Dr. Anthony Fauci said that predictably we should see a spike in Corona virus cases in the next few weeks from all the holiday travel ending today. In further explaining the state of the Corona virus fight, he also explained that while the roll out of vaccinations has been behind the stated goal, in the last 72 hours there has been much improvement and that we can avoid a nation-wide lockdown if we practice the recommended CDC fundamentals.
To unpack Dr. Fauci's diplomatic answers here, by President Trump's own admission, the federal government, who have been inconsistent with their distribution instructions, dropped off doses of the vaccine to the states and then left them to fend for themselves, without any logistical help. So of course the distribution is going to be slow because the states' resources are already stretched to the limit. Additionally, Dr. Fauci used the word 'predictable' when it came to the upcoming spike and diplomatically left out that the president is playing an active role in not encouraging best practices. Where Dr. Fauci refused to be diplomatic was in to response the president's tweet that the CDC is overestimating the counting of deaths due to the Corona virus, to which he flatly said that the deaths are real - over 350,000 Americans are dead and it didn't have to be that many.
What's incredible is that there is no sense of that loss conveyed by the Administration and many leaders in Congress. Simply being objective about it, the Federal Government's response to the pandemic has been an utter failure and an abdication of leadership.
Good news... Dr. Fauci did say that the new mutant strain is not more deadly but it can spread more quickly, however, the vaccine seems effective on this new variety.
But more severe damage is being done by the day with the help of this mutant strain and we're not even talking about the virus.
Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) could only be given credit by Chuck Todd for accepting the interview because Mr. Todd wasn't having any of the senator's explanations as to why an emergency committee needed to be set up before certifying the election results in favor of Joe Biden. It was also clear that nothing of what Mr. Todd said was penetrating through to his interlocutor. After 60 lost court challenges due to lack of evidence of any fraud and all 50 states certifying their results, the president keeps lying about a fraudulent and rigged election and in a nakedly partisan party-above-country move, 12 Senate Republicans are willing to perpetuate this lie, of whom Mr. Johnson is a chief proprietor. Despite no evidence for concern about the results, Mr. Johnson who is perpetuating this lie is saying there are serious concerns. In political parlance, it's all bullshit. And these senators know it.
Mr. Todd got into a quite telling and entertaining sparring match with the senator, in which he called him out on his perpetuating of this conspiracy theory, in fact called the senator the arsonist. Mr. Johnson shot back that the [proverbial] fire was started by the Democrats back in January of 2017 when they tried to delegitimize Mr. Trump's presidency. Whether conspiracy or not, who you believe - whatever, don't you just love it when a reporter asking a sitting senator if his committee intends to investigate the moon landing and whether it was staged or not.
Judge for yourself HERE.
We expect daily damage to our democracy Mr. Trump is inflicting on his way out the door, but this mutant strain of the Republican party is out of control.
And of course, Vice-President Pence is encouraging this move because it means he maintains power even though on January 6th he technically only has a pro-forma role (not in the era of Trump). Peter Baker of The New York Times called it out that we're acting as if this is normal when in reality it is far from it, unprecedented in the nation's history in fact.
NBC's Leigh Ann Caldwell said that a divided nation and a divided Republican party only benefit the president, which makes logical sense given the president's modus operandi. Mr. Trump is still attacking the Georgia government and its secretary of state claiming the vote was rigged in the state, which could effect Republican turn out in the senate run-off, to the chagrin of Mitch McConnell. Ms. Caldwell also reported that due to these breakaway senators there could be a Trump party and a Republican party in the Senate. More like two separate Republican caucuses in the Senate.
And the end game? NBC's Geoff Bennett said what we basically already know, and that is Mr. Trump saving face on his way out the door.
Two viruses pummeling our democracy and our people, and the administration is actively subverting the effort to combat both.
Panel: Leigh Ann Caldwell, NBC; Peter Baker, The New York Times; Geoff Bennett, NBC News
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