‘No discussion of efforts to prevent American deaths from the coronavirus can be had without the understanding that President Trump restricted travel from China in January…’
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) CNN sent a cease-and-desist letter to President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign over a “deceptive” ad that they claimed misrepresents the network, according to CNN’s lawyers.
The Trump campaign released the ad, titled “American Comeback,” on Sunday, and it shows CNN’s medical expert Sanjay Gupta crediting Trump’s ban on travel to and from China amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Although few astute viewers were likely to think CNN had actually credited Trump with anything positive related to the pandemic, the network accused the campaign of taking Gupta’s words out of context and portraying them in a “false, misleading, and deceptive” manner.
Gupta wasn’t actually “crediting the president’s travel ban policy,” CNN’s lawyers said in the letter.
Instead, he was “discussing recently implemented social distancing guidelines and stay-at-home orders issued by state and local governments,” they noted.
“CNN hereby demands that you discontinue airing the advertisement with the CNN clip that has been distorted in such a way as to mislead the public,”Rick McMurtry, associate general counsel for WarnerMedia, which owns CNN, wrote in a letter to Tim Murtaugh, the Trump campaign’s communications director.
Murtaugh, however, said that a conversation about social-distancing and its effectiveness inherently includes discussion about Trump’s travel restrictions.
“No discussion of efforts to prevent American deaths from the coronavirus can be had without the understanding that President Trump restricted travel from China in January. Based on that alone, the ad is accurate,” Murtaugh told CNN Business.
Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale also blasted the network for rejecting the Trump team’s ad while gladly accepting “any bogus Dem ad.”
CNN hack @brianstelter had a story pre-written & gave us 7 minutes to respond before posting.@CNN rejected another accurate Trump ad because they’re stooges for Dems but they’ll run any bogus Dem ad.
‘Every time Barack didn’t get the Congress he needed, that was because our folks didn’t show up…’
Michelle Obama/IMAGE: The Tonight Show via Youtube
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) In a soon-to-be-released Netflix documentary, former First Lady Michelle Obama blasted the Americans who “couldn’t be bothered to get out and vote” in 2016 as a “slap in the face” .
Obama has cautiously toed the line of avoiding overtly political activities while claiming to be engaged in a broad-based, “nonpartisan” get-out-the-vote initiatives, but the dog-whistle rhetoric clearly signaled her intended audience.
“I understand the people who voted for Trump,” she reportedly said in the documentary, which is based on her memoir, Becoming. “The people who didn’t vote at all—the young people, the women—that’s when you think, ‘Man, people think this is a game.'”
Obama then laid a serious guilt-trip on apathetic left-wingers for causing not only Hillary Clinton‘s loss, but all of her husband’s past political failures.
“It wasn’t just in this election,” she said. “Every midterm. Every time Barack didn’t get the Congress he needed, that was because our folks didn’t show up.”
She counted her own initiatives to increase voter turnout among the many ways the Left has conspired to fix the democratic process and secure permanent majorities for itself. But “after all that work,” Democrats still “couldn’t be bothered to vote,” she said, according to the Daily Beast.
“That’s my trauma,” she complained. “A lot of our folks didn’t vote. It was almost like a slap in the face.”
In the surprise, unannounced documentary, she also reportedly described President Donald Trump’s inauguration as “painful.”
Her comments echoed similar remarks she made in her memoir, when she explained that she stopped “even trying to smile” during the January 2017 ceremony.
Many in the media had noted her dour expression at the time.
“Someone from Barack’s administration might have said that the optics there were bad, that what the public saw didn’t reflect the president’s reality or ideals,” she wrote in the book. “Realizing it, I made my own optic adjustment. I stopped even trying to smile.”
Explaining her decision to take an extended leave of absence from public life, Obama also continued to milk an oft-repeated line from her speech at the 2016 Democratic convention, in which she claimed to rise above the petty scrum of partisan politics.
