Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Though Trump Has Pivoted His Messaging To Rebuilding Economy There's Still No Clear Path Forward
Politico: As Death Toll Passes 60,000, Trump’s Team Searches For An Exit Strategy
As the White House shifts its focus away from the public health response and toward rebuilding an economy ravaged by the pandemic, there remains little clear sense — even within his own administration — of how close the U.S. is to victory, and what “winning” the war even looks like. Successive benchmarks set by Trump that rested on containing the virus’ early cases, slowing the disease’s spread and establishing a national pandemic defense have fallen by the wayside. And this week, Trump’s predictions that the U.S. may see just 60,000 coronavirus deaths were belied by the brutal reality of the data. (Cancryn, 4/29)
NBC News: A Tale Of Two Summers: White House Diverges From Health Experts Over What's To Come
In the version of summer predicted by President Donald Trump and his top officials, life is back to normal and the coronavirus pandemic is mostly in the rearview mirror. People will be gathering on the National Mall for July 4, the economy will be rebounding and the U.S. will be conducting millions of tests a day, according to comments they have made in recent days. By Memorial Day, "we will largely have this coronavirus epidemic behind us," Vice President Mike Pence said last week. (Pettypiece, 4/29)
The Hill: Trump Says Coronavirus Will Be 'Eradicated'
President Trump said Wednesday that the novel coronavirus would eventually be “eradicated” with or without a vaccine so that Americans and businesses could return to normal life and operations. “If you don’t have a vaccine, if the virus is gone, we are like we were before,” Trump told reporters Wednesday at the White House. “Having a vaccine would be a great thing, and I think we are going to get there in this case.” (Chalfant, 4/29)
The Hill: White House Risks Backlash With Coronavirus Optimism
White House officials are taking an optimistic view of the country’s progress in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, a risky bet that could backfire if cases flare up again as more states begin lifting social distancing measures. Top administration officials in recent days have started laying out specific timetables for when they believe the pandemic will be in the rearview mirror. The sunny declarations come as the White House pushes to revive the economy that has been central to President Trump’s reelection bid. (Samuels and Chalfant, 4/29)
The New York Times: Trump And Kushner On The Coronavirus: Wishful Thinking And Revisionist History
The total number of coronavirus cases in the United States exceeded one million. The American death toll surpassed that of the Vietnam War. And the economy was reported to have shrunk by nearly 5 percent. But the White House on Wednesday declared its response to the crisis “a great success story.” As states begin to lift quarantines, President Trump is trying to recast the story of the pandemic from that of an administration slow to see and address the threat to one that responded with decisive action that saved lives. Recognizing that the crisis jeopardizes his chances of re-election, he and his allies want to convince his supporters that the cascade of criticism is unwarranted. (Baker, 4/29)
CNN: Kushner Calls US Coronavirus Response A 'Success Story' As Cases Hit 1 Million
President Donald Trump's senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, praised the administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic as a "great success story" on Wednesday -- less than a day after the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States topped 1 million. Kushner painted a rosy picture for "Fox and Friends" Wednesday morning, saying that "the federal government rose to the challenge and this is a great success story and I think that that's really what needs to be told." (Vazquez and Klein, 4/29)
The New York Times: Trump’s Disinfectant Talk Trips Up Sites’ Vows Against Misinformation
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, said in March that promoting bleach as a cure for the coronavirus was “misinformation that has imminent risk of danger” and that such messages would immediately be removed from the social network. President Trump has now put Mr. Zuckerberg’s comments to the test. At a White House briefing last week, Mr. Trump suggested that disinfectants and ultraviolet light were possible treatments for the virus. His remarks immediately found their way onto Facebook, Instagram and other social media sites, and people rushed to defend the president’s statements as well as mock them. (Frenkel and Alba, 4/30)
The New York Times: Trump Officials Said To Press Spies To Hunt For Unproven Links Between Virus And Wuhan Labs
Senior Trump administration officials have pushed American spy agencies to hunt for evidence to support an unsubstantiated theory that a government laboratory in Wuhan, China, was the origin of the coronavirus outbreak, according to current and former American officials. The effort comes as President Trump escalates a public campaign to blame China for the pandemic. Some intelligence analysts are concerned that the pressure from administration officials will distort assessments about the virus and that they could be used as a political weapon in an intensifying battle with China over a disease that has infected more than three million people across the globe. (Mazzetti, Barnes, Wong and Goldman, 4/30)
