5.10.20: The Message to Americans - Tragedy and Incompetence - Learn to Live With It

With unemployment claims topping 22 million and the death toll from COVID-19 approaching 80,000, the president preoccupied himself this morning with Michael Flynn and discrediting the Mueller Investigation instead of coming up with a national plan on how this country can move forward safely to bring back economic activity.

The two infectious disease experts on today's program respectively made statements that transcend. Jeffrey Shaman from Columbia University said that even though the Administration dropped the ball (our term) early on in proactive against the virus, we have to "pick up from where we are now," While Dr. Michael Osterholm said that we have to "learn to live with it."

However, without a national plan coming from a decisive Administration in the White House, pick up and and learning to live it become ever more difficult. Maybe it's just the thoughts of this column, but it's impossible to reconcile the president saying his administration is doing a great job when the country is staring 100,000 deaths in the face. And when the president this week nonchalantly says that over 22 million job losses were to be expected, it's downright depressing to think about where the president's head is at. Obviously, it's not on the millions of Americans who are suffering at this moment.

And in the midst of this pandemic, the Trump Administration is still backing the lawsuit to invalidate the Affordable Care Act, which would leave 20 million Americans without access to health insurance. When Mr. Todd asked Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) about this, Mr. Alexander said that when the individual mandate penalty was lowered to $0, no senator thought that this invalidated the entire law as the suit claims.

This is all in light of the fact that White House staffers in close contact with the president and vice-president tested positive for the virus this week. As Kristen Welker reported, White House staff has been shaken by this, even as they are instituting ramped up testing and contact tracing. However, ramping up these measures for the entire country is out of the question.

Chuck Todd's thread throughout the program was "Where's the plan?" which is a legitimate question but he drilled down on as if there would be an answer (a plan) coming. However, the reality is that there won't be a national plan. The president has left the states to make their own decisions without any federal coordination so that the country as a whole can emerge from this crisis. The president has called Americans 'warriors' in fighting this invisible enemy, but pragmatically what he is really saying is that many more Americans are going to die and that's just the way it has to be to get the economy moving again. The president has said that the economy will come back in the summer despite economists saying that it will take years to recover all the job losses. Given the unemployment rates for the different population segments, it's unlikely that the administration will focus on those hardest hit.

Robert F. Smith, CEO of Vista Equity Partners, explained that this is an opportunity for the United States to restructure the banking system because 94% of minority owned businesses are under-banked or are not affiliated with any bank at all. It would be wise to follow this course, but again it's difficult  to see it actually happening given that corporate allies of the administration will do their best to exploit the crisis instead of correctly the economy inequality that this crisis has laid bear.

Richard Haas said that many countries aren't seeing the United States that they thought we knew, and because of this they will increasingly go their own way, which will only increase instability. We can not speak for other countries' perceptions, but this isn't even the America that Americans once knew.


Panel: Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal; Kristen Welker, NBC News; Richard Haas, President of the Council on Foreign Relations

5.3.20: Patchwork and Band-Aids

Today's watch word: patchwork. Used by both Dr. Tom Inglesby of Johns Hopkins and by infectious disease doctor Dr. Nahid Bhadelia to describe the United States' response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It stands to reason that there is concern about some states re-opening their economies too quickly because there hasn't been a coordinated national approach to combating the virus. All the states are in different stages, showing varying statistics, hence 'patchwork.'

Listening to state health officials from Alabama and Michigan respectively, they are taking different approaches according to the statistics and situation on the ground, as it were. However, they are basing their respective recommendations on facts and leave it to the governor to act equipped with an informed opinion. "It's not personal" is how Dr. Joneigh Khaldun from Michigan described it when discussing outside political pressure. Dr. Harris from Alabama explained it's present but that doesn't change the facts he presents.

However, Mr. Todd also asked Dr. Harris about Georgia with its aggressive reopening of their economy in lieu of statistics that show it's not safe to do so. Dr. Harris did express concern understandably but said that Alabama was prepared. The point here is that this is exactly where Administration and Federal response leadership is needed. The Trump Administration gutted the CDC (Center for Disease Control) which is the agency that would track and trace on a national level so that a state like Alabama could better understand what's happening in neighboring states.

But the federal response on several levels has failed. Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report explained that some politicians rise to the moment, which is why many governors' approval rating are so high. She also said that Donald Trump has risen to the moment like every other in his presidency with polarization and divisiveness.