“It takes some energy to go high, and we were exhausted from it,” she said in the documentary. “Because when you are the first black anything …”
Despite her adamant denials about entertaining any future White House ambitions, Obama’s name has been widely circulated as a potential running-mate for presumptive Democrat nominee Joe Biden—and as the embattled ex-vice president’s possible replacement.
‘The voters in this state must not be forced to choose between protecting the community’s health and their right to vote…’
George Soros/photo by Niccolò Caranti (CC)
(Ben Sellers, Liberty Headlines) A spate of lawsuits has revealed that, after a failed legislative attempt to pass all-mail voting, corrupt left-wing elites now plan to use the courts in their bid to secure the outcome of the November election.
The group’s underlying goal is to use its vast resources to sow political chaos and test the structural integrity of America’s foundering pro-democratic institutions.
Other legal challenges are likely to follow as the oligarch-activists—who cynically claim that the normal process for conducting free elections would pose a health risk—see no qualms in forcing the courts to process their spurious, partisan complaints.
No Time to Waste
Widespread concern about the coronavirus—largely driven by fearmongering leftists and their media allies—has brought out the worst in Democrats as they embrace ex-Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel‘s ignominious mantra: You never want to let a serious crisis go to waste.
The most ambitious goal of all is their ploy to throw the election itself, eroding one of the most sacred pillars of American government right under the nose of panic-stricken citizens, while weaponizing against them the very institutions meant to promote and preserve democracy.
On the same day that President Donald Trump declared a national emergency due to the escalating pandemic, Marc Elias, Democrats’ “best Election stealing lawyer” chimed in with his scheme to force a mail-in-only November election.
I am getting a lot of questions about the November election. While states can set their own primary days, the federal general election is set by federal statute as the the Tuesday following the first Monday in November. This date cannot be changed by a state nor by the President. https://t.co/jxHCLW4MZ4
Elias’s Friday the 13th tweet helped inspire a wave of leftists in the Democrat echo-chamber to push for legislation that would allocate billions of dollars to the dubious ballot-grab effort.
Conveniently, the bill already had been drafted prior to Trump’s emergency declaration, as Democrats proceeded to hype projections about millions of Americans dying due to the coronavirus.
Since he’s taking advantage of #VoteByMail himself, I hope Donald Trump would commit to signing my bill into law to help states implement vote by mail through November to keep every American safe. https://t.co/ClEfmnhhL4
However, the scheme was quickly exposed and roundly dismissed by Republicans, including Trump, who saw through the hollow attempt to allow unprecedented levels of election fraud and ballot mishandling.
Absentee Ballots are a great way to vote for the many senior citizens, military, and others who can’t get to the polls on Election Day. These ballots are very different from 100% Mail-In Voting, which is “RIPE for FRAUD,” and shouldn’t be allowed!
“The Democrats’ all-mail ballots proposal is a ruse to legalize ballot harvesting nationwide,” wrote Ronna McDaniel, chair of the Republican National Committee, in an op-ed for Fox News.
“Any person would be allowed to return an unlimited number of absentee ballots for voters, opening the door for political operatives to deliver ballots in bulk,” she said.
Bad-Faith Motives Exposed
Marc Elias / IMAGE: WRAL screenshot
As if Elias’s advocacy for the issue did not raise enough red flags, other activist groups further proved that the Left was acting in bad faith, with its brazenly political motives eclipsing any valid health concerns.
In Virginia, an ACLU-backed lawsuit is attempting fraudulently to use the state’s emergency powers to overturn a longstanding rule that requires witness signatures on absentee ballots, in order to attest that those submitting them are who they claim to be.
In New York, the state audaciously canceled its Democratic primary, suggesting that Joe Biden‘s ascendancy to the rank of “presumptive nominee” rendered any further voting moot—despite several looming questions about the candidate’s fitness.
Although most authoritarian overreaches have been vigorously contested by freedom-fighters on both sides of the political spectrum, the level of collusion and the scope of the Left’s mail-in-ballot campaign are enough to make anyone cringe and shudder in despair.
