;)
The Commentariat -- Nov. 22, 2020
Editor's Note: Sadly, Mrs. Bea McCrabbie has retired to an undisclosed location not far from the home of the Constant Weader. I am therefore taking over management of the site and will continue their acerbic but truthful review of daily political news. I shall forever miss & be grateful for their tireless assistance.
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Afternoon Update:
Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "President-elect Joe Biden's incoming chief of staff, Ronald A. Klain, said Sunday that some of Biden's first Cabinet picks will be revealed Tuesday, although he declined to say who or what positions will be announced. Klain made the comments during an interview on ABC News's 'This Week.'" A Politico story is here.
Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "Several prominent Republicans said this weekend that President Trump's legal arguments had run their course, calling on him to concede to Joe Biden or at least allow the presidential transition process to begin. 'The conduct of the president's legal team has been a national embarrassment,' former New Jersey governor Chris Christie said Sunday on ABC's 'This Week.' Christie, a Trump confidant who helped run debate preparations, said the Republican Party needed to focus on trying to win Georgia's two runoff elections Jan. 5 to secure the Senate majority, rather than continuing with the unsuccessful legal challenges of the election results. 'The rearview mirror should be ripped off,' Christie said." Politico's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Axios: "Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said on 'Meet the Press' on Sunday that it is past time to 'cooperate with the transition' to President-elect Joe Biden, adding that he believes President Trump still has the right to continue fighting in court.... 'It should happen tomorrow morning because it didn't happen last Monday morning,' Cramer said of the GSA administrator giving the go-ahead for the transition. 'Give the incoming administration all the time they need.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: This caveat "open-minded" Republicans add to every recommendation to approve the transition -- that Trump has the right to fight the election results in court -- is past its sell-by date. If you tried to bring nearly three dozen frivolous lawsuits into the courtroom, haranged the judge about fraud, abuse & corruption but never presented evidence of any of it, well, we wouldn't get to three dozen. If they were nice, courts would tell you to go away; if not, they'd fine you for wasting their time.
Jonathan Lemire of the AP: "... Donald Trump and his allies are harking back to his own transition four years ago to make a false argument that his own presidency was denied a fair chance for a clean launch. Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany laid out the case from the White House podium last week and the same idea has been floated by Trump's personal lawyer and his former director of national intelligence.... But the situations are far different. The day after her defeat in 2016, Democrat Hillary Clinton conceded.... The next day, President Barack Obama, who had portrayed Trump as an existential threat to the nation, invited the president-elect to the White House and visited with him in the Oval Office. Obama's aides offered help to Trump's incoming staffers.... Trump's team is not wrong that his own transition was chaotic, but the disarray in many ways was of his own doing. Trump fired the head of his transition, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and abandoned months of planning in favor of a Cabinet hiring process that at times resembled a reality show. His team ignored offers of help from the outgoing Obama administration..., leaving briefing books unopened and ignoring special iPads loaded with materials. The lack of preparation left aides clueless even about how to work the overhead intercom in the West Wing."
Paulina Firozi of the Washington Post: "The United States has formally withdrawn from the Treaty on Open Skies, a decades-old pact meant to reduce the chances of an accidental war by allowing mutual reconnaissance flights by parties to the 34-nation agreement. The exit comes six months after President Trump first announced his intention to withdraw, saying Russia has been violating the pact.... The move risks sowing further divisions between the United States and Europea allies, some of which called on the administration to stay in the pact despite concerns about Russia. In a statement in May, Joe Biden said that in announcing the intention to withdraw, Trump 'doubled down on his short-sighted policy of going it alone and abandoning American leadership.' 'I supported the Open Skies Treaty as a Senator, because I understood that the United States and our allies would benefit from being able to observe -- on short notice -- what Russia and other countries in Europe were doing with their military forces,' his May statement added." The Hill's story is here.
