Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Trump's Reelection Team Desperately Seeks A Return To Mega-Rallies Where He Can Pump Up Base
Politico: ‘A Moonshot Mission’: Trump Campaign Eyes A Return To Megarallies
The Trump campaign has an order from the president: Find a way to get him back on the road and into mega-rallies to re-energize his base. In recent meetings with top campaign officials and White House aides, Trump has questioned why he’s avoiding campaign events if it‘s safe for him to travel in his official capacity. The president visited two medical supply facilities in Arizona and Pennsylvania this month and will tour a Ford ventilator factory in Michigan on Thursday. The official White House travel replaced what would have otherwise been a much busier campaign season for the president, who held three rallies in three days at the end of February. (Orr, 5/20)
Politico: McConnell's GOP Takes Trump's Election-Year Cues
Mitch McConnell can’t afford any tension with President Donald Trump. So he’s doing everything he can to keep his fragile majority in sync with Trump and his explosive election-year playbook. Just three days after Trump berated McConnell on Twitter to “get tough” with Democrats and probe the 2016 Russia investigation that ensnared Trump’s campaign, the Senate majority leader took to the floor to echo the president’s misgivings in a way he declined to do last week. (Everett and Desiderio, 5/19)
And in other election news —
CNN: Federal Judge Rules Texans Afraid Of Catching Covid-19 Can Vote By Mail
A Texas federal judge on Tuesday ruled that all voters afraid of catching the novel coronavirus can request absentee mail-in ballots due to the pandemic. District Judge Fred Biery ruled that the "disability" provision in the state's vote-by-mail election code applies to all registered voters who "lack immunity from Covid-19 and fear infection at polling places." (Mena, 5/19)
