Coronavirus disaster in Donald Trump’s USA

This 29 April 2020 from the USA says about itself:

Indian News Anchor Mocks Trump for Coronavirus ‘Treatment’ Remarks | NowThis

Watch this Indian reporter mock Donald Trump’s disinfectant comments on national TV.

In US news and current events today, the coronavirus pandemic has become global news as COVID-19 sweeps across the entire world. Many eyes during the coronavirus pandemic are on the U.S. and how the Donald Trump administration respond to the COVID-19 crisis. Donald Trump appointed VP Mike Pence to lead a White House Coronavirus Task Force.

U.S. DEATHS TOP 60,000, TRUMP’S PREDICTED MAXIMUM More than 60,000 people in the U.S. have now officially died from the coronavirus. The increasingly grim figure exceeds predictions Trump made just last week when he sought to frame a maximum of 50,000 to 60,000 total deaths as a win for America and a validation of his administration’s highly criticized pandemic response. “We did the right thing because if we didn’t do it, you would have had a million people, a million and a half people, maybe 2 million people dead,” Trump said. [HuffPost]

PRESIDENT WON’T EXTEND SOCIAL DISTANCING GUIDELINES Trump said the federal government’s coronavirus social distancing guidelines will be “fading out” when they expire today, counting on states taking charge as they pivot to reopening. The administration says its cautionary guidance issued 45 days ago has been incorporated into recommendations given to the states on how they can begin gradually easing restrictions and reopening their economies. “They’ll be fading out because now the governors are doing it,” Trump told reporters, continuing to abdicate from leadership on the crisis. [AP]

SUSAN RICE SLAMS KUSHNER’S ‘RIDICULOUS’ BOAST Former national security adviser Susan Rice tore into Jared Kushner for claiming the federal government’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak has been a “great success story.” Kushner made his comments after the U.S. topped 1 million cases of the virus and more than 59,000 deaths. He didn’t mention the U.S. death toll ― higher than any other country in the world ― the persistently inadequate testing, shortages of critical medical equipment and the lack of preparation that have plagued the administration’s crisis response. [HuffPost]

Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro suggests older people dying is “tragic,” but also not so bad.

TRIBES WERE MEANT TO GET $8 BILLION IN COVID-19 AID. THEY GOT NOTHING. Tribal governments were supposed to get $8 billion in direct emergency relief from the CARES Act, the $2 trillion COVID-19 stimulus bill that became law on March 27. More than a month later, they haven’t gotten any of it. Part of the reason is that the Treasury Department has been flailing in its dealings with tribes. Another reason stems from a lawsuit over whether Alaska Native Corporations are entitled to the money. For now they are not, so there is no reason for the Treasury not to funnel it directly to tribal governments. [HuffPost]

THIS ISN’T THE FIRST PRESIDENTIAL PUBLIC HEALTH FAILURE The year was 1976, the president was Gerald Ford and the fear was that swine flu would sweep the country in a repeat of the 1918 flu epidemic. But instead of resisting action like Trump, Ford tried to do too much. And much of the effort flopped. [HuffPost]