Dr. Nahid Bhadelia explained that the Covid-19 virus acts to have the immune system attack itself. The growing partisan response, amplified shamefully by the president, is the virus that has been spreading across the country and the result is our democracy attacking itself. This is the consequence of Donald Trump's unfit leadership.

In the face of 1 million-plus infections and over 66,000 Americans dead in 2 months, the president said this week that the administration has done a 'spectacular' job, to use his word and his son-in-law described the administration's work as an 'American Success Story.' At this point, the only astute question to ask is, "What planet are these individuals living on?"

That brings us to today's operative percentage - 10 percent. Douglas Holtz-Eakin that in the months of April through June we'll see a 10% decline in national income; twelve percent is Great Depression era numbers. He also called the trillions of dollars CARES Act a band-aid. Dr. Bhadelia also explained that in areas where positive tests are over 10%, it's an indication that there is too little testing. All of this is on the federal government so it's ridiculous to equal what is actually happening with words like 'spectacular' and 'success.'

The potential answer to this lack of presidential leadership is in one fmr. Vice-President Joe Biden who has had to answer questions this week about a sexually assault allegation made by former Senate staffer Tara Reade. It's too soon to even judge and the only consensus that has come out of this so far is that there are no good players here. Mr. Biden, on Friday, flatly denied the allegation saying that it never happened, putting himself on the record and requesting full transparency. Given what we know and what has been said, Ms. Walter explained that this is a fight over who to believe and hypocrisy, with a slavering of the latter all over. Republicans are pointing out the hypocrisy on the part of the Democrats as Justice Brett Cavanaugh wasn't given the benefit of the doubt so why should Mr. Biden when it seems his accuser is more credible. But that's hypocrisy on the Republicans as well as there is no mention of the president's many accusers.

Frankly, at this moment we're just going to see how this one plays out because the current situation is allowing for putting any hope in any one person's hands, not even 10 percent.


Panel: Kasie Hunt, NBC News; Douglas Holtz-Eakin, American Action Forum, fmr. Budget Director; Dr. Nahid Bhadelia, NBC Medical Contributor

4.26.20: We Have Failed to Meet the Moment

Here's a statistic that Chuck Todd presented that illustrates clearly the tragedy of this virus:

12 weeks - 53,000+ deaths from COVID-19
12 years - 58,000+ U.S. military deaths in Vietnam.

When asked about the death totals, the president responded that he thought they did a 'great job,' and then goes on to explain to that it could have been millions. However, the reason it is not millions has very little to do with the actions of the administration. Aside from closing the borders, the administration has been sheepish about employing the Defense Production Act to supply hospitals and healthcare works around the country, and then have not put a national testing/ tracking plan in place to mitigate risk to the U.S. population.

What we're left with are mixed messages and ludicrous ideas from the president while his aides and medical experts try to clean up the mess. And from what we saw today during the interview with Dr. Birx, she is succumbing to the professional challenge of staying outside the Trump alternative reality bubble. After doing her best to once again dodge the question of her response to the president's comment about injecting disinfectant with he was 'still digesting information,' she gave one of many elliptical answers, particularly not clearly countering the president's other suggestion of using light and ultraviolet light to combat the virus.  Andrea Mitchell called her out on this very point and also said that right now, the credibility of the medical experts are in fact on the line. When asked about whether she would recommend that states reopen, like Georgia is doing, she talked about advising governors and state officials with granular data on each county, in effect a none answer. At present, Dr. Birx is completely cowed by the president.

The headline that Mr. Todd gleaned from the interview is that we will not be able to dramatically increase testing without a break through moment. That breakthrough moment has to come from what Dr. Michael Osterholm called the 'wild west' of testing. After the CDC dropped the ball on developing a test, the FDA opened it to the market so many of the test being developed are inaccurate. As Dr. Osterholm explained, the testing is a disaster because of this and it is preventing large-scale capability, saying that we have 'failed to meet the moment.'

Also, Mr. Todd asked Ms. Mitchell to weight in on the politics of it all on the part of the administration, but we'll say this: everything thought and hence answer the president has is through the political lens as opposed to a lens of governing, which he has never had interest in doing. Politics also played a part in Georgia's reopening as Stacey Abrams explained. Governor Brian Kemp (R-GA) is reopening his government, she said, because he is following the president's 'liberate' tweet campaign to the states. Vice President Mike Pence is also playing politics when he said that by Memorial Day (end of May) the coronavirus will be largely behind us. All three of these men, Ms. Abrams explained, are doing a disservice to the country with their words and actions, or inaction as the case may be.