Elias, who previously represented the Democratic candidate in a high-profile North Carolina investigation that alleged GOP ballot fraud, is now challenging some of the very safeguards that the state implemented in the wake of the 2018 scandal.
“The current restrictions on mail ballots not only violate the state Constitution, but they also pose significant risks to voters’ health and safety, and, unless they are remedied, they could result in the disenfranchisement of an unprecedented number of North Carolinians,” Elias complained.
The left-skewed board of elections already has embraced several questionable measures under the auspices of the health panic—even though the state has faced fewer than 500 COVID-related deaths and new cases appear to be receding, with six months still remaining until Election Day.
Among the activist lawsuit’s additional requirements, the state must:
provide prepaid postage on all absentee ballots
change a requirement for two witnesses to sign a ballot
extend the deadline for receipt of ballots until nine days after Election Day
give voters a chance to fix signature discrepancies before election officials reject those ballots
A Coordinated Attack
The main group leading the legal push, dubbed the Right to Vote Initiative, falls under the umbrella of another group, the Advancement Project, which receives direct funding from Soros’s Open Society Foundations and further support from the Democracy Alliance network.
Other financial backers on its list of shame include:
“The state must begin preparations now to ensure that the procedures necessary for increased vote at home and safe in person voting are in place for the citizens of North Carolina,” Holder said.
“The voters in this state must not be forced to choose between protecting the community’s health and their right to vote,” he added.
Of course, the pandemic’s “urgency” did little more than nudge the leftist groups to adjust their existing tactics, with the infrastructure in place from their earlier attempts to promote widespread vote fraud.
Activist left-wing groups like Priorities USA already were spending millions—and forcing GOP opponents to do the same—amid their ubiquitous and relentless assaults on election integrity.
In key battleground states like Michigan, where Trump’s 2016 victory helped secure the Electoral College, they were pushing the courts to allow ballot-harvesting even in February.
In response to those earlier efforts, McDaniel and the RNC had pledged $10 million to fight the litigation.
McDaniel warned at the time that activists were “trying to rig the game with frivolous lawsuits that do nothing but create electoral chaos, waste taxpayer money, and distract election officials in an attempt to advance the Democrats’ voter suppression myth because they know they can’t beat President Trump at the ballot box.”
‘Never in our wildest dreams could we have imagined Nazi-like measures designed to surveil, track and spy upon what was once a free American people…’
Quinton Lucas / IMAGE: 41 Action News via YouTube
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) A new order passed by Mayor Quinton Lucas of Kansas City, Missouri, will force churches to report the names of congregants who attend in-person services.
The 10/10/10 rule is part of the city’s “soft” reopening, and requires all “nonessential” businesses, including churches, to “record the names, contact information, and approximate entry/exit time” of people who spend more than 10 minutes on the premises.
“In-person religious gatherings (including weddings and funerals) may resume, subject to the 10/10/10 rule (if held inside) or limited to 50 people outside, provided social distancing precautions are followed and event organizers maintain records of all attendees,” the rule states, according to the city’s website.
This is an unconstitutional overreach that clearly violates Kansas City residents’ right to privacy, as well as their right to worship freely without being monitored, said Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel.
“Never in our wildest dreams could we have imagined Nazi-like measures designed to surveil, track and spy upon what was once a free American people,” Staver said in a statement. “That is exactly what Kansas City’s misguided government officials are now demanding.”
Lucas’s director of communications, Morgan Said, clarified that churches will not be required to hand over the lists of congregants unless a health emergency arises.
“We are not asking that churches provide a list immediately to the city,” Said told Metro Voice. “Churches keep the list, and only if a member tests positive and that member attended a church function would the church provide a list to the city.”
Regardless, churches should not be forced to keep track of who decides to worship when, Staver said.
