As the Post’s Dave Jorgenson walks his dog and listens to Biden’s podcast, the actual Biden interrupts the podcast to say, “Dave, what the hell? I told you to wear your mask outside.”
As Jorgenson reacts in understandable confusion, Biden appears on his phone screen and adds, “You need to wear your mask outside. I don’t care if you’re just walking your dog.”
The funny video comes as Biden and Trump have clashed over wearing masks in public, with the president suggesting it was “very unusual” that Biden wore a mask while attending a Memorial Day ceremony, even though that was in compliance with the CDC’s recommendation.
Senator Tim Kaine said he and his wife would continue observing CDC guidelines, even though they have tested positive for coronavirus antibodies.
“While those antibodies could make us less likely to be re-infected or infect others, there is still too much uncertainty over what protection antibodies may actually provide,” Kaine said.
“So we will keep following CDC guidelines—hand-washing, mask wearing, social distancing. We encourage others to do so as well. It shows those around you that you care about them.”
In contrast, senator Rand Paul, who tested positive for coronavirus in March, refused to wear a mask on the Senate floor this month because he said he did not have to.
“I have immunity,” Paul said when asked about his lack of a mask. “I’ve already had the virus. So I can’t get it again, and I can’t give it to anybody.”
As Kaine indicated, there is still uncertainty around whether those who have had coronavirus can be reinfected. There are promising signs that former coronavirus patients have immunity, although it remains unknown how long that immunity might last.
Kaine says he and wife tested positive for coronavirus antibodies
Senator Tim Kaine announced he and his wife have tested positive for coronavirus antibodies after experiencing flu-like symptoms several weeks ago.
“I tested positive for the flu earlier this year and was given standard medication to treat it. The symptoms lingered and I continued to receive treatment from my physician for the flu through mid-March,” Kaine said in a statement.
“At the end of March, I experienced new symptoms that I initially thought were flu remnants and a reaction to an unusually high spring pollen count. Then Anne experienced a short bout of fever and chills, followed by congestion and eventually a cough.”
Kaine, who served as Hillary Clinton’s running mate in 2016, said he and his wife had been working remotely and isolating themselves as they had symptoms. Their physicians later suggested they may have had mild cases of coronavirus, and they were tested for antibodies.
The Virginia senator emphasized that he was not taking the antibody test result as a carte blanche to ignore health guidelines.
“While those antibodies could make us less likely to be re-infected or infect others, there is still too much uncertainty over what protection antibodies may actually provide,” Kaine said.
“So we will keep following CDC guidelines—hand-washing, mask wearing, social distancing. We encourage others to do so as well. It shows those around you that you care about them.”
Trump is once again trying to deflect attention away from his response to coronavirus by blaming China for the pandemic.
“All over the World the CoronaVirus, a very bad ‘gift’ from China, marches on. Not good!” Trump tweeted this morning.
The president was previously criticized for calling coronavirus “the Chinese virus,” raising concerns about intensifying racism against Asian Americans.
The label was derided as a transparent effort by Trump to downplay complaints that his administration had missed critical early opportunities to limit the spread of the virus.
Trump’s tweet comes as the country’s coronavirus death toll has surpassed 100,000 and the number of US unemployment claims has reached 40 million.
House speaker Nancy Pelosi said she would seek formal negotiations with the Senate on the FISA bill, after majority leader Steny Hoyer announced he was withdrawing the legislation from consideration.
“Clearly, because House Republicans have prioritized politics over our national security, we will no longer have a bipartisan veto-proof majority. Therefore, as Leader Hoyer just announced, we will no longer be voting on the FISA bill today,” Pelosi wrote in a “Dear Colleague” letter.
“It will be our intention to go to conference in order to ensure that all of the views of all Members of our Caucus are represented in the final product.”
But considering Trump’s opposition to reauthorizing the surveillance programs, it may be difficult to secure a veto-proof majority on the legislation.
House majority leader Steny Hoyer said he is withdrawing the FISA bill from consideration, a day after speaker Nancy Pelosi pulled the scheduled vote on the bill.