Panel: Andrea Mitchell, NBC News; Dr. Vin Gupta, University of Washington Medical Center; Stephanie Ruhle, NBC News

4.12.20: The Metrics Are in the President's Mind

The flattening the curve in the fight against Covid-19 is... a good sign not so much as good news  because of the 20,473 recorded deaths in the United States as of this writing.

The Trump administration, according to reporting from NBC's Kristen Welker, is planning on opening the economy back up May 1, as opposed to what FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn said that they are looking at that date. Chuck Todd posed the question on whether opening up the economy will brake along red/blue lines, which went unanswered. Well the answer is 'yes, it will,' because there never has been a strong federal coordinated response to combating the virus, biggest case in point is the lack of nation-wide testing - less than 1 percent of the United States population.


It was good to hear that Dr. Hahn say that he's felt no political pressure and the FDA's actions reflect as such, but then again he explained that he was only confirmed in December and that he hadn't been through any pandemic exercises. This speaks to the deeper problem of gutting the federal government and leaving key positions empty or in 'acting' status that has plagued the Trump presidency.



Without national testing capacity in absence of a vaccine the economy will not fully recover anytime soon. You shouldn't hold your breath for a May 1st date, especially if the data is showing surges in outbreaks in other cities across the country. We remain on the virus's timeline.

As for the president, the most important metrics are in his mind when it comes to the decision. What could go wrong with that? Dr. Fauci said that the decision would be made collectively only to be overwritten by the president who said he alone would make the decision. As for the daily press conferences, they have ceased being relevant and certainly do not help the president's cause in looking like he's in charge. The majority of Americans have written off Mr. Trump's leadership during the pandemic and are looking to their state governors.

As the panel discussed, in lieu of not being able to be out at rallies, the president is using the press conferences as 'infomercials' citing Jon Meacham. However, by the end of each the product hasn't grown in appeal, quite the opposite.

All the blame Mr. Trump dishes out only serves as excuses at this point, yet still with the object of keeping his base focused on others such as the World Health Organization. The president attacked the WHO this week for being too China-centric, to which Dr. David Nabarro explained that his organization doesn't have the power to inspect and can only work with the data they receive from governments.

Continually planting seeds, the president also decried mail-in voting saying untruthfully that it's prone to fraud - start baking it in now that because of the potential need for mail-in voting the result will be illegitimate. So more significant than Bernie Sanders dropping out of the race was the Wisconsin primary example this week. Instead of 180 polling places for the city of Milwaukee, only 5 were open while endangering public health. The Democratic governor wanted to postpone it but the state's conservative Supreme Court overturned the decision, essentially sanctioning a suppression of the vote.

How it played out was instructive for November as Jon Meacham explained, but if Bernie Sanders doesn't give a full-throated endorsement with action to back to Joe Biden his supporters will stay home or vote third party or disastrously vote for President Trump. As Yamiche Alcindor explained, Joe Biden is expected to move to the left however moderately as are reflected in Mr. Biden's Medicare at 60 and forgiveness as some student loan debt. So Mr. Biden will do his part, but Mr. Sanders who surely understands the consequences has to make sure his supporters also understand, thoroughly so.

In the meantime, where ever you are, please stay safe and healthy.


Panel: Kristen Welker, NBC News; Yamiche Alcindor, PBS; Lanhee Chen, Stanford University; Jon Meacham, presidential historian

4.5.20: Donald Trump Has Ripped Up the Social Contract

"Meet The Press" was preempted half way through the program so we didn't get the full panel discussion but that in no way means that we will not have things to say about what, in particular, fmr. governor Pat McCrory (R-NC) said with regard to the pandemic response.

To start, the continuing conversation about what the states should be doing versus what the federal government response should be is a distressing one to say the least. This is a national crisis and requires a federal response. Hard stop. However, the president insists that the federal government is only a backstop for individual state responses to the pandemic. If we had a genuine leader in the White House, this wouldn't even be a discussion. The president refuses to take the lead because he doesn't want to take any responsibility. A real leader would take full responsibility, but Mr. Trump has shown that the phrase coined by President Truman that "The buck stops here," doesn't apply to him. Feckless. Indifferent. Irresponsible.