“I am running out of adjectives to describe how completely insane the tyrannical abuses launched by state governors and local officials against pastors and churches are becoming,” Staver said.
“It is as if these leaders never bothered to so much as glance at the Constitution they swore to uphold and defend,” he continued. “They seem to be governing from some make-believe, dystopian viewpoint.”
‘Prohibiting churches from gathering in groups of more than 10 … has impermissibly interfered with the church’s free exercise of religion…’
Pastor Kevin Wilson preaches to congregants at Lighthouse Fellowship Church / IMAGE: Facebook
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) The Justice Department is siding with a Virginia church that filed a lawsuit against Gov. Ralph Northam over his unconstitutional attempts to prohibit religious gatherings of more than 10 people.
Lighthouse Fellowship Church sued Northam after Virginia police officers abruptly entered and interrupted the church’s Palm Sunday service on April 15.
Despite having 16 congregants in attendance, churchgoers had been adhering to the federal government’s social distancing restrictions.
Regardless, law-enforcement officials charged the church’s pastor, Kevin Wilson, with violating Northam’s shelter-in-place order, handing him a summons with a penalty up to one year in jail or a fine of up to $2,500.
On Sunday, Justice Department prosecutors filed a statement of interest supporting the church’s lawsuit, arguing that Lighthouse Fellowship Church has a “strong case” against Northam’s executive order since the order allows other venues, such as liquor stores and law offices, to remain open.
“Permitting similar opportunities for in-person gatherings of more than 10 individuals, while at the same time prohibiting churches from gathering in groups of more than 10—-even with social distancing measures and other precautions—has impermissibly interfered with the church’s free exercise of religion,” the Justice Department said in its filing.
Unless Northam can prove that his “disparate treatment of religious gatherings is justified by a compelling reason and is pursued through the least restrictive means,” Northam should be held accountable for violating the free-exercise clause of the First Amendment, the DOJ added.
Virginia officials have claimed Northam’s executive order does not “operate in the manner the plaintiff and the federal government describe,” arguing that claims of religious discrimination are false.
U.S. District Judge Arena Allen also denied Lighthouse Fellowship Church’s request for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction, arguing that Northam’s decision to allow certain businesses to remain open “is essential to prevent joblessness,” whereas churches are not essential.
Attorneys representing the church have appealed the ruling to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, and are hopeful that the court will reconsider the ruling given the Justice Department’s recent intervention.
“The discriminatory targeting of religious worship by limiting congregants to 10 people even with social distancing while allowing similar secular gatherings violates the First Amendment,” Mat Staver, the founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, which represents Lighthouse Fellowship Church, said in a statement. “Gov. Ralph Northam’s targeting of religious worship is a blatant violation of the Bill of Rights.”
‘My conscience will not allow me to arrest someone who is trying to make a living…’
Doug Ducey/Photo by Gage Skidmore (CC)
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) Two county sheriffs in Arizona said they will not enforce Republican Gov. Doug Ducey’s stay-at-home order, arguing that it is not “a crime to try and make a living.”
Ducey said last week that citizens who violate his shelter-in-place order, which was recently extended through mid-May, could face a fine or jail time.
“Law enforcement can suggest they begin listening to the order,” Ducey said, according to the Arizona Republic. “And if they don’t, they’re going to have a Class 1 misdemeanor, which is a $2,500 fine and up to six months in jail, and we will enforce that.”
Mohave County Sheriff Doug Schuster and Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, however, said Ducey’s order is unconstitutional.
“My conscience will not allow me to arrest someone who is trying to make a living,” Schuster said, adding that most of the people he knows don’t “want to be defying” the order. “They’re trying to do what’s best for their families,” he added.
Both Schuster and Lamb said they’d speak to citizens caught violating Ducey’s order. But neither sheriff expects this to become a problem, nor do they want their officers to become the “social distancing police,” according to Schuster.
“We’ll get compliance,” Schuster said. “These businesses are not looking to butt heads with law enforcement or the state.”
