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White House Working on Plan to Cut Aid to WHO

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By NBC News. The White House’s Office of Management and Budget is working on a possible plan to cut U.S. aid to the World Health Organization, administration officials said Wednesday, as President Donald Trump tries to deflect blame for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Administration officials said they also plan to look into the timeline of the WHO’s reaction to the coronavirus after it first appeared in China, as well as “links” to China.

“What the WHO knew and how it reacted to that knowledge is relevant to the U.S. government’s response to the crisis,” a senior administration official said. (Read more from “White House Working on Plan to Cut Aid to WHO” HERE)

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Trump Escalates Tension With World Health Organization Over Coronavirus Pandemic, Repeats Threat to Withhold Funding

By CNBC. U.S. President Donald Trump escalated tension with the World Health Organization on Wednesday, once again criticizing the agency’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and threatening to withhold funding.

“So we’re going to do a study, an investigation, and we’re going to make a determination as to what we’re doing. In the meantime, we’re holding back,” Trump said at a White House press conference Wednesday. It was not immediately clear from the president’s comment if he was “holding back” on the funding or probe of the WHO.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the administration is reevaluating the WHO’s funding, adding that the United Nation’s health organization hasn’t “achieved what it intended to do,” particularly in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Organizations have to work. They have to deliver the outcomes for which they were intended,” Pompeo said. “We need to make sure that, not only the World Health Organization but every international organization that we take taxpayer money and give it to them for the benefit of America, we need to make sure it’s delivering on those tax payer dollars.” (Read more from “Trump Escalates Tension With World Health Organization Over Coronavirus Pandemic, Repeats Threat to Withhold Funding” HERE)

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FCC Makes Decision on Investigating Networks Airing Trump’s Coronavirus Briefings

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Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai dismissed a petition for the agency to investigate news networks that air President Donald Trump’s press briefings on coronavirus.

The independent government agency slapped down a request from advocacy group Free Press because press freedoms are too important, Pai said in a tweet Monday announcing the decision. The tweet included screenshot of a press statement addressing the petition. . .

Pai’s tweet and press statement comes after Washington Post columnist Margaret Sullivan demanded Saturday that news networks stop live-broadcasting Trump’s near-daily coronavirus briefings.

“The media must stop live-broadcasting Trump’s dangerous, destructive coronavirus briefings,” Sullivan tweeted along with her column explaining why. (Read more from “FCC Makes Decision on Investigating Networks Airing Trump’s Coronavirus Briefings” HERE)

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Trump Urges Navy Not to ‘Destroy’ Captain Who Wrote Coronavirus Letter; Trump Says He Would Not Have Asked Navy Secretary to Resign

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By Washington Examiner. President Trump does not want to see the career of Navy Capt. Brett Crozier “destroyed” because of his decision to speak out about the coronavirus aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt.

During a press conference on Monday, Trump said that he may “get involved” in the Navy’s handling of Crozier’s case after he was fired from his role as commander of the ship. In a series of questions about Crozier’s situation, Trump said he believes the captain made a mistake by speaking to the press rather than following the military chain of command but noted that he doesn’t want the mistake to ruin Crozier’s career.

“He’s the captain of a ship. He’s a very important person of a very expensive ship, a nuclear-powered ship. He shouldn’t be writing letters like that. But it happens. Sometimes I’ll write a letter that I’ll say ‘I wish I didn’t send it.’ Not too often, but it happens,” he said.

Trump later added, “I am going to look into it, and I’m going to see maybe we can do something because I’m not looking to destroy a person’s life, who’s had an otherwise stellar career, as I understand it. I looked at his file just now because I’ve been seeing what’s going on. If we can save a person’s career — I don’t mind going after a person when they did something wrong, but this was a mistake.” (Read more from “Trump Urges Navy Not to ‘Destroy’ Captain Who Wrote Coronavirus Letter” HERE)

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Trump Says He Would Not Have Asked Navy Secretary to Resign

By New York Post. President Trump said Tuesday that acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly didn’t have to resign for giving a profane speech justifying his firing of USS Theodore Roosevelt commander Capt. Brett Crozier, but Trump said he hopes it will end the controversy.

Crozier warned last week that COVID-19 was spreading among his 5,000-man crew. Modly removed him from command, telling his former crew he was “too naive or too stupid” if he believed the email would not leak.

