White House attacks Fauci as disaster strikes after aggressive state openings

(CNN) - Rather than focus on the coronavirus disaster that is spiraling out of control in Florida and other states that opened early, the White House is trying to destroy the reputation of one of America's most respected public servants. , Dr. Anthony Fauci, for telling the truth about how bad things are getting.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump highlights claims that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), doctors, the media and Democrats lie about the pandemic in the country, the worst of the world, to crush the economy he trusts for reelection.

The new hoax campaign is accelerating the day after Florida recorded the highest number of daily cases of new infections for any state in the United States and as the daily total of confirmed cases across the country reaches a staggering 60,000 . The increase is spreading through the heart of the south and west of the country, including Texas, Georgia and Arizona, which tried to return to normal before the infection curve was suppressed. The resulting torrent of new cases is exposing Trump's call for early openings, welcomed by many Republican governors in defiance of CDC guidelines, as one of the worst political and economic decisions in modern history.

• Almost 1 in 100 Americans tested positive for covid-19
• The White House goes against Fauci for not agreeing with Trump about the coronavirus

But the White House is not learning from its past mistakes, and intensifies an aggressive push for schools to fully function in a matter of weeks, after Education Secretary Betsy DeVos failed to outline a plan to do so safely in an interview. from CNN, this Sunday.

The campaign against Fauci, who has been one of the most respected public health officials in the United States for decades and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George W. Bush, tells an extraordinary story of the government's priorities amid of a national crisis and a brutal approach he uses to discredit any official who challenges Trump's false narratives.

On Sunday, a White House official told CNN that several of Trump's top aides were concerned about "the number of times Dr. Fauci was wrong", citing his previous comments on the virus threat and the use of More expensive. Sources told CNN's Kaitlan Collins on Monday that the president, who had not met with Fauci in weeks, was upset by public statements and the "good press" from top infectious disease specialists.

Fauci has contradicted Trump's false claims that the United States leads the world in the fight against the coronavirus. It has also refuted the president's statement that 99% of covid-19 cases are "totally harmless." Last week, Fauci said some states had opened too early, a position backed by evidence of rapidly growing covid-19 infections.

Fauci's positions have evolved with science, including his stance on masks, which he initially said were not shown to be beneficial in everyday life and should be reserved for healthcare workers. Apparently, the White House sees no irony in attacking its record when the president spent weeks denying that the virus was a problem, praising China for its handling and predicting a "miracle" that would make the virus go away.

Trump reacted Monday to the growing calamity in the southern states that is causing governors and mayors to slow or reverse openings by retweeting a supporter claim that "Everyone is lying" about the pandemic, namely: " The CDC, the media, the Democrats, our doctors. ” The retuit was emblematic of how Trump has tried to blame others for his negligence during the pandemic instead of following science to address the root causes of the worsening situation.

Trump's electoral concerns drive openness policy

Trump's fixation on his electoral prospects and a desire to ignite an economic return were behind his assurances that it was safe to relax orders to stay home without waiting for infection curves to flatten properly. The push was enthusiastically welcomed by some Republican governors, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is now facing strong criticism as his state sees uncontrolled contagion rates.

The alarming acceleration of the pandemic, with an average of new cases across the country reaching 60,000 per day, suggests that the dark days endured by New York and New Jersey months ago may not be America's most distressing struggle with the virus.

New reports are emerging of completely overcrowded intensive care units, a shortage of protective equipment for front-line medical workers, and problems with a national low-powered testing system - exactly the shortcomings that complicated the early fight against covid-19.

Trump's past impatience can take its toll less than four months before Election Day. Some city governors and mayors are slowing down or reversing reopens. Therefore, the economic and social damage from the pandemic could last much longer than originally expected, as news of job losses in recent days indicates that licenses could become permanent unemployment for thousands of Americans.

But far from learning the lessons of the previous missteps, the White House, which only recently got Trump to wear a face mask, continues its fast-reopening strategy, minimizing human cost, ignoring science, and acting to protect the political flank. Trump in a way that continues to threaten the health of Americans. It's an approach exemplified by the White House's push to reopen schools by using the same aggressive tactics that forced the south into its current plight and that Trump himself showed when he traveled to Florida on Friday, while largely ignoring record infection rates.