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Michael Shear, et al., of the New York Times: "... the vast machinery of diplomacy, business and lobbying has suddenly been recalibrated for the Biden era. Mr. Trump, by far the dominant world figure for the past four years, is increasingly treated as irrelevant. Bank trade groups have begun meeting with Biden aides in anticipation of new fights over regulation. Foreign diplomats assuming a sharp turn in American foreign policy are retooling their agendas. Corporate executives, who are usually allergic to political statements, are saying out loud what most of Mr. Trump's supporters have so far refused to acknowledge.... Business executives have also united around a call for Mr. Trump to accept his fate and allow his administration to begin the formal transition, freeing career officials -- especially in public health agencies -- to coordinate with the incoming team.... Mr. Biden is seizing the moment, not to aggressively confront the president he defeated, but to act presidential in his stead. Even as he demands that an orderly transfer of power be allowed to begin, the president-elect is proceeding as if the political drama created by Mr. Trump amounts to little more than noise -- or what his new chief of staff [Ron Klain] called the 'hysterics' of a lame-duck president."
Matt Viser of the Washington Post: "... as candidate Biden transitions to President Biden, he is planning an inauguration ceremony that, like his campaign, will look like no other in recent American history. Discussions are ongoing about requiring everyone to wear masks and stand at a social distance, according to interviews with a half dozen people involved in the planning. Those allowed near Biden for the inauguration ceremony will likely undergo coronavirus testing. The traditional post-swearing-in luncheon, held in Statuary Hall with members of Congress, could be scrapped altogether. There may not be any inaugural balls. Crowds, in all cases, will likely be severely limited.... Those close to Biden insist that the ceremony must still have the august feeling of past inaugurations -- a desire that is all the more important to establish his legitimacy as president...."
Clown Car Drives into Ditch, Wheels Keep Spinning
Jim Rutenberg & Kathleen Gray of the New York Times: "... this is ... a moment of truth for the Republican Party: The country is on a knife's edge, with G.O.P. officials from state capitols to Congress choosing between the will of voters and the will of one man. In pushing his false claims to the limits, cowing Republicans into acquiescence or silence, and driving officials ... to nervous indecision, Mr. Trump has revealed the fragility of the electoral system -- and shaken it. At this point, the president's impact is not so much about overturning the election -- both parties agree he has no real chance of doing that -- but infusing the democratic process with so much mistrust and confusion that it ceases to function as it should.... Civil rights leaders are especially alarmed at Mr. Trump's efforts, given that most of them have falsely portrayed cities with large Black populations, like Detroit and Philadelphia, as so corrupt that their votes shouldn't count."
Zach Montellaro of Politico: "... as a lame duck, [Donald Trump is] launched a new campaign against GOP election officials who won't bend to his will. Trump's drive to discredit the results of an election he lost has put him at odds with the Republican elected officials and administrators who oversaw the vote in key states -- and called it what it was: a free and fair election.... No GOP official has caught more flak than Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a fairly conventional Republican who won the job as Georgia's top election official two years ago running as a rock-ribbed, anti-voter fraud conservative -- with Trump's endorsement.... Even those who took the relatively prosaic step of making it easier to vote in the midst of a pandemic -- like Kentucky's Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams -- were not immune." (Also linked yesterday.)
Ashley Nguyen, et al., of the Washington Post: "Though Trump courted Black voters -- and improved his showing over 2016 -- he and his allies are now trying to deny President-elect Joe Biden's victory in key battleground states by targeting ballots cast in heavily Black cities such as Philadelphia, Detroit, Atlanta and Milwaukee, arguing that these Democratic strongholds are hotbeds of fraud.... The president shows no signs of backing down [despite his multiple losses in court], prompting Black leaders, political analysts and historians to cry foul at what they described as tactics reminiscent of those used to suppress the voice of Black voters following the Civil War.... 'It is a way to create this aura that something went wrong in this election, to play to an audience that is hyped up on white supremacy,' [Prof. Carol] Anderson [of Emory University] said. 'They need to understand how did this happen? How did our savior lose?... And the answer is, as the answer always is, "Those Black people stole it from us."'" (Also linked yesterday.)
