The Weekly List

In December, Trump continued to push lies and  conspiracy theories about the election, not only failing to concede, but  pushing efforts to overthrow the election results. During this month,  Trump became increasingly isolated as even loyalists pushed back on his  false allegations or resigned, leaving an inner circle composed almost  entirely of his family members and conspiracy theorists. Trump continued  to avoid the press and the American people, seeming to hide in the  White House, other than a brief holiday trip to Mar-a-Lago.

This month the Supreme Court, which Trump had  viewed as loyalists who would act at his behest, rejected his election  challenges. Other setbacks came on December 8 when the safe harbor  deadline passed, and then on December 14 when the Electoral Colleges in  each state cast their votes, and ratified Biden’s victory — a typically  mundane process that goes unnoticed, which was for first time was  broadcast live and closely watched. After the results were ratified,  Senate Republican leadership recognized Biden as president-elect, while  House leadership continued to demure. Trump raged against all those who  refused to go along with his despot coup, while his supporters took to  threatening election officials and other subjects of his ire.

This month, a major Russian hacking — perhaps  the most significant of modern times — of federal agencies and  corporations was revealed. As has been a familiar pattern, Trump refused  to acknowledge Russia’s involvement or condemn the attack, which some  lawmakers likened to an act of war. December also marked the most deadly  month of the worsening pandemic, which Trump almost completely ignored,  along with any and all other presidential responsibilities.

Although Trump had yet to admit defeat, he did  grant several controversial pardons, including four figures that were  subjects of the Mueller probe, as well as Jared Kushner’s father, and  employees of a company run by loyalist Erik Prince who were found guilty  of murdering Iraqi civilians. As the month came to a close, Trump  continued to push for allies to overturn the election and hence  America’s still young experiment in democracy. And tragically, many  Republicans appeared all too happy to comply with his antics, despite  the damage to our democracy and world standing, in order to benefit  their own political futures.

Read the full list here:  https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/after-december/

This project could not have ended in a more  perfect way (she writes while sipping champagne): Donald J. Trump was  defeated shortly before noon on Saturday, the cutoff time each week, and  so I was able to gloriously write “THE END” at the end of Week 208   — something I have been waiting to do for four long years.

This week, the U.S. held its election, and it  was different than any other due to the pandemic and the resulting  record early vote. It took days for the race to be called for Biden, as  early votes were counted. Nonetheless, as he telegraphed he would do in  the weeks and months leading up to November 3rd, Trump tried to steal  the election, declaring victory at a hastily assembled news conference  at 2 a.m. on election night.

As you read this week’s list, you can see the  intent: dismantle the U.S. Postal Service so mail-in ballots mostly  availed of by Democrats don’t arrive in time; have GOP state  legislatures disallow early vote counting so Trump can claim a lead and  declare victory on election night; and stack the courts so the judicial  branch will determine the outcome. Thankfully, the American people voted  in numbers too great for these plans to work, with a record 75 million  Americans voting for the winning candidate, Joe Biden (with votes still  to be counted).

As we leave the final weekly list, we enter the  most dangerous phase of the pandemic so far. The week starts with Drs.  Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx taking the unusual step of warning us  publicly, ahead of the election, of the dire state of things. By week’s  end the nation recorded daily record cases for three days in a row.

On an administrative note, I will continue to  document broken norms until inauguration, although not in the weekly  format of the past four years. They too will be recorded as part of our  road map back to normalcy.

In the final full week heading into the  election, the seeds of Trump’s bungled pandemic response came back to  haunt him, with the twin challenges of record daily cases and  hospitalizations in many states, along with the worst week for the stock  market since March. Even as a new outbreak hit Vice President Mike  Pence’s staffers, Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows all but conceded  the regime had thrown the white flag on any federal response, saying,  “We are not going to control the pandemic.”

Trump barn-stormed battleground states, all of  which were facing surges in cases, and continued to hold rallies with  supporters packed together without face masks. Unthinkable. Polling  showed nearly 6 in 10 Americans disapproved of Trump’s rallies, and  evidence continued to come out that the rallies were leading to sickness  and death.