To maintain compliance, law enforcement should work to reinforce constitutional rights, Lamb said, but Ducey is trying to do the exact opposite.
“I felt [Ducey] pushed me into a position where I needed to make our stance clear,” he told the Arizona Republic. “The numbers don’t justify the actions anymore. Three hundred deaths is not a significant enough number to continue to ruin the economy.”
‘If Barack Obama had any indication that there was an issue, Barack Obama would not have had him as his vice president…’
Tom Perez/Photo by MDGovpics (CC)
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) Tom Perez, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, defended the group’s decision not to look into the sexual-assault accusation against presidential candidate Joe Biden, arguing that it was just as “absurd” as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s 2016 email scandal.
Biden, the party’s presumptive nominee to challenge President Donald Trump, has been accused of sexual assault by one of his former congressional staffers, Tara Reade.
“This is like the Hillary emails, because there was nothing there,” Perez told ABC News.
An investigation by the State Department into Clinton’s use of a private email server determined that she had jeopardized national security by mishandling classified information. The probe, which officially ended in January, found 91 instances in which 38 State officials had acted negligently.
Although that investigation was limited to examining only the actions of its own department and offering recommendations, at least one judge ruled recently that Clinton may be compelled to provide sworn testimony in a separate lawsuit from Judicial Watch.
Democrats have long claimed that Clinton’s deletion of some 30,000 emails that were, at the time, under congressional subpoena—along with the destruction of government-issued BlackBerry devices—did not constitute any wrongdoing.
However, an FBI investigation reluctantly acknowledged that some of the classified emails were found on the laptop of convicted pedophile sex-offender Anthony Weiner, a former New York congressman who was married at the time to Clinton’s personal assistant, Huma Abedin.
The latest comments from Perez came in response to a New York Times editorial. It called upon the DNC create an investigative panel—before the the party holds its national convention—in order to look into Reade’s allegation that Biden cornered and digitally penetrated her, then later fired her in retaliation for shunning his advances.
At least four independent sources have corroborated her account, saying Reade had openly confided in them about the 1993 assault since around the time it occurred.
Perez slammed the Times editorial as “absurd,” and claimed Biden is “an open book.”
“I trust Joe Biden,” he said. “An those investigations have been done.”
Perez also claimed, without evidence, that an “exhaustive” review already had already taken place back in 2008, when Biden ran with former President Barack Obama, Perez claimed.
“The most comprehensive investigation of the vice president was when he was vetted by Barack Obama in 2008,” Perez said.
“I’m very familiar with vice presidential vetting process,” he continued. “They look at everything about you. They looked at the entire history of Joe Biden, his entire career, and I will tell you, if Barack Obama had any indication that there was an issue, Barack Obama would not have had him as his vice president.”
“They looked at the entire history of Joe Biden … Barack Obama trusted Joe Biden, I trust Joe Biden,” DNC Chairman Tom Perez tells @marthaRaddatz when asked why the DNC won’t convene an independent panel.
In addition to the rape scandal, Biden has been the subject of other serious concerns—among them, his corrupt family business dealings, his inappropriate physical contact with many other women and young girls, and his colorful history of embarrassing gaffes, flubs and outright lies.
Trump suggested recently that Obama’s longtime hesitancy to endorse his former second-in-command offered strong evidence that he knew something about Biden that had not yet surfaced publicly, perhaps indicating some sort of leverage arrangement.
President Trump on @BernieSanders: “He didn’t really drop out. What about his delegates? I mean, he said he’s going to keep his delegates. That’s a weird deal… I don’t know why President Obama hasn’t supported @JoeBiden a long time ago, there’s something he feels is wrong…” pic.twitter.com/uwRcwZY1vV
Even though Obama eventually offered his support for Biden, his reserved praise hardly seemed like a full-throated endorsement.