And Republicans are cowed by this man that they refuse to speak up and or just follow him blindly through this disaster. The first case in point is the aforementioned Mr. McCrory who said that he objects to the blame game and cited the example of Pearl Harbor where the public didn't blame President Roosevelt after it happened. That may be true, but Roosevelt didn't run away from responsibility to lead the nation through that time of adversity, like President Trump is doing now. Mr. Crory's comparison and argument are a joke.

Governor Asa Hutchinson (R-AR) for his part has not issued a state-wide stay-at-home order, but said that his state is following all the recommendations from the CDC and doing more than that. But what exactly is that if he hasn't issued that order? It's disingenuous at best and furthermore he is putting the citizens of his state and other states at risk. He explained that Arkansas confirmed an order for masks, but then was outbid by another state, explaining that they are competing with others for supplies. That simply shouldn't be the case and did not call for a national response. More irresponsible leadership.

Conversely, Governor Jay Inslee (D-WA) acted quickly and early with a state-wide order and the state has subsequently flattened the curve. He also explained that the state is not 'out of the woods' yet, but what does it matter if all states aren't following a national protocol? The virus doesn't recognize borders so in a way, what is, or in this case is not, happening in Arkansas is also happening in Washington. Mr. Hutchinson countered Mr. Inslee with a cheap shot that despite Washington's state-at-home order, citizens of Washington could still buy marijuana, a pointless comment. If the Arkansas governor finds that objectionable then he should close all the liquor stores and beer distributors in his state.

Are we blaming President Trump for the spread of the pandemic, no. However, his refusal or inability to take up the leadership mantle has made a dire, tragic crisis worse. As for his administration's part, the president had Sr. Advisor Jared Kushner give one of the briefings this week resulting in people questioning who exactly in the White House is running the pandemic response. And whether or not Mr. Kushner misspoke, to say that the national stockpile is 'ours' and not for the states is a gross abdication of the federal government responsibility to its citizenry so to even think for a moment that such a statement makes a bit of sense is ludicrous.

Unlike the Trump Administration, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte stated that public health comes first and foremost; that political decisions must be based on scientific evidence; and that it is the responsibility of government to maintain the social contract with its people. He said that he understands the great sacrifice of his people, but that his government will act to the best of their knowledge and with the help WHO he believes that his country is on the right path.

If only the Trump Administration had such clear thinking. More importantly, if Donald Trump himself had an ounce of empathy for the suffering and sacrifice of the American people, we would be able to rally to his side. However, like all the ones he reneged on during his business career, Mr. Trump has dismissed and ripped up the social contract between his administration and the American people.


Panel: Kasie Hunt, NBC; Helene Cooper, The New York Times; Pat McCrory, fmr. gov. of North Carolina.

3.29.20: The Virus Sets the Timeline

First and foremost, before making any comments stemming from today's "Meet The Press" we sincerely hope that you and you're family is staying safe and healthy in this time of worldwide crisis.

Nothing could be more true that American healthcare workers are overworked, overrun and overwhelmed. As Dr. Deborah Birx succinctly stated, there is no metro area in the United States that is going to be spared by this virus. There still seems to be debate on what the states should be doing versus what the federal government should take responsibility for during this crisis, but regardless it is imperative that the president needs to be honest with the American people and consistent in his messaging.

When Chuck Todd asked the panel whether the president should step up more or step back, conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt said that the president should lean into the crisis and stay out front whereas The Washington Post's Eugene Robinson should step back because he is saying things that are counterproductive making him more and more irrelevant. In a way, both are right. The president should be the one to lean in with leadership and empathy, but Mr. Trump with his 'thinking out loud' approach is sending mixed messages and doling out attacks on governors that seem petty. Given that, the president needs to step back and let the scientists and doctors lead the strategy.

There have been moments where the president has captured the right tone and has said the right things, but there has been no consistency in his statements. An example of this came just yesterday when the president said that he was considering a full quarantine of the New York City metro area, to which New York governor Andrew Cuomo responded that that would be in essence like declaring war on the states. Also, what the president needs to realize but never has is that in this time of crisis he is the president for all Americans, Democrats and Republicans alike so attacking governors shows a pettiness that is detrimental to the nation. NBC's Carol Lee posed that the president has to decide whether he wants to be a wartime president or Donald Trump, which implies that he can not be