“The whole thing was very unfortunate,” Trump said at a press conference Tuesday night.

“The captain should not have written a letter, he didn’t have to be Ernest Hemingway. He made a mistake but he had a bad day,” Trump said.

He added on Modly’s resignation: “I had heard he did because he didn’t want to cause any disturbance for our country… because he wouldn’t have had to resign, I would not have asked him. I don’t know him. I didn’t speak to him, but he did that I think just to end that problem. And I think in really many ways that was a very unselfish thing for him to do.”

Trump offered Monday to mediate between Modly and Crozier. On Tuesday, Modly resigned after meeting with Defense Secretary Mark Esper, according to reports. (Read more from “Trump Says He Would Not Have Asked Navy Secretary to Resign” HERE)

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Trump Promotes Voter ID, Says ‘a Lot of People Cheat With Mail-In Voting’

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By Newsweek. President Donald Trump said on Friday that he rejected the idea of mail-in voting and endorsed the concept of Voter ID, which he referred to as “the real deal.”

“I think a lot of people cheat with mail-in voting,” Trump said at Friday’s coronavirus task force meeting from the White House. “I think people should vote with Voter ID. I think Voter ID is very important, and the reason they don’t want Voter ID is because they tend to cheat.” . . .

Trump said people should show up to the polls in person and cast their votes after presenting the proper identification.

“You should have a picture for voting,” Trump said. “It should be called Voter ID, they should have that. And it shouldn’t mail-in voting, it should be you go to a booth and you proudly display yourself.” (Read more from “Trump Promotes Voter ID, Says ‘a Lot of People Cheat With Mail-In Voting'” HERE)

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Texas Opens Door to More Mail-In Voting in 2020 Elections

By Houston Chronicle. Texas is opening the door to an expansion of mail-in voting during the coronavirus outbreak, though the state is unlikely to heed calls to have every voter cast ballots by mail to avoid exposure to COVID-19 at polling places.

The state’s director of elections on Thursday sent guidance to elections officials in all 254 counties telling them that voters can ask for mail-in ballots if they are worried that coronavirus will make showing up to a polling place a danger to their health. (Read more from “Texas Opens Door to More Mail-In Voting in 2020 Elections” HERE)

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U.S. Doctor: COVID-19 Patients Go From ‘Very Ill’ to ‘Symptom-Free’ in 8 to 12 Hours Using Hydroxychloroquine and Zinc; Dem Says Trump’s Touting of Hydroxychloroquine Helped Save Her Life

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By The Blaze. A doctor in Los Angeles is reporting remarkable success in treating COVID-19 patients with a combination of zinc and the Trump-touted anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine.

Dr. Anthony Cardillo, an ER specialist and the CEO of Mend Urgent Care, has been prescribing the combination of drugs to patients experiencing severe symptoms of the disease after contracting the novel coronavirus.

“Every patient I’ve prescribed it to has been very, very ill and within 8 to 12 hours, they were basically symptom-free,” Cardillo said in an interview Sunday with KABC-TV. “So, clinically I am seeing a resolution.”

He added that combining the drug with zinc has been the key to the success. The hydroxychloroquine, he said, “opens the zinc channel” allowing the zinc to enter the cell, which then “blocks the replication of cellular machinery.”

Cardillo was careful to note that the drug should only be prescribed for patients who are extremely sick and in urgent need so as to not blow through the limited supply of the drug, which is used to treat other illnesses, as well. (Read more from “U.S. Doctor: COVID-19 Patients Go From ‘Very Ill’ to ‘Symptom-Free’ in 8 to 12 Hours Using Hydroxychloroquine and Zinc” HERE)

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Detroit Dem Says Trump’s Touting of Hydroxychloroquine Helped Save Her Life

By Fox News. A Democratic state representative from Detroit has recovered from coronavirus and she says it was the combination of the drug hydroxychloroquine and President Trump that saved her life.

State Rep. Karen Whitsett’s husband is an engineer at Detroit Metropolitan Airport and the two believe they were exposed to COVID-19 through his job.

Whitsett said she started experiencing shortness of breath, sinus issues, and swollen lymph nodes and tested positive for the virus on Monday.

