President Donald Trump during a visit Thursday to medical supply...

President Donald Trump during a visit Thursday to medical supply distributor Owens & Minor in Allentown, Pa. Credit: AFP via Getty Images / Mandel Ngan

Another day, another head-scratcher

Just the day before, President Donald Trump complained that his caution-advising infectious diseases expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, wants “to play all sides of the equation." When it comes to coronavirus testing, so does Trump.

On the one hand, Trump bragged Thursday at a Pennsylvania medical equipment distribution center: "We have the best testing in the world." But then Trump said, “Could be that testing's, frankly, overrated. Maybe it is overrated." To Trump, it's about bad-looking numbers, not just critically important information.

"We have more cases than anybody in the world, but why? Because we do more testing," Trump said. “ … If we didn’t do any testing, we would have very few cases."

In reality, we'd have just as many COVID-19 cases whether tests detected them or not — and likely more. People with undetected cases are more apt to spread the virus. Which is why public health experts such as Fauci and officials throughout the country see increased testing as critical for ending lockdowns with maximum safety and reopening the country.

Trump's trip to Allentown had some of the flavor of a campaign stop, even though it was an official visit. As in the rallies he can't now hold, he trashed the members of the media who were present and jabbed at "Sleepy Joe" Biden. Unlike the audience at his rallies, the workers at Owens & Minor Inc. sat at social distances from one another in folding chairs. Almost everyone wore masks, except Trump.

Trump said he intends to prepare for future pandemics by replenishing the national stockpile and bringing manufacturing of critical supplies and equipment back to the U.S. He gave a salute to the health care workers who treated coronavirus patients and suffered illnesses and deaths amid shortages of protective equipment, describing them as "warriors" like Americans who are eager to come out from isolation.

"They’re running into death just like soldiers run into bullets, in a true sense. I see that with the doctors and the nurses and so many of the people that go into those hospitals. It’s incredible to see. It’s a beautiful thing to see," Trump said.

Whistleblower: I warned of shortages

Dr. Rick Bright, booted three weeks ago from his federal vaccine development post, testified Thursday that he warned Health and Human Services Department leaders in January about shortages of N95 masks for the looming pandemic but was ignored.

“Lives were in danger, and I believe lives were lost," Bright told a House health subcommittee. “That was our last window of opportunity to turn on production to save the lives of our health care workers, and we didn’t act."

The Trump administration also crippled the response by minimizing the threat until March, Bright said. "We did not forewarn people. We did not train people. We did not educate them on social distancing and wearing a mask as we should have in January and February." He also said there is still no "master, coordinated plan" for the danger ahead and that hopes for a vaccine in 12 to 18 months assume that "everything goes perfectly" — which has never happened.

At the White House, Trump dismissed Bright as a "disgruntled" employee. HHS Secretary Alex Azar said, "Everything he is complaining about was achieved." 

Janison: A leading question

Trump would like everyone to think he is at the helm when signaling support for a quick reopening of schools and businesses, writes Newsday's Dan Janison. He also verbally gratifies those of his fans who protest local emergency rules in their states.

Notice, however, that Trump has not directly disputed the cautions or proposed guidelines from medical experts on his coronavirus task force. Nor did he disband the advisory panel as he once had planned.

Only a month ago, Trump said falsely the decision will be his own as to when “to open up the states." Suddenly he flip-flopped and seemed to defer to the governors. But he retains the role of critic in chief for those not moving fast enough to suit him.

More coronavirus news

See a roundup of the latest pandemic developments from Long Island and beyond by Newsday's reporting staff, written by Bart Jones. For a full list of Newsday's coronavirus stories, click here.

Trump wants Obama to testify

Beating his "Obamagate" drums again on Twitter, Trump tried to goad Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham into hauling in former President Barack Obama to testify. Graham said he'll pass and cautioned Trump: "Be careful what you wish for."

Trump's tweet said: "If I were a Senator or Congressman, the first person I would call to testify about the biggest political crime and scandal in the history of the USA, by FAR, is former President Obama. He knew EVERYTHING. Do it @LindseyGrahamSC, just do it. No more Mr. Nice Guy. No more talk!"