Administration requires opening schools without a plan

All parents in the United States are concerned that children may be out of school for many more months, a scenario that would have serious educational, social, and economic consequences.

DeVos played on those concerns by demanding a full opening of schools on CNN's "State of the Union" this Sunday. But he failed multiple times to outline a plan on how to keep children and teachers safe and prevent them from passing the coronavirus on to their elders. He also declined to say whether schools should follow CDC guidelines, which Trump had shattered in a step that deepened confusion around the new school year and made it clear that school districts were alone.

“The rule should be that children return to school this fall. And where there are small outbreaks or outbreaks that can be treated on a school-by-school or case-by-case basis, ”DeVos told CNN's Dana Bash, downplaying the scale of the world's worst single nation coronavirus outbreak.

DeSantis has enthusiastically leveraged White House efforts to open schools, come what may, saying, last week, that if fast food and Walmart and Home Depot can open, schools can, too, as allies of Trump buys his efforts to create a politically useful policy, but a false narrative of normality.

Many school districts have been working on plans for months. They are discovering that most schools simply lack the space to have all students back at the same time and ensure adequate social distancing. Scott Brabrand, the superintendent of schools in Fairfax County, Virginia, told Dana Bash. CNN would need an additional five Pentagon space to accommodate all students in such conditions. This type of problem, to which the administration has offered no answers, is why some doctors consider White House calls to entire classrooms in a matter of weeks to be a fantasy.

“It is definitely not safe to open schools until we have an adequate workload. That won't happen soon, ”said Dr. Uché Blackstock, an associate professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at New York University School of Medicine on CNN's“ New Day, ”this Sunday.

Trump belatedly wears a face mask

Meanwhile, Trump gloated in praising campaign advisers for allowing himself to appear on camera wearing a face mask, for the first time, after months of discrediting calls from medical experts in facial covers as more than 135,000 Americans died and more than 3 million they were infected by the virus.

The White House trend to blame spilled over into a tirade by one of the president's top business advisers, Peter Navarro, on Sunday.

"We were sailing, until the Chinese Communist Party basically hit us with that deadly virus, that armed virus. And I don't think it's a coincidence that the first year that China had an economy in crisis was the same year now that they are persecuting us in many ways, ”Navarro said on Fox News.

"And Joe Biden is the candidate of the Chinese Communist Party."

Biden's campaign, meanwhile, criticized Trump's late adoption of the mask during a visit to wounded soldiers on Saturday, saying it "lost four months that Americans have been making sacrifices fueling divisions and actively deterring People take a very basic step to protect each other. Rather, Joe Biden has led by example from the beginning. ”

Florida reaches a grim new record

Florida, which is supposed to host the Republican National Convention next month, reported 15,299 new cases of covid-19 this Sunday, with a test positivity rate of 19.6%. Florida Rep. Donna Shalala, a Democrat who is in her first year in office and who served as Secretary of Health and Human Services for Bill Clinton's presidency, said the virus was out of control partly because the Governor, an ally Trump would not tell everyone to wear a mask, adding: "This is an American tragedy," in an interview with CNN.

About 40 Florida hospitals do not have beds available in ICUs, with more than 7,000 people with covid-19 in hospitals across the state.

Another state that is suffering is Georgia, where Republican Governor Brian Kemp even angered Trump with the speed of his state openings. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms withdrew the city's reopening to Phase One on Friday due to an alarming surge in new infections, accusing Kemp of "recklessly" opening the state.

The Georgia progression rate tables show that previous sacrifices amid confinement orders have been squandered. The new cases remained stable until May and the middle of June until the infection curve began to increase sharply. Texas, which also fueled a quick return to business, and reported its own one-day high in infections on Saturday at 10,351, added another 8,196 infections on Sunday.

These troubling figures explain the growing pessimism about surprisingly strong jobs and the economic rebound in the United States in recent weeks, a reality that will shock Trump, who bought the claims of son-in-law Jared Kushner that the economy could be "shaking" in the middle July, long before the elections.

Anthony Faucicovid-19 Donald Trump