Marie: Having lost something like 32 ridiculous lawsuits for want of any evidence supporting the underlying claims, it appears Trump's next conspiracy theory will be that "they" destroyed the evidence.
** Pennsylvania. Jon Swaine of the Washington Post: "A lawsuit brought by President Trump's campaign that sought to block the certification of Pennsylvania's election results was dismissed by a federal judge on Saturday evening.U.S. District Judge Matthew W. Brann granted a request from Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar to dismiss the suit, which alleged that Republicans had been illegally disadvantaged because some counties allowed voters to fix errors on their mail ballots. Rudolph W. Giuliani, Trump&'s attorney, personally took charge of the case and appeared at a hearing in Williamsport, Pa., Tuesday in an attempt to justify it. In his order, Brann wrote that Trump's campaign had used 'strained legal arguments without merit and speculative accusations' in its effort to throw out millions of votes.... Brann wrote ... that Trump's attorneys had haphazardly stitched this allegation together 'like Frankenstein's Monster' in an attempt to avoid unfavorable legal precedent.... 'In the United States of America, this cannot justify the disenfranchisement of a single voter, let alone all the voters of its sixth most populated state,' Brann wrote." Politico's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Audrey McNamara of CBS News: "The Trump campaign said Saturday they plan to appeal.... [A new] brief filed Saturday, which is littered with spelling errors, including the governor's name, alleges that illegal votes were counted and poll watchers were unable to access vote counting -- allegations that the Trump campaign dropped just last Sunday, before Giuliani was put in charge of the president's growing legal challenges." ~~~
With today's decision by Judge Matthew Brann, a longtime conservative Republican whom I know to be a fair and unbiased jurist, to dismiss the Trump campaign's lawsuit, President Trump has exhausted all plausible legal options to challenge the result of the presidential race in Pennsylvania.... [Recent] developments [in Georgia and Michigan], together with the outcomes in the rest of the nation, confirm that Joe Biden won the 2020 election and will become the 46th President of the United States. I congratulate President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on their victory.... President Trump should accept the outcome of the election and facilitate the presidential transition process. -- Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), in a statement Saturday night ~~~
~~~ Rick Hasen: "The judge just excoriates this suit, which those of us in the field have called ridiculous from the start: '... Plaintiffs ask this Court to disenfranchise almost seven million voters. This Court has been unable to find any case in which a plaintiff has sought such a drastic remedy in the contest of an election, in terms of the sheer volume of votes asked to be invalidated. One might expect that when seeking such a startling outcome, a plaintiff would come formidably armed with compelling legal arguments and factual proof of rampant corruption.... That has not happened. Instead, this Court has been presented with strained legal arguments without merit and speculative accusations, unpled in the operative complaint and unsupported by evidence.... Defendants' motions to dismiss the First Amended Complaint are granted with prejudice. Leave to amend is denied....' This is a total loss for the Trump campaign and a dead end. The campaign can try to appeal this to the Third Circuit and even to the Supreme Court, but this is such a dog of a case I cannot see any chance of success there, even before the most sympathetic judges. Rudy had truly participated in the worst piece of election litigation I have ever seen, both in terms of the lawyering and the antidemocratic nature of what the lawsuit attempted to do." ~~~