Perez’s former DNC deputy, Keith Ellison, faced a similar scandal during his 2018 bid to become Minnesota attorney general. Although Democrats claimed to launch an investigation into Ellison, the half-hearted effort raised more questions than answers. Nonetheless, Ellison won the election.
‘At the end of the day, people need to own personal responsibility and continue to do the right thing…’
A Georgia pair enjoys the fair weather in a park while observing social-distancing restrictions. / IMAGE: CBS Evening News via YouTube
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) The states are “buckling in for the long haul” even as many of them start to reopen, according to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.
Kemp, along with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, all Republicans, explained how their states are beginning to transition into the federal government’s reopening plan during a virtual press briefing on Monday.
Many of the regulations the states passed during the coronavirus shutdown—such as limits on large gatherings, business closures and social-distancing precautions—are still in place, but they are gradually being loosened, the governors said.
Iowa began to reopen a week ago, allowing hospitals to begin performing “nonessential” procedures once again and lifting some of the restrictions on restaurants and retail stores. Some businesses, however, will remain closed through May 15, Reynolds said, and social-distancing is still encouraged.
The goal is to protect the 20% of Iowans who are at risk—the elderly, and those with pre-existing conditions—while allowing the other 80% to get back to work in a safe and efficient manner, Reynolds explained.
“We’re not ripping the Band-Aid off,” she said. “Our continued messaging to Iowas is still the same; they need to be mindful of the coronavirus moving forward, and continued testing and tracing of the virus will allow us to manage it in a comprehensive manner.”
Georgia adopted an even more ambitious reopening plan and began allowing certain businesses—such as hair salons, tattoo parlors and bowling alleys—to reopen on April 24. Kemp was heavily criticized for his decision to begin the reopening process so early, but he defended the decision as the right one for Georgians.
The main goal of the shutdown was always to prevent the state’s healthcare system from being overrun, Kemp explained, and that goal has been largely achieved.
“Now, we do have really structured regulations and rules for businesses to begin reopening under social distancing practices,” Kemp said, citing the White House’s federal reopening guidance. And those regulations ensure that nursing homes and at-risk communities are protected, while also ensuring that widespread testing increases across the state.
“We’re continuing to dramatically ramp up testing,” Kemp said. “We had a record day of 20,000 tests a couple of days ago.”
A Georgia restaurant, newly re-opened, reminds customers of the proper social-distancing procedures. / IMAGE: CBS Evening News via YouTube
Social-distancing regulations will continue to be enforced, but not in a “combative” manner, Kemp said.
“Our goal is to educate through enforcement, not just to write tickets,” he said. “But at the end of the day, people need to own personal responsibility and continue to do the right thing. We’re buckling in for the long haul, but we also realize that when you shut the economy down there are social as well as physical ramifications.”
Oklahoma also began reopening on April 24, allowing businesses such as hair salons and pet groomers to resume operations, followed by churches and movie theaters on May 1. Stitt said introducing the reopening plan before May allowed a healthy debate to take place among state officials.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be a light switch, but we also knew that it was time to begin the process,” he said. “So what that early reopening did is it got the conversation going.”
Many of his left-wing gubernatorial counterparts seem to have a political and financial interest in exerting an overabundance of precaution. That allows them to continue demanding federal emergency funds to help defray their own reckless spending, while bashing the ‘reckless’ GOP leaders for lacking empathy.
However, it is increasingly clear that the once-projected crisis levels in most areas are a far cry from the early projections.
Stitt acknowledged that the backlash from the Left’s media allies was inevitable, regardless of when the re-opening occurred.
“You’re always going to have a debate of ‘is it too late is it too early?'” he said. “So we got that debate going, and then we were able to kick Phase 1 into gear by May 1.”
Stitt said that his two goals from the beginning of the virus’s outbreak were to “protect the lives of Oklahomans” and “mitigate the impact to Oklahoma’s economy.”
The initial shutdown helped achieve that first goal, he said, and now the reopening plan will help the state’s economy recover.
