Trump’s Celebrity Campaign To ‘Defeat Despair’ Excluded Those Who Support Gay Rights, Documents Show
The $265 million public campaign collapsed in September. Democrats on the House Oversight and Reform Committee released the records Thursday and accused HHS Secretary Alex Azar of “a cover-up to conceal the Trump administration’s misuse of hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars for partisan political purposes.”
The New York Times:
Celebrity Vetting And ‘Helping The President’ To Defeat Coronavirus Despair
A $265 million public campaign to “defeat despair” around the coronavirus was planned partly around the politically tinged theme that “helping the president will help the country,” according to documents released on Thursday by House investigators. Michael R. Caputo, the assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services, and others involved envisioned a star-studded campaign to lift American spirits, but the lawmakers said they sought to exclude celebrities who had supported gay rights or same-sex marriage or who had publicly disparaged President Trump. The actor Zach Galifianakis, for instance, was apparently passed over because he had declined to have Mr. Trump on his talk show “Between Two Ferns.” (Weiland and LaFraniere, 10/29)
In other news from the Trump administration —
Politico:
Pence Absent From Covid-19 Planning Calls For More Than A Month
When Vice President Mike Pence first took charge of the White House’s coronavirus task force, among his earliest moves was establishing a standing call with all 50 governors aimed at closely coordinating the nation’s pandemic fight. Yet as the U.S. confronts its biggest Covid-19 surge to date, Pence hasn’t attended one of those meetings in over a month. (Cancryn, 10/30)
AP:
On Virus, Trump And Health Advisers Go Their Separate Ways
A multi-state coronavirus surge in the countdown to Election Day has exposed a clear split between President Donald Trump’s bullish embrace of a return to normalcy and urgent public warnings from the government’s top health officials. It’s the opposite of what usually happens in a public health crisis, because political leaders tend to repeat and amplify the recommendations of their health experts, not short-circuit them. “It’s extremely unusual for there to be simultaneous contrary messaging,” said John Auerbach, who heads the nonpartisan Trust for America’s Health. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 10/30)
The Hill:
Fauci: Maybe 2022 Before US Sees 'Some Semblances Of Normality'
Top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said Wednesday that it might be 2022 until the U.S. sees “some semblances of normality. ”During a University of Melbourne panel discussion, Fauci said it’s possible a “substantial proportion of the people” won’t receive vaccination until the second or third quarter of next year, even with the U.S. getting a vaccine in the next few months. "I think it will be easily be the end of 2021, and perhaps even into the next year, before we start having some semblances of normality," the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said. (Coleman, 10/29)
