Today's Liberal News

Election Season Upended: Trump’s COVID Diagnosis Could Reshape Race, Debates & SCOTUS Fight

President Donald Trump has tested positive for COVID-19, throwing the final month of an already unprecedented election season into disarray. What will this latest news mean for the debates and the Supreme Court? And what will happen if President Trump is unable to lead the country? We speak to journalist John Nichols about the line of succession, campaigning in the critical swing state of Wisconsin, and more.

Naomi Klein: I Fear Trump Will Exploit His COVID Infection to Further Destabilize the Election

How will President Trump’s revelation that he tested positive for COVID-19 affect the presidential race? Acclaimed journalist, author and activist Naomi Klein warns that the Trump campaign is likely to exploit the news. “We need to be prepared for the president using the fact that he’s having to cancel campaign events for two weeks to try to further delegitimize elections,” she says.

Superspreader-in-Chief: For Months Trump Spread COVID Lies, Now He May Have Spread the Virus Itself

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for COVID-19. The announcement came early Friday morning, hours after Bloomberg News reported that Trump adviser Hope Hicks became ill during Trump’s Wednesday night rally in Duluth, Minnesota, and had to be quarantined aboard Air Force One on the return flight to Washington. Hicks went on to test positive for coronavirus early on Thursday, though the White House did not report her illness.

Religious group scrubs references to Amy Coney Barrett from its website

Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s longtime association with the religious group People of Praise appears to have gone into the memory hole. People of Praise scrubbed many mentions of Barrett from its website when she was under consideration for the Supreme Court seat that went to Brett Kavanaugh, and has now followed up by removing more mentions of Barrett and her family, the Associated Press reports.

Religious group scrubs references to Amy Coney Barrett from its website

Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s longtime association with the religious group People of Praise appears to have gone into the memory hole. People of Praise scrubbed many mentions of Barrett from its website when she was under consideration for the Supreme Court seat that went to Brett Kavanaugh, and has now followed up by removing more mentions of Barrett and her family, the Associated Press reports.

Trump leaves hospital to wave at supporters, putting his own staff at risk

In the late afternoon on Sunday, Donald Trump released a minute long video saying he was feeling better and “It’s been a very interesting journey. I learned a lot about Covid. I learned it by really going to school. This is the REAL school. This isn’t the ‘let’s read the book’ school. And I get it. And I understand it. And it’s a very interesting thing.

Trump leaves hospital to wave at supporters, putting his own staff at risk

In the late afternoon on Sunday, Donald Trump released a minute long video saying he was feeling better and “It’s been a very interesting journey. I learned a lot about Covid. I learned it by really going to school. This is the REAL school. This isn’t the ‘let’s read the book’ school. And I get it. And I understand it. And it’s a very interesting thing.

Trump’s team appears to be either blocking Rose Garden contact tracing or incompetent at it

Last week, a White House celebration for Amy Coney Barrett was followed by numerous Rose Garden participants testing positive for COVID-19, including several senators and Donald Trump himself. Despite this, there has still been no apparent effort to do contact tracing to determine the true extent of the resulting disease outbreak.

That’s the implication of this New York Times report, which backs up a Washington Post story published Saturday.

Trump’s team appears to be either blocking Rose Garden contact tracing or incompetent at it

Last week, a White House celebration for Amy Coney Barrett was followed by numerous Rose Garden participants testing positive for COVID-19, including several senators and Donald Trump himself. Despite this, there has still been no apparent effort to do contact tracing to determine the true extent of the resulting disease outbreak.

That’s the implication of this New York Times report, which backs up a Washington Post story published Saturday.

A sickly, hospital-ridden Trump may crush what’s left of his deplorable base

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Anecdotally, Donald Trump’s medical travails aren’t doing him any electoral favors. Several polls are showing the impeached irresponsible dumbass losing ground after his COVID diagnosis, like this one and this one. By all indications, it’s way too early to tell. 

But I’m not here to argue that Trump will lose ground in the head-to-heads.

A sickly, hospital-ridden Trump may crush what’s left of his deplorable base

  • by

Anecdotally, Donald Trump’s medical travails aren’t doing him any electoral favors. Several polls are showing the impeached irresponsible dumbass losing ground after his COVID diagnosis, like this one and this one. By all indications, it’s way too early to tell. 

But I’m not here to argue that Trump will lose ground in the head-to-heads.

Trump Didn’t Even Try to Keep His Own People Safe

Though it has thrown the nation into chaos, the fact that Donald Trump has contracted the coronavirus should not be especially surprising—after all, he has been careless about measures to control the virus, and protect his own health, for months. Nor should it come as a surprise that the White House is offering partial, misleading, and contradictory information. That has been a reliable theme of the Trump presidency.

California: Images of the Golden State

California is the most populous state in the nation, with 39.5 million residents—more than the smallest 21 states combined. It is also a huge state, ranking third in area, and an incredibly diverse place, with climates that range from desert to rain forest. From the Los Angeles metropolitan area to Yosemite National Park, from Death Valley to Mount Shasta, here are a few glimpses of the landscape of California, and some of the wildlife and people calling it home.

Saturday Night Live Misunderstands Its Role Right Now

Saturday Night Live’s return to television last night seemed intended to project a reassuring air of normalcy. Yes, there may still be a pandemic ravaging the nation, and the president is currently in the hospital afflicted with COVID-19, but Season 46 of SNL was going to proceed much like the past 45, live from Studio 8H at 11:30 p.m.

Praying on a 707

Photo illustration by Miki LoweAnne Sexton began writing poetry at the suggestion of her psychiatrist. She became known for sharing the thorny details of her personal life—including her fraught relationship with her late mother, which she described as a complicated intertwining of love, abuse, and grief.

The Reckless Race to Confirm Amy Coney Barrett Justifies Court Packing

Updated at 3:50 p.m. ET on October 4, 2020.Barely a week after the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, before the late justice had even been buried, President Donald Trump hosted a Rose Garden ceremony to formally announce his nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to fill the open seat on the Supreme Court. A week later, it appears that the inauspicious ceremony may have been at the center of the coronavirus outbreak now plaguing the White House and the Senate.