Graham, who is planning to hold hearings on the origins of the Russia investigation, said both Trump and Obama were welcome to appear if they wanted. “If nothing else, it would make for great television," Graham said. “However, I have great doubts about whether it would be wise for the country."

Trump’s position on seeking Obama’s testimony directly conflicts with executive-privilege arguments put forward by his own Justice Department in efforts to block Congress from interviewing his former White House counsel, Don McGahn, writes Politico.

Obama sent a one-word tweet: "Vote."

Lock him and him and him up?

Trumpworld's frenzy was set off by declassification of a list that indicates roughly three dozen government officials may have received former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s name in response to a request to reveal the identity of a U.S. person anonymously identified in an intelligence report. The officials included Joe Biden, former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey.

Trump said in a Fox Business Network interview that those officials should go to prison. "I’m talking with 50-year sentences," he said.

Unmasking is a common practice, and Trump's administration has used the process more frequently than Obama’s, according to The Associated Press. The Washington Post reports there was no indication that the people who requested the unmasking knew that Flynn’s name would be the one revealed. Many intelligence documents are distributed with identities concealed to protect the privacy of U.S. citizens, though certain officials can ask that the protection be removed to help them better understand what they are looking at.

Biden campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said the unmasking — which started a chain of events that led the FBI to question Flynn, who then lied about his Russian contacts, underscored “the breadth and depth of concern across the American government — including among career officials” about Flynn’s interactions with officials from Russia and other foreign governments.

What else is happening:

  • Almost 3 million more Americans filed for unemployment insurance last week, bringing the total number of jobless claims filed amid the coronavirus pandemic to more than 36 million, according to the Department of Labor.
  • Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club will partially reopen to members this weekend as South Florida slowly reopens from the coronavirus lockdown. Members will have to practice social distancing, and lounge chairs at the pool will be set 6 feet apart. They will have to bring their own towels. The main building that includes hotel rooms, the main dining area and Trump's private residence will remain closed.
  • The Trump family's newest feud is with radio's Howard Stern. Before he was president, Trump was a raunchy regular on Stern's show, such as when the businessman described dodging sexually transmitted diseases while carousing as his "personal Vietnam." But Stern on Wednesday said Trump should quit and asserted the president is secretly "disgusted" by his supporters. Donald Trump Jr. shot back Thursday that Stern "wants to be loved" by the “politically correct."
  • Trump recently encouraged Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to reconsider running for the U.S. Senate in Kansas, but Pompeo said no, The Washington Post reports. Pompeo also has repeatedly rebuffed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who thinks he would give Republicans the best chance of keeping a once-safe GOP seat from falling to the Democrats. 
  • McConnell said on Fox News he was wrong when he asserted earlier in the week that the Obama administration didn't leave behind a “game plan” for fighting pandemics. The Obama administration had, in fact, left behind a 69-page pandemic playbook. “They did leave behind a plan, so I clearly made a mistake in that regard," McConnell said.
  • The Trump administration eased rules Thursday that limit working hours for truck drivers. It extended the maximum working day for short-haul drivers from 12 hours to 14 hours and applied the longer hours to more drivers by expanding the definition of short-haul. Labor leaders and safety advocates argued that fatigued drivers will result in more accidents.
Will Grayson Meak faceoff against Devin Downes in counties? Meanwhile North Babylon’s Jasmine McKay hoops it up and there's history on the mat in Nassau County in Episode 2 of "Sarra Sounds Off."  Credit: Mario Gonzalez

 SARRA SOUNDS OFF: Wrestling, North Babylon hoops and more! Will Grayson Meak faceoff against Devin Downes in counties? Meanwhile North Babylon's Jasmine McKay hoops it up and there's history on the mat in Nassau County in Episode 2 of "Sarra Sounds Off." 

SUBSCRIBE

Unlimited Digital AccessOnly 25¢for 6 months

ACT NOWSALE ENDS SOON | CANCEL ANYTIME