefings live, but CNN and MSNBC cut away from them on Monday, as the event stretched beyond an hour.

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Deputy White House Press Secretary Judd Deere criticized the channels for the decision asdisgraceful, but an MSNBC spokesperson said that after airing the press conference for over an hour we cut away because the information no longer appeared to be valuable to the important ongoing discussion around public health. A spokeswoman for CNN said, If the White House wants to ask for time on the network, they should make an official request. Otherwise we will make our own editorial decisions.

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Seattle NPR Station Says It Will No Longer Carry Donald Trumps Coronavirus Briefings Live Because Of Misinformation - Deadline

For all the talk earlier this week about how the President may have turned a corner, tonally, when it comes to coronavirus, he made clear -- in the space of a single answer to a reporter's question at the coronavirus task force press briefing on Friday -- that he is, as ever, the same guy he has always been.

Alexander: I'm sorry, but Dr. (Anthony) Fauci said there is no magic drug for coronavirus right now, which you would agree --

Trump: Well, I think we only disagree a little bit.

Alexander: Is it possible --? Sorry.

Trump: I disagree. Uh. Maybe, and maybe not. Maybe there is, maybe there isn't, we have to see. We're gonna know. We're gonna know.

Alexander: Is it possible -- is it possible that your impulse to put a positive spin on things may be giving Americans a false sense of hope and misrepresenting...

Trump: No, I don't think so...

Alexander: ... the preparedness right now?

Trump: No, I don't think so. I don't think so. I think that -- I think it's got a --

Alexander: ... and the not-yet-approved drug?

Trump: Such a lovely question.

Look, it may work and it may not work and I agree with the doctor, what he said. It may work, it may not work.

I feel good about it. That's all it is, just a feeling. I -- you know, I'm a smart guy, I feel good about it and we're going to see. You're going to see soon enough.

And we have certainly some very big samples of people. If you look at the people, you have a lot of people that are in big trouble.

And this is not a drug that obviously -- I think I can speak for a lot of -- from a lot of experience because it's been out there for over 20 years. So it's not a drug that you have a huge amount of danger with. It's not like a brand new drug that's been just created that may have an unbelievable, monumental effect like kill you.

We're going to know very soon and, I can tell you, the FDA is working very hard to get it out. Right now, in terms of malaria, if you want it, you could have a prescription. You get a prescription, and by the way -- and it's very effective. It works.

I have a feeling you may -- and -- and I'm not being overly optimistic or pessimistic. I sure as hell think we ought to give it a try. I mean, there's been some interesting things happen and some good -- very good things.

Let's see what happens. We have nothing to lose. You know the expression? What the hell do you have to lose, OK?

Alexander: So, what do you say Americans who are scared, I guess? Nearly 200 dead and 14,000 who are sick and millions as you witness who are scared right now, what do you say to Americans who are watching you right now who are scared?

Trump: I say that you are a terrible reporter, that's what I say. I think it's a very nasty question. I think it's a very bad signal that you are putting out to the American people. They're looking for answers and they're looking for hope. And you're doing sensationalism and the same with NBC and Concast -- I don't call it Comcast I call it Concast. Let me just, who do you work, let me just say something.

That's really bad reporting. And you ought to get back to reporting instead of sensationalism. Let's see if it works. It might and it might not. I happen to feel good about it, but who knows? I've been right a lot.

Instead, Alexander was asking what the President of the United States, the leader of the country, would tell people who are terrified about the virus, its impact on their jobs and how it is changing our way of life. It's a VERY fair question -- especially considering that residents of New York and California are all being told to stay in their homes as of Friday morning. People are scared. They want reassurance. They want to know that their government and their leaders are doing everything they can to solve this problem.

Which is why all Trump had to say was something like: I know this is an anxious time for millions of Americans. I just want you to know that we have the brightest minds working day and night to help solve the many challenges coronavirus poses to our way of life. This is a difficult time but we have weathered difficult times as a country before and come out on the other side the stronger and more united.

Or, if that's too much, Trump could have simple said what Mike Pence did when the vice president circled back to the question: "I would say, do not be afraid, be vigilant."

Short and sweet! Reassuring without being untrue. Leader-ly.

Trump decided to go in the exact opposite direction. He attacked Alexander as a "terrible reporter" who asked "a very nasty question." (Neither of those things are true.) Then he went into a riff on how he calls Comcast "Concast" (get it?!?!) -- NBC is owned by Comcast -- and finished up saying he has "been right a lot" on, uh, something.

OK.

Originally posted here:
Here's Donald Trump's angry response when asked what he would tell scared Americans - CNN

Jim Carrey on Thursday hit Donald Trumpwith his second taunting artwork of the week, despite saying in January that he would no longerdepict the president in cartoon form.

The actor-artist used his latest politically themed piece to take aim at the Trump White Houses widely criticized response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Carrey cast POTUS in Jaws, which could actually be the movie of Trumps nightmares given his reported terror of sharks.