This week Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed as a  Supreme Court justice, for the first time in 151 years without a single  vote from the minority party, heading into a highly litigious election  with Republicans and the Trump campaign bringing hundreds of lawsuits in  an effort to suppress voting. Nevertheless, a record 90 million  Americans had voted by the end of the week, two-thirds of the total 2016  vote, as the country braced for violence on Election Day.

Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-207/

This week, with Election Day nearing, the  coronavirus raged out of control, with a record number of new daily  cases on Thursday, and then again Friday, topping 83,000.  Hospitalizations also soared in many states, and the death toll started  to rise. Trump meanwhile continued to hold campaign rallies in  battleground states, almost all of which were in the midst of surging  cases. His supporters stood packed together, shoulder-to-shoulder, and  mostly without face masks. It was unthinkable that a leader would do  such a thing — but Trump proved once again his care is only for himself  and his re-election, even though many of his supporters will end up  getting sick and some will die.

Meanwhile, Americans voted in record number, by  Thursday topping the early votes for all of 2016, and by week’s end, 56  million had voted, 40% of all who voted in 2016. Record turnout  continued in multiple states, with registered Democrats far outpacing  Republicans. Despite the huge turnout, Senate Republicans continued to  push through Trump’s Supreme Court nominee — even as Democrats boycotted  the Judiciary Committee vote — and while eschewing a Covid relief bill,  as 8 million more Americans descended into poverty.

Trump spent the week all over place: attacking  Dr. Anthony Fauci, then “60 Minutes” anchor Lesley Stahl, and gaining no  ground as Americans voted and Election Day neared. News of foreign  interference loomed large, as did acts of violence and intimidation from  far-right groups.

Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-206/

This week, despite millions of Americans having  voted already, Senate Republicans started the process of confirming  Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court. With Republicans in control of  the Senate, there was little Democrats could do to address the hypocrisy  and outrage over Trump’s actions, other than show up to vote, which  they did in record numbers.

Behind in the polls, Trump got out on the  campaign trail, claiming he was no longer contagious and holding daily  rallies in states, many of which were experiencing coronavirus  outbreaks. As the virus surged nationally, there was no federal  government response, and in fact Trump seemed increasingly to lean on  Dr. Scott Atlas, who continued to push the notion of herd immunity.  Trump also made increasingly desperate statements at his rallies,  indicating he did understand the gravity of Election Day approaching and  Biden’s lead.

State officials braced for violence on Election  Day, as Trump continued to give credence to the QAnon conspiracy theory,  and encouraged an “army” of supporters to sign up as poll watchers.  Meanwhile, Attorney General Bill Barr remained conspicuously absent from  the public eye, as the “unmasking” probe quietly and unceremoniously  ended, and he had yet to comment on the alleged plot against Michigan  Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Trump allies Rudy Giuliani and Stephen Bannon  introduced a supposed hard drive belonging to Hunter Biden in a “smoking  gun” story at the New York Post, that was soon under investigation by the F.B.I. as a possible Russian intelligence operation.

Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-205/

This week the public was given little information  about Trump’s health and recovery from the coronavirus, including basic  questions like when he last tested negative or his medical status. Even  by Trump’s standards, this week he acted extraordinarily crazed and  erratic — both in his actions and his words. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi  questioned if Trump was in “an altered state,” as it was unclear if a  steroid he was taking as treatment, which can result in mild to moderate  psychiatric side effects, was to blame.

Despite being hospitalized for Covid-19, Trump  did not change his approach to the pandemic, like caring about the  wellness of those around him, or adhering to safety guidelines. As he  plummeted further in the polls, and there was talk of a landslide, he  returned to the White House, then the Oval Office, and was eager to get  back on the campaign trail, despite likely being contagious. It was  remarkable.

Later in the week, Trump made a series of long  appearances on Fox and other conservative media, coughing and sounding  unhinged, and repeatedly calling on the Justice Department to indict his  political enemies. After Michigan law enforcement and the FBI announced  arrests in an alleged plot by domestic terrorists to kidnap Gov.  Gretchen Whitmer and orchestrate a coup of sorts, Trump, whose words had  incited their actions, fanned the flames further by seeming to side  with the 13 suspects, some who had links to the national “boogaloo”  anti-government movement, and criticizing Whitmer.

Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-204/

On Thursday of this week, around 5 p.m., I  tweeted that this week was unusually quiet in terms of the chaos, and  was on pace for the fewest broken norms in 2020. I wrote that I was not  sure what to attribute it to, but “We might be heading toward the end.”  Hours later, Bloomberg News  reporter Jennifer Jacobs broke the news that Hope Hicks had tested  positive for coronavirus, which led to a cascade of disclosures. Shortly  after midnight that evening, Trump announced on Twitter that both he  and First Lady Melania were also positive.

The original plotline seemed to set Hicks up to  be the patsy, but within the next 24 hours, it became clear that most  top Republicans contracted the virus at a White House reception for the  announcement of Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, Amy Coney  Barrett, held Saturday, even before Ruth Bader Ginsburg was buried.

Ahead of these disclosures, this week was the  first presidential debate, which many pundits pegged as the worst in  modern history. Trump was an unhinged, raging, maniacal mess, who  delivered no campaign message but anger. One startling takeaway was  Trump’s refusal to condemn white supremacists. Again. In fact, he  ordered far-right hate group the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand  by.” He also spewed a series of lies about election fraud, and continued  to undermine the validity of the upcoming election. The Times noted in a front page story that the country has successfully held  presidential elections since 1788, but “now faces the gravest challenge  in its history to the way it chooses a leader and peacefully transfers  power.”

As the week came to an end, Trump was admitted  to Walter Reed Medical Center. As has been the case in all his years in  office, there was no clear communication or truth about his condition.  The American people sat on edge with Election Day one month away, unsure  about his condition, and even when he tested positive for the virus.

Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-203/

This week Trump said he would not accept a  peaceful transition of power — a remarkable, unprecedented statement.  While there was pushback in the form of the Senate voting for a  resolution affirming its commitment to a peaceful transition — without  mentioning Trump by name or condemning his statement — Trump persisted  with his lies about mail-in ballot voter fraud, and refused to back  down.

While polls show Biden winning nationally and in  battleground states won by Trump in 2016, Trump’s threat, accompanied  by an article in The Atlantic  saying Trump might try a coup if he loses, left the country on  edge — especially with Trump moving forward to appoint a Supreme Court  nominee, stacking the court 6–3 ahead of legal challenges. Even Pentagon  leaders were reported to be discussing what they would do if Trump  tried to use troops on protestors. Yet, while Trump continued to sow  doubt about the election, voters requested mail-in ballots in record  numbers. States that revealed voting requests data by party  identification showed a huge margin of Democrats requesting and sending  back their ballots over Republicans.

This week, the U.S. passed the grim milestone of  200,000 dead and over 7,000,000 infected with the coronavirus. By  week’s end, the virus was coming back into the spotlight, not only amid  rising concerns about the politicization of a possible vaccine and  federal health agencies, but also with a new surge in daily cases.

Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-202/

It’s hard to express the sense of loss this year  has brought to the our country: already we’ve endured three years of  division, broken norms, lawlessness, kleptocracy, bigotry and hate,  gaslighting and non-stop lies — leaving our country anxious and  exhausted entering 2020.

This year has brought illness, unemployment,  starvation, death, wildfires, hurricanes, social unrest, and now the  loss of a revered and beloved Supreme Court justice, Ruth Bader  Ginsburg, 46 days before the election. It’s hard to put into words the  cumulative stress, sorrow, and anger our country is experiencing. Now,  as Trump continues to lie and sow doubt about the integrity of the  election, we face the unthinkable of a Supreme Court stacked in his  favor possibly deciding the outcome of a contested election.

On top of that, this week brought more questions  about Trump’s handling of the deadly pandemic as we approach an  unthinkable 200,000 deaths. Bob Woodward’s book, combined with a town  hall appearance by Trump this week, raised serious questions about  Trump’s mental health and attachment to reality. Woodward concluded  there is a nervous breakdown of the executive branch and Trump “is the  wrong man for the job.” As the country starts voting this week in record  numbers, America stands on edge.

Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-201/