Her doctor prescribed hydroxychloroquine, a drug used to prevent and treat malaria and also used to treat lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and medical conditions.

Trump has touted the use of hydroxychloroquine during his daily coronavirus briefings despite push back from health experts who warn that the drug could potentially be dangerous and its effectiveness against COVID-19 hasn’t been proven. (Read more from “Detroit Dem Says Trump’s Touting of Hydroxychloroquine Helped Save Her Life” HERE)

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After Attacking Trump’s Coronavirus-Related China Travel Ban as Xenophobic, Dems and Media Have Changed Tune; Obama Admin Repeatedly Sought Millions in CDC Funding Cuts, Despite Biden’s Attacks on Trump Preparedness

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By Fox News. Within hours of President Trump’s decision to restrict travel from China on Jan. 31, top Democrats and media figures immediately derided the move as unnecessary and xenophobic — and they are now beating a hasty retreat from that position as the coronavirus continues to ravage the economy and cause scores of deaths. . .

For many news outlets, the about-face has been stark. A Jan. 31 article in The New York Times quoted epidemiologist Dr. Michael Osterholm as saying that Trump’s decision to restrict travel from China was “more of an emotional or political reaction.”

Weeks later, though, the paper reported that dozens of “nations across the world have imposed travel restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus,” and did not criticize any of them for the move.

The Washington Post ran a story quoting a Chinese official asking for “empathy” and slamming the White House for acting “in disregard of WHO [World Health Organization] recommendation against travel restrictions.”

In March, The Post finally acknowledged that critics accused China and WHO of “covering up or downplaying the severity of an infectious disease outbreak.” (Read more from “After Attacking Trump’s Coronavirus-Related China Travel Ban as Xenophobic, Dems and Media Have Changed Tune” HERE)

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Obama Admin Repeatedly Sought Millions in CDC Funding Cuts, Despite Biden’s Attacks on Trump Preparedness

By Fox News. The Obama administration repeatedly sought to cut hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), yearly budget requests show — seemingly undercutting former Vice President Joe Biden’s repeated attacks on the Trump White House for its pandemic preparedness.

Numerous Democrats, including Biden, have falsely claimed that Trump slashed the CDC budget, and Biden has suggested that he would never pursue similar cuts. The Associated Press has noted that those claims “distort” the facts, with FactCheck.org pointing out that CDC funding has actually increased under the current administration, largely because Congress insisted on maintaining funding levels for both CDC and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Nevertheless, speaking to ABC News’ “This Week” on March 1, Biden claimed: “They’ve cut the funding for the CDC.” On Friday, Biden stepped up his attacks, writing on Twitter: “Donald Trump’s careless, shortsighted actions left our nation ill-prepared and now Americans are paying the price.”

In its fiscal year 2013 budget, while Biden was vice president, the Obama administration sought a total funding level of $5.9 billion from the CDC, or a $569 million cut from the 2012 budget of $6.46 billion. In fiscal year 2015, the Obama administration wanted a $414 million cut year-over-year, and again in the fiscal year 2017 budget, the Obama administration looked to eliminate $251 million in CDC funding. . .

Some of the Obama administration’s cuts specifically took aim at the CDC’s preparedness initiatives. (Read more from “Obama Admin Repeatedly Sought Millions in CDC Funding Cuts, Despite Biden’s Attacks on Trump Preparedness” HERE)

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Trump Fires Intelligence IG Who Told Congress About Ukraine Phone Call

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President Trump has fired Michael Atkinson, the inspector general for the U.S. intelligence community who alerted Congress to concerns about a Trump phone call with the president of Ukraine – a matter that led to the president’s impeachment last year.

Trump formally notified the intelligence committees of both the Senate and House in a letter dated Friday. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., posted the letter online.

“This is to advise that I am exercising my power as President to remove from office the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, effective 30 days from today,” the president wrote.

“It is extremely important that we promote the economy, efficiency, and the effectiveness of Federal programs and activities. The Inspectors General have a critical role in the achievement of these goals,” the president continued. “As is the case with regard to other positions where I, as President, have the power of appointment, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, it is vital that I have the fullest confidence in the appointees serving as Inspectors General. That is no longer the case with regard to this Inspector General.”