Pelosi scrapped the vote after Trump and many of his Republican allies made clear that they opposed the bill, which would have reauthorized three expired surveillance programs.
Combined with progressive criticism of the legislation, it was unclear if the bill would be able to pass the House, despite the chamber’s approval of a similar bill in March.
“At the request of the Speaker of the House, I am withdrawing consideration of the FISA Act,” Hoyer said in a statement.
“The two-thirds of the Republican party that voted for this bill in March have indicated they are going to vote against it now. I am told they are doing so at the request of the President. I believe this to be against the security interest of the United States and the safety of the American people.”
Trump tweeted about his opposition to the bill on Tuesday night, equating the programs’ reauthorization with the Obama administration’s surveillance of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who later pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.
Trump offers condolences a day after death toll surpasses 100,000
Trump offered his condolences to the loved ones of Americans who have died from coronavirus, a day after the US death toll from the virus surpassed 100,000.
“We have just reached a very sad milestone with the coronavirus pandemic deaths reaching 100,000,” Trump wrote on Twitter this morning.
“To all of the families & friends of those who have passed, I want to extend my heartfelt sympathy & love for everything that these great people stood for & represent. God be with you!”
Trump did not initially weigh in on the country reaching the grim milestone yesterday, instead tweeting this morning about special counsel Robert Mueller, Democratic governor Gretchen Whitmer and his expected executive order directed at social media companies.
Trump’s Democratic rival, Joe Biden, released a video last night mourning the loss of 100,000 Americans. “For all of you who are hurting so badly, I’m so sorry for your loss,” Biden said. “This nation grieves with you. Take some solace from the fact we all grieve with you.”
Joe Biden addresses US as its coronavirus death toll passes 100,000 – video
This is Joan Greve, taking over for Joanna Walters.
The White House is reportedly not planning to release economic projections this summer, as the coronavirus pandemic causes widespread unemployment and revenue losses.
The White House is supposed to unveil a federal budget proposal every February and then typically provides a ‘mid-session review’ in July or August with updated projections on economic trends such as unemployment, inflation and economic growth.
Budget experts said they were not aware of any previous White House opting against providing forecasts in this ‘mid-session review’ document in any other year since at least the 1970s. ...
The document would be slated for publication just a few months before the November elections.
Even if Trump declines to release the economic projections before the November presidential election, he will still be confronted with the fact that tens of millions of Americans have had to file for unemloyment since the start of the coronavirus crisis.
US unemployment claims surpass 40 million amid pandemic
Lauren Aratani
The number of Americans who have lost their jobs in the past 10 weeks soared to more than 40 million as the number of unemployment claims continued to rise with 2.1 million people filing for unemployment last week.
The staggering job losses mark a grim milestone in the economic crisis that has gripped the US since the coronavirus triggered widespread shutdowns and stay-at-home orders in an effort to halt the spread of the deadly pandemic.
The latest figures from the Department of Labor show that the rate of new unemployment claims has continued to fall over the last few weeks, down from its peak in early April, when 6.6 million Americans filed for unemployment in a single week.
Earlier this month, the department reported that more than 20 million Americans lost their jobs in April, bringing the unemployment rate to 14.7%, up from 4.4% in March.
While the growth of unemployment claims has slowed, millions more have continued to file for unemployment each week, bringing the total number of unemployed to a disastrous rate not seen since the Great Depression.
Good Morning, US live blog readers, there’s a busy day ahead in coronavirus and politics news, so please stay tuned for all the developments in the US.
Here’s where things are this hour:
Donald Trump has not yet spoken out about the US reaching yesterday the grim milestone of 100,000 Covid-19 deaths across the nation. And in many states the incidence of new cases is still rising, especially in the south and midwest.
Washington DC, plans to begin tentative reopening for business tomorrow, although the mayor of America’s capital has warned there will likely be more cases of coronavirus.
We are awaiting a possible executive order from the president today that attempts an aggressive regulatory move against social media platforms, after Trump erupted in outrage when Twitter included some fact-checks, for the first time, in two of his tweets related to voting, earlier this week.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany will hold a briefing at 2pm ET.