Michigan. GOP Tries Again to Disenfranchise Black Voters. Beth LeBlanc of the Detroit News: "The state and national Republican parties have asked the Board of State Canvassers to delay certification of the state's election results in a bid to investigate 'anomalies and irregularities' alleged to have occurred in Michigan's Nov. 3 election. Michigan Republican Party Chairwoman Laura Cox and Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna [Romney] McDaniel asked the state to conduct a 'full, transparent audit' before certification.... The Board of State Canvassers is scheduled to meet Monday to consider certification. The request comes a day after Republican U.S. Senate candidate John James requested the same delay. James ... trails U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, by more than 92,000 votes in unofficial results after the 83 counties turned in their certified results, a gain for Peters of 9,000 votes from the preliminary results. Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said Friday an audit could not be completed prior to the certification of results because 'election officials do not have legal access to the documents needed to complete audits until the certification.' Kent County Clerk Lisa Posthumus Lyons, a Republican, echoed those concerns when testifying Thursday before a joint legislative committee.... Republican state canvasser Norm Shinkle told The Detroit News Friday he ... wasn't convinced the Wayne County Board of Canvassers had successfully certified the election after GOP canvassers there attempted to rescind their affirmative votes after the 14-day deadline. The canvassers were unsuccessful in their attempt, Wayne County's legal counsel said." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ According to CNN, McDaniel & Cox are requesting an audit of only Wayne County. ~~~
~~~ Olivia Rubin of ABC News: "A group of Black voters in Detroit announced they are suing ... Donald Trump and his campaign, alleging the targeted effort to overturn the election repeats one of the 'worst abuses in our nation's history' by attempting to disenfranchise African American voters. Specifically, the suit takes issue with the campaign's effort to overturn the results of the election in Michigan by blocking the certification of results in Wayne County, home to Detroit, and attempting to 'intimidate' and 'coerce' state and local officials into replacing electors. 'Central to this strategy is disenfranchising voters in predominately Black cities,' the suit alleges. 'Repeating false claims of voter fraud, which have been thoroughly debunked, Defendants are pressuring state and local officials in Michigan not to count votes from Wayne County, Michigan (where Detroit is the county seat), and thereby disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of voters.'... The NAACP Legal Defense Fund said it filed the new suit in a D.C. federal court on Friday on behalf of the three voters and the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization." ~~~
~~~ Dave Boucher & Clara Hendrickson of the Detroit Free Press: "Public skepticism that Michigan's Republican legislative leaders focused on COVID-19 assistance during a Friday meeting with ... Donald Trump was only amplified Saturday, when Trump's tweets implied the election was also a topic of discussion. Photographs of House Speaker Lee Chatfield drinking and sitting, unmasked, with others at the Trump International Hotel -- and the lawmakers not elaborating on what, if anything, the president asked about Michigan election results -- also drew the ire of people already dubious that the president did not try to persuade the lawmakers in his ongoing efforts to undermine the will of voters.... Chatfield, [state Senate Majority Leader Mike] Shirkey and other Michigan lawmakers, including House Speaker-elect Justin Wentworth, R-Clare, appeared to be staying at Trump's hotel in Washington, D.C." ~~~
~~~ Carol Leonnig & Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post: "Michigan's attorney general is exploring whether officials there risk committing crimes if they bend to President Trump's wishes in seeking to block the certification of Joe Biden's victory in their state, according to two people familiar with the review. Th move by Dana Nessel, a Democrat, reflected a growing sense of unease among many in her party and some Republicans that the president was continuing his unprecedented efforts to reach personally into the state's electoral process as he seeks to prevent Michigan from formally declaring a winner there.... The attorney general is conferring with election law experts on whether officials may have violated any state laws prohibiting them from engaging in bribery, perjury and conspiracy, according to people familiar with the deliberations.... Trump's critics have said the president's actions appear on their face to be an improper and possibly illegal abuse of his presidential power." Via Steve M. Steve's post is a good summary of what we know so far about that meeting between Trump & Michigan's top state legislators.
