This week Trump tried out a new, more positive  approach as the death toll passed 80,000 and more than 36 million  Americans were unemployed, claiming, “We have met the moment and we have  prevailed.” Trump bragged the U.S. leads the world in testing, then  later seemed to indicate testing was not important, and if we didn’t  test so much, we wouldn’t have so many cases — leading an NYT health and science reporter to say of Trump, “This is not somebody whose grasp of the science is even third-grade-level.”

Contrary to Trump’s upbeat assessment, this week  Dr. Anthony Fauci and CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield gave somber  testimony before the Senate, warning of dire consequences of reopening  too soon. Whistleblower Dr. David Bright warned the House in testimony,  “Without better planning, 2020 could be the darkest winter in modern  history.”

This week Trump turned to an old strategy of  blaming former President Barack Obama and accusing him of  “Obamagate” — although it was unclear what this was, and Trump never  clarified. Nonetheless, Fox News and the conservative media compliantly  spent the week on this shiny coin, turning coverage away from the  growing death toll, and grim economic news. Health experts pressured the  FDA to issue a warning after a growing body of data showed  hydroxychloroquine, the drug touted by Trump and his cohorts, could be  deadly.

The week closed with an emboldened Trump firing  another inspector general, the fourth in recent weeks, as he continued  to retaliate and surround himself by incompetent loyalists — sadly, with  little pushback and no consequences.

Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-183/