The president added he would nominate a replacement “who has my full confidence and who meets the appropriate qualifications,” at a later time. (Read more from “Trump Fires Intelligence IG Who Told Congress About Ukraine Phone Call” HERE)

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School Lesson Promotes Anti-Trump, Chinese Propaganda

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A West Virginia middle school sent students an online lesson that accused Republicans of promoting discrimination against Asian Americans by referring to the coronavirus as a “Chinese virus.”

Stephanie Laney, the parent of an eighth grader at Hurricane Middle School, sent me a copy of the assignment her daughter received in English class. Here’s a link to the assignment. . .

The lesson focused on a story written by the Texas Tribune titled, “Asian Americans say some politicians stoking stigma with coronavirus.”

Attached to the story was a quiz that included blatant anti-Trump and anti-Republican statements.

“Read the following claim,” the lesson stated. “Republican leaders have used insensitive language based on unfounded rumors when referring to the coronavirus. Which sentence from the article provides the BEST support for the above statement?” (Read more from “School Lesson Promotes Anti-Trump, Chinese Propaganda” HERE)

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Trump Says CDC Wants Americans to Cover Faces With Cloth; U.S. Coronavirus Deaths Top 7,000

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By Fox News. President Trump on Friday announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is recommending Americans wear facial coverings made of cloth while out in public to help stop the spread of coronavirus — though the president repeatedly called it “voluntary” and said he wouldn’t do it himself.

The change in guidelines signals a major shift in how officials are looking to combat the spread of COVID-19. The president, during a briefing with the White House coronavirus task force, said the recommendation is being made because of studies indicating asymptomatic people are spreading the virus.

“In light of these studies, the CDC is advising the use of non-medical cloth face coverings as an additional voluntary public health measure,” Trump said. “So it’s voluntary. You don’t have to do it.”

The president added: “I don’t think I’m going to be doing it.” He said he can’t imagine himself sitting in the Oval Office of the White House behind “that beautiful Resolute Desk” wearing a mask.

In a Friday statement, the CDC said “the virus can spread between people interacting in close proximity—for example, speaking, coughing, or sneezing—even if those people are not exhibiting symptoms.”

(Read more from “Trump Says CDC Wants Americans to Cover Faces With Cloth” HERE)

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U.S. Coronavirus Deaths Top 7,000, Fauci Warns About ‘Knockout Drug’

By CNBC. . .Americans shouldn’t assume hydroxychloroquine is a “knockout drug” in preventing or treating COVID-19, White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci warned.

“We still need to do the definitive studies to determine whether any intervention, not just this one, is truly safe and effective,” Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on Fox News. “But when you don’t have that information, it’s understandable why people might want to take something anyway even with the slightest hint of being effective.”

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US cases: At least 270,473

US deaths: At least 7,077

(Read more from “U.S. Coronavirus Deaths Top 7,000, Fauci Warns About ‘Knockout Drug’” HERE)

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Donald Trump Responds to Illegals Not Getting Stimulus Checks; Trump Administration Urged to Release Illegal Aliens

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By Breitbart. President Donald Trump was asked by a reporter on Wednesday about “undocumented” immigrants not getting a stimulus check from the government as part of the coronavirus economic rescue package.

“Well, you know, you are saying undocumented, meaning they came in illegally,” Trump said. “A lot of people would say that we have a lot of citizens right now that won’t be working, so what are you going to do?” . . .

“It’s a very sad question, I must be honest with you, but they came in illegally and we have a lot of people that are citizens in our country that won’t be able to have jobs,” Trump said. (Read more from “Donald Trump Responds to Illegals Not Getting Stimulus Checks” HERE)

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Trump Administration Urged to Release Illegal Aliens Amid Coronavirus

By New York Post. The Trump administration is facing a looming deadline to figure out whether it will continue to hold illegal immigrant detainees at migrant detention centers amid concerns over the spread of coronavirus.

Over the weekend, a federal judge ordered the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to either release illegal migrant minors in their custody or explain why they must remain detained amid the virus outbreak.

The judge also warned that ICE officials will be given a week to show the court that three specific family detention centers are providing adequately hygienic conditions for migrants being housed there.

The judge described conditions at those centers as “hotbeds of contagion.” (Read more from “Trump Administration Urged to Release Illegal Aliens Amid Coronavirus” HERE)

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