‘The time for educating people into compliance is over…’
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot threatened to arrest and/or fine anyone who violates her shelter-in place-order during the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
“We will shut you down, we will cite you, and if we need to, we will arrest you and we will take you to jail,” Lightfoot said. “Don’t make us treat you like a criminal.”
— Mayor Lightfoot #StayHomeSaveLives (@chicagosmayor) May 3, 2020
Compliance with the city’s stay-at-home order dropped from 82% to 77% over the last week, Lightfoot said, which isn’t surprising given the warm weather, she added. But continued violations will not be tolerated, she said.
“If you act like a criminal and you violate the law and you refuse to do what is necessary to save lives in this city in the middle of a pandemic we will take you to jail, period,” she said.
House parties have also been taking place across the city, according to numerous reports. One rumored event allegedly hosted 1,000 people, according to the New York Post.
Lightfoot accused these partygoers of “bringing death [to the] doorstep” of anyone with an underlying medical condition, who may be more susceptible to COVID-19.
Lori Lightfoot/IMAGE: YouTube
“If you host a party, promote a party, or go to a party, we are not playing games. We mean business, and we will shut this down one way or another,” she said. “The time for educating people into compliance is over.”
Chicago police broke up several social gatherings this weekend, Lightfoot said, thanks to anonymous tips law enforcement received from concerned neighbors. Lightfoot encouraged Chicago residents to continue reporting social-distancing violators.
“We’ve all been cooped up. We all miss our friends, and we all want to go outside and gather in groups,” Lightfoot said. “However, those aspirations simply cannot become a reality in the middle of a pandemic.”
Lightfoot, herself, faced criticism for getting a haircut in violation of her own restrictions but justified her actions by claiming she had to keep up appearances since she was the “public face” of the city.
‘Tedros is really an outstanding person. … He has been all over this…’
Anthony Fauci / IMAGE: Face the Nation via Youtube
(Ben Sellers, Liberty Headlines) Two prominent conservative watchdogs are teaming up to expose any possible collusion between liberal coronavirus darling Anthony Fauci, who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infections Diseases, and the United Nations-backed World Health Organization.
The request sought all communication from the first three months of 2020 between Fauci and several top WHO officials about the coronavirus pandemic.
“It is of significant public interest to learn what WHO was telling our top medical officials about the coronavirus that originated in China,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton in a press release.
It noted that Fauci had offered effusive praise as recently as March 25 for corrupt WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“Tedros is really an outstanding person,” Fauci said during a White House news briefing. “… I think under his leadership they’ve done very well. He has been all over this.”
President Donald Trump, however, has accused the WHO of colluding with China early on to downplay the health crisis before pivoting to the other extreme and over-hyping it after cases began to spread outside the Asian super-power.
Preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the novel #coronavirus (2019-nCoV) identified in #Wuhan, #China??. pic.twitter.com/Fnl5P877VG
Trump has since moved to strip the organization of its U.S. funding.
Fauci was encouraging Americans to go about their daily lives up through late February, but he has since pitted himself as the scientific foil against Trump’s calls to curb economy-wrecking quarantine measures and return American life to normal.
Both Fauci and the WHO also seem to be on-message in touting the questionably effective remdesivir as a coronavirus treatment after dismissively attacking the Trump-hyped hydroxychloroquine.
Neil Patel, president and co-founder of the Daily Caller News Foundation, called on the U.S. health organizations to stop trying to hinder the transparency process, given the urgent need for answers to growing questions about the origin of and early response to the virus—as well as how US tax dollars are being used to fight it.
“This virus has killed hundreds of thousands of people and turned the whole world upside down,” Patel said.
“We know that China and WHO could have done a lot more to prevent or reduce this catastrophe,” he continued. “We therefore have a legitimate and urgent news purpose for seeking these documents regarding U.S. officials’ communications with WHO and demand that the agencies in question stop stalling and start following the law that entitles us to this vital information.”