Trump is willing to risk countless lives to save his economic record, Carrey captioned the picture, seemingly in response to the presidents stated wish to reopen businesses shuttered amid the public health crisis by Easter. Trumps hope is in stark contrast to advice from health experts.

He has fully become the mayor from Jaws, Carrey wrote, in reference to the films fictional Mayor Larry Vaughn (played by Murray Hamilton) who orders the beach to remain open despite evidence that a shark is lurking nearby.

The character returned in the sequel, Jaws 2.

Carrey mocked Trump with this NSFW piece on Tuesday:

He also continues to tweet updates on his beard that hes vowed to grow until we all go back to work.

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Original post:
Jim Carrey Casts Donald Trump In The Movie Of His Nightmares - HuffPost

The coronavirus outbreak has already had effects that go far beyond public health issues.It has impacted Washingtons relations with numerous countries, adversaries and allies alike.

Nowhere is that more evident than in the Trump administrations policies toward North Korea and Iran.Interestingly, though, the administrations treatment of those two countries is a study in contrasts.

As my Cato Institute colleague Doug Bandow notes, the pandemic has totally eclipsed Washingtons usual concerns about North Koreas behavior. U.S. policymakers have obsessed about Pyongyangs nuclear and missile programs and ambitions for decades, but their attention is now, understandably, focused elsewhere.President Trump has not entirely ignored Pyongyang during this crisis, however. He sent a letter directly to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un offering U.S. aid in combatting the epidemic.

One analyst dismissed that overture as pen-pal diplomacy, but Trumps letter was a significant initiative to revive the moribund dialogue with Kim that had begun with such promise at the Singapore summit nearly two years earlier.Although Trump did not explicitly offer to ease U.S. sanctions, his latest missive suggested a wish to use bilateral cooperation on the coronavirus crisis to advance that dialogue and perhaps facilitate cooperation on other issues.That approach should be applauded, not dismissed or ridiculed. It was notable that although the DPRK government declined the offer, it apparently did so through a reasonably polite, personal letter from Kims sister, widely viewed as perhaps his most important adviser.

Unfortunately, Trumps behavior toward Iran in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic is a depressing contrast to his relatively conciliatory approach toward North Korea.Although Washington made a perfunctory offer of humanitarian medical assistance to Tehran, that gesture was more than offset by the ostentatious continuation of hostile, debilitating measures.The United States and the United Arab Emirates even conducted war games explicitly directed against Iran on March 23.The Pentagon went ahead with that full-scale exercise, even as it was canceling or scaling back similar exercises in other parts of the world.

There were no indications of a willingness to ease other components of Washingtons unrelentingly hostile policy toward Iran either. Sanctions that Trump imposed earlier had severely limited Irans access to medicines and medical supplies, asHuman Rights Watchnoted. Yet, when the coronavirus outbreak exploded in Iran, the president showed no inclination whatever to suspend or even modify those punishing restrictions.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani pointed out the hypocrisy. The United States should lift sanctions if Washington truly wanted to help Iran to contain the outbreak, Rouhani said on March 23, adding that Iran had no intention of accepting Washington's offer of humanitarian assistance. "American leaders are lying, he charged in a televised speech to the Iranian people, adding If they want to help Iran, all they need to do is to lift sanctions .... Then we can deal with the coronavirus outbreak."

Rouhanis rejection of even limited humanitarian aid can legitimately be condemned as short-sighted, but given the context of Washingtons vague offer, it was understandable.At the time Rouhani spoke, Iran was one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic, with more than 26,000 cases and more than 1,700 deaths. Just four days later, the totals were up to 29,406 cases and 2,234 deaths. Yet Washington steadfastly adheres to its sanctions policy. Indeed, the administration imposed fresh sanctions on March 17, in an effort to compel the regime to release detained Americans.

Its a policy that is both cruel and tone-deaf.Trump and his advisers are ignoring growing calls at home and abroad to lift at least some of the sanctions.Even Washingtons closest allies in Europe are spurning U.S. warnings to maintain a hard line toward Tehran.The European Union now is openly defying U.S. policy, announcing a 20 million euro aid package for Iran.

U.S. policy toward both North Korea and Iran leaves great room for improvement.Trumps outreach to Pyongyang was a constructive gesture, but it needs to be accompanied by the easing of sanctions.Washingtons entire attitude toward Tehran is even worse.The hostility that U.S. leaders display is downright toxic. Maintaining sanctions, much less imposing new ones, in the midst of a pandemic is an act of cruelty that should shame all Americans.As respected scholars have shown, sanctions have a long history of inflicting harm on innocent populations in target countries while generally failing to compel the regimes to capitulate on key issues.The strategy is harmful even in normal times, it is an abomination during a massive public health crisis.

Ted Galen Carpenter, a senior fellow in security studies at the Cato Institute and a contributing editor at the National Interest, is the author of 12 books and more than 850 articles on international affairs.

Continued here:
Donald Trump Offered to Help North Korea on Coronavirus. Why Not Iran? - The National Interest