The US had a historic week amid the coronavirus pandemic, hitting a file excessive of latest circumstances every single day starting Wednesday.
The US had a historic week amid the coronavirus pandemic, hitting a file excessive of latest circumstances every single day starting Wednesday. President Donald Trump, nevertheless, spent his Sunday morning retweeting a video of a supporter saying “white energy,” attacking presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s intelligence, and claiming he didn’t know something a few reported Russian bounty on US troops in Afghanistan.
Early Sunday morning, Trump retweeted a video of members of The Villages, a Florida retirement neighborhood, each rallying for and protesting in opposition to him. One man driving a golf cart with Trump 2020 indicators could be heard within the first seconds of the video chanting “white energy” in response to heckling from residents protesting Trump.
“Thanks to the nice individuals of The Villages,” Trump wrote. “The Radical Left Do Nothing Democrats will Fall within the Fall. Corrupt Joe is shot. See you quickly!!!”
The video introduced swift condemnation throughout the political spectrum. Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), talking on CNN’s State of the Union, mentioned there’s “no query” the president shouldn’t have retweeted it and added, “He ought to take it down … it’s indefensible.”
Well being and Human Providers Secretary Alex Azar, additionally on State of the Union, condemned racism on the whole Sunday morning, however wouldn’t say whether or not it was a mistake to tweet the video. “Neither the president, his administration, nor I might do something to be supportive of white supremacy or something that may help discrimination of any sort,” he mentioned.
Shortly after Scott’s look on CNN, and forward of an interview on CBS’s Face the Nation throughout which he repeated his perception the video needs to be eliminated, the tweet was deleted. The president didn’t remark additional on the video Sunday morning, earlier than touring to his golf membership in Sterling, Virginia. Judd Deere, a spokesperson for the White Home, advised Reuters, “President Trump is a giant fan of The Villages. He didn’t hear the one assertion made on the video. What he did see was super enthusiasm from his many supporters.”
Trump has made racist feedback himself previously, together with referring to the coronavirus because the “kung flu” and telling congresswomen of coloration who oppose him to “return” to the “crime infested locations from which they got here.” And as Vox’s German Lopez notes, he has loved the help of white supremacists since asserting his candidacy. The president has been dismissive of accusations of racism previously, and he has downplayed his help amongst white nationalists. For example, when requested in regards to the pushback he acquired following the tweets in regards to the congresswomen, he mentioned, “It doesn’t concern me as a result of many individuals agree with me.”
It’s actually doable Trump retweeted the video with out watching it, however it’s price noting the “white energy” chant started throughout the first 10 seconds. And on condition that the president has repeatedly made — and appeared to endorse — racist statements, it begins to look, as Lopez wrote, “that bigotry isn’t just political opportunism on Trump’s half however an actual aspect of his character, character, and profession.”
Trump additionally insulted Biden and claimed he knew nothing of a Russian bounty scheme in Afghanistan
Along with retweeting a white supremacist chant, Trump’s Sunday morning Twitter feed featured full-throated defenses of his administration’s relationship with Russia and a tweet calling “Sleepy Joe [Biden]” a “Low IQ particular person.”
The New York Instances reported Friday that the Russian navy secretly supplied to pay Taliban fighters to kill US troopers in Afghanistan. US officers discovered of the scheme months in the past and briefed the president in March, in accordance with the report.
Officers reportedly supplied Trump quite a few choices for reprimanding Russia, together with escalating sanctions or issuing diplomatic complaints. However Trump didn’t select to retaliate in any respect, as an alternative apparently ignoring what intelligence prompt was an unprecedented Russian assault on US troops — and a big escalation of the nation’s help for the Taliban.
Trump denied figuring out in regards to the intelligence and attacked the Instances on Twitter, writing that “everyone is denying [the report] & there haven’t been many assaults on us. No one’s been harder on Russia than the Trump Administration.”
…No one’s been harder on Russia than the Trump Administration. With Corrupt Joe Biden & Obama, Russia had a discipline day, taking on necessary components of Ukraine – The place’s Hunter? Most likely simply one other phony Instances hit job, similar to their failed Russia Hoax. Who’s their “supply”?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 28, 2020
Because the Instances reported, 20 People had been killed in Afghanistan in 2019 — though it’s unclear which killings could also be linked to the Russian plot.
Trump went on to allege that the Instances’s sources don’t exist, calling on the paper to disclose its sources.
Democrats have spent the weekend criticizing Trump over the report; Biden, as an illustration, derided Trump at a marketing campaign occasion for not punishing Russia.
“His total presidency has been a present to Putin, however that is past the pale,” Biden mentioned throughout a digital city corridor Saturday. “It’s a betrayal of essentially the most sacred responsibility we bear as a nation, to guard and equip our troops once we ship them into hurt’s method.”
Trump took concern with this evaluation, tweeting Sunday morning that Biden’s statements had been “written by his handlers” and that “Russia ate his and Obama’s lunch throughout their time in workplace.”
These tweets — and others on the identical themes — got here because the coronavirus disaster is accelerating throughout the US.
Coronavirus circumstances hit their highest each day quantity but on Thursday, and common weekly circumstances have been rising for the final two weeks. Governors throughout the nation stay largely on their very own in terms of deciding how and when to limit individuals’s motion, or put different public well being measures in place.
The White Home coronavirus job drive has known as for elevated vigilance in opposition to the virus as circumstances rise, particularly throughout the South and Western US. However, Vice President Mike Pence assured the general public Friday that the nation is “in a significantly better place” than it had been, and mentioned People can select to train their free speech by attending rallies like those just lately hosted by Trump, so long as they preserve official tips in thoughts. And Trump has repeatedly made the wrong argument that, “Instances up solely due to our huge quantity testing.”
It’s not clear whether or not states will heed public well being consultants’ warnings that current financial reopenings largely occurred too quickly and are contributing to the illness’s unfold. However they’re actually getting blended messages from the White Home — and that’s when the president addresses the difficulty in any respect.
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