Wisconsin. Michael Tarm of the AP: "Election officials in Wisconsin's largest county accused observers for ... Donald Trump on Saturday of seeking to obstruct a recount of the presidential results, in some instances by objecting to every ballot tabulators pulled to count. Trump requested the recount in Milwaukee and Dane counties, both heavily liberal, in hopes of undoing Democrat Joe Biden's victory by about 20,600 votes. With no precedent for a recount reversing such a large margin, Trump's strategy is widely seen as aimed at an eventual court challenge.... A steady stream of Republican complaints in Milwaukee was putting the recount far behind schedule, county clerk George Christenson said. He said many Trump observers were breaking rules by constantly interrupting vote counters with questions and comments.... At one recount table, a Trump observer objected to every ballot that tabulators pulled from a bag simply because they were folded, election officials told the panel.... At least one Trump observer was escorted out of the building by sheriff's deputies Saturday after pushing an election official who had lifted her coat from an observer chair. Another Trump observer was removed Friday for not wearing a face mask properly as required."
Georgia. AP: "... Donald Trump's campaign requested a recount of votes in the Georgia presidential race on Saturday, a day after state officials certified results showing Democrat Joe Biden won the state, as his legal team presses forward with attacks alleging widespread fraud without proof.... County election workers have already done a complete hand recount of all the votes cast in the presidential race.... Trump has criticized the audit, calling it a 'joke' in a tweet that claimed without evidence that 'thousands of fraudulent votes have been found.' Twitter has flagged the post as containing disputed information."
Garrett Epps of the Washington Monthly: "Lurking on the edges of this sinister opera buffa is the doctrine of 'independent state legislature,' the idea that, because the Constitution requires selection of electors 'in such manner as the [state] legislature ... shall direct,' the lawmakers can do (well) anything they want, and neither the Democratic governor nor the state's courts can step in to stop it.... The 'independent legislature' doctrine is unlikely to make a serious appearance in the melodrama that is 2020 -- but it may play a variety of sinister parts in forthcoming voting-rights dramas, to the great injury of citizens' right to vote.... At the most basic level, this new majority [in the U.S. Supreme Court] is (to put it mildly) not enthusiastic about voting rights." MB: As Epps points out, 49 states "have broad guarantees of the right to vote, and 26 require elections to be 'free and equal' (or something similar)." But a ruling by the Supremes upholding the "independent legislature" doctrine would rescind those state laws. The U.S. doesn't need a new voting rights law; it needs a new voting rights Constitutional amendment, a guarantee that almost all other democracies afford their citizens.
** Trump Cements His Legacy as the Most Anti-democratic President* in History. Michael Shear of the New York Times: "... on issues of war, the environment, criminal justice, trade, the economy and more, President Trump and top administration officials are doing what they can to make ... [Joe Biden's presidency] more difficult. Mr. Trump has spent the last two weeks hunkered down in the White House, raging about a 'stolen' election and refusing to accept the reality of his loss. But in other ways he is acting as if he knows he will be departing soon, and showing none of the deference that presidents traditionally give their successors in their final days in office.... With [Trump's] encouragement, top officials are racing against the clock to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, secure oil drilling leases in Alaska, punish China, carry out executions and thwart any plans Mr. Biden might have to reestablish the Iran nuclear deal. In some cases, like the executions and the oil leases, Mr. Trump&'s government plans to act just days -- or even hours -- before Mr. Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20. At a wide range of departments and agencies, Mr. Trump's political appointees are going to extraordinary lengths to try to prevent Mr. Biden from rolling back the president's legacy. They are filling vacancies on scientific panels, pushing to complete rules that weaken environmental standards, nominating judges and rushing their confirmations through the Senate, and trying to eliminate health care regulations that have been in place for years."
Philip Rucker, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump would have the world falsely believe that he won the election and is preparing for a second term. In private huddles and phone conversations, however, Trump has been discussing an entirely different next act: another presidential run in 2024. In a nod to the reality that he is destined to leave office in January, the president is seriously contemplating life beyond the White House, telling advisers that he wants to remain an omnipresent force in politics and the media -- perhaps by running for the White House again. Trump has told confidants he could announce a 2024 campaign before the end of this year, which would immediately set up a potential rematch with President-elect Joe Biden. Trump also has been exploring ways to make money for relatively little work, such as giving paid speeches to corporate groups or selling tickets to rallies. In addition, he may try to write a score-settling memoir of his time as president and appear on television, in a paid or unpaid capacity." ~~~
~~~ Marie: We will have to keep covering Trump as long as he holds (without performing) the president* job, but I am hopeful that in two months, I can largely avoid stories about him, just as Reality Chex once managed to relegate one Sarah Palin to the dustbin of history, with a few incursions for particularly bizarre Palin episodes. However, any Trump stories that invoke schadenfreude -- like, say, an indictment -- will likely garner notice.
Not-President* Not at Work. Kevin Liptak of CNN: "... Donald Trump participated in his final Group of 20 summit on Saturday by tweeting throughout the opening session and skipping a special side-conference focused on the coronavirus pandemic. It was a fitting end to Trump's career in global multilateralism, which he has expressed his displeasure for since his first group summit -- a G7 meeting held cliffside in Sicily -- resulted in the feeling he was being ganged up upon by other world leaders.... Only 13 minutes after the scheduled 8 a.m. ET, start time, Trump was sending tweets focused on his efforts to overturn the results of the US presidential election. By 10 a.m. ET, the President had departed the White House on his way to his namesake golf club outside Washington, DC."
History famously holds happy endings for autocrats who lose and then retreat to their bunker. -- Stephen Colbert ~~~
~~~ David Smith of the Guardian: "... two weeks after his defeat by Joe Biden in the election, Trump has effectively gone missing in action. Day after day passes without a public sighting. He does not hold press conferences any more. He has even stopped calling into conservative media. For critics, it is evidence of a monumental sulk as Trump contemplates his imminent loss of power and exit from the White House. In their view, it is also a staggering abrogation of responsibility as the coronavirus pandemic surges to new highs, infecting more than 158,000 Americans -- and killing in excess of 1,100 -- every day. Amid the deafening silence, Trump's only 'proof of life' since Biden's victory has been a handful of public events at the White House and a military cemetery, weekend outings to his golf course in Virginia and a barrage of tweets airing grievances and pushing baseless conspiracy theories that the election was stolen from him." An enjoyable read. I had no idea presidential historian Michael Beschloss had such a good sense of humor.
Seung Min Kim & Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration is injecting new demands into congressional negotiations over a government spending bill that threaten to sink the must-pass package, people familiar with the discussions said. The disagreement concerns how to classify $12.5 billion in cost increases in veterans' health care, expenses that are part of veterans' care changes signed into law by President Trump in 2018 with much fanfare. The impasse could complicate the ongoing negotiations over legislation to fund the government, which if not resolved would lead the federal government to shutdown on Dec. 11 in the middle of the pandemic -- a dangerous scenario lawmakers are working to avoid. Months ago, lawmakers agreed to designate the increased cost of veterans' health care as emergency spending. Emergency spending isn't subject to certain spending restrictions. But on Friday, administration officials insisted to congressional officials that the $12.5 billion in veterans' care cost increases be considered non-emergency spending, said people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details about the private negotiations." (Also linked yesterday.)
** David Folkenflik of NPR: "The chief executive over the Voice of America and its sister networks has acted unconstitutionally in investigating what he claimed was a deep-seated bias against President Trump by his own journalists, a federal judge has ruled. Citing the journalists' First Amendment protections, U.S. Judge Beryl Howell on Friday evening ordered U.S. Agency for Global Media CEO Michael Pack to stop interfering in the news service's news coverage and editorial personnel matters. She struck a deep blow at Pack's authority to continue to force the news agency to cover the president more sympathetically. Actions by Pack and his aides have likely 'violated and continue to violate [journalists'] First Amendment rights because, among other unconstitutional effects, they result in self-censorship and the chilling of First Amendment expression,' Howell wrote in her opinion. 'These current and unanticipated harms are sufficient to demonstrate irreparable harm.'" Thanks to Ken W. for the link. As Ken notes, "This is another win for the Deep State." MB: And for that pesky First Amendment.
Today is the 57th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
The Trumpidemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Saturday are here: "The United States passed 11 million total coronavirus cases on Sunday, and its caseload has now soared past 12 million. New daily cases are approaching 200,000: on Friday, the country recorded more than 198,500, a record. As the nation reconsiders the usual winter holiday travel and cozy indoor gatherings, new cases are being reported at an unrelenting clip. The seven-day average has exceeded 100,000 cases a day every day for the last two weeks...."
Christina Maxouris of CNN: "The number of US coronavirus cases surpassed 12 million Saturday -- an increase of more than 1 million cases in less than a week. At least 12,085,389 cases have been confirmed, according to Johns Hopkins University data, and 255,823 Americans have died. It's another horrific milestone in a month full of devastating Covid-19 records in the country. November already accounts for almost a quarter of all Covid-19 cases and 9% of deaths. Almost every state has reported a rapid surge in cases, and nationwide numbers have been climbing much faster than ever before -- with the country reporting a staggering 2.9 million infections since the beginning of the month."
Laurie McGinley & Carolyn Johnson of the Washington Post: "The Food and Drug Administration on Saturday granted emergency authorization to the experimental antibody treatment given to President Trump last month when he developed covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The drug, made by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, is designed to prevent infected people from developing severe illness. Instead of waiting for the body to develop its own protective immune response, the drug imitates the body's natural defenses. It is the second drug of this type -- called a monoclonal antibody -- to be cleared for treating covid-19. The FDA authorized Eli Lilly & Co.'s drug on Nov. 9.... The Regeneron drug is a biological product that is complicated and time-consuming to make; initially, it will be in short supply. The shortages, coupled with the complexities of administering the intravenous medication, have raised concerns about whether people with the greatest need will be able to get it.... Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson disclosed on Facebook on Friday that he had also been cleared to receive the Regeneron drug for covid-19, through Trump's intervention, 'which I am convinced saved my life.'" A Politico story is here.
Guardian & Agencies: "Donald Trump appears to have admitted that coronavirus is 'running wild' across the US, in contrast with his statements throughout the election campaign that the country was 'rounding the turn' on the pandemic. As new Covid infections in the US approached 200,000 a day, Trump took to Twitter on Saturday night to insist things were bad outside the United States as well: 'The Fake News is not talking about the fact that "Covid" is running wild all over the World, not just in the U.S.'"
Guardian: "Donald Trump Jr..., who has tested positive for the coronavirus, has said he will pass the time in isolation battling with the virus by cleaning his collection of guns." MB: Gosh, I hope there isn't some kind of accident.
Hannah Knowles of the Washington Post: "Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) is quarantining after testing positive for the coronavirus on Friday and then receiving an inconclusive result the next day, a spokesman for her campaign said. Loeffler has no symptoms and is taking precautions 'until retesting is conclusive,' spokesman Stephen Lawson said in a Saturday night statement. The potential disruption to her campaigning comes as Loeffler and her Republican colleague, Georgia Sen. David Perdue (R), try to fend off Democratic challengers in runoff elections that will determine the power balance in the Senate." The Hill's story is here.
Dan Hinkel of the Chicago Tribune: "Kyle Rittenhouse was released from jail in Wisconsin on Friday afternoon after his attorneys posted $2 million bail, setting the teenager free as he awaits trial for fatally shooting two men and wounding a third during summer protests in Kenosha, police said. His release came over the objections of family members and lawyers for two of the men he shot. They had asked for higher bail and voiced concerns Rittenhouse would flee.... The 17-year-old's release was funded by donations sought by his attorneys, who appealed to the political right, where Rittenhouse is popular. Those lawyers also are seeking to overturn Democratic President-elect Joe Biden's victory." (Also linked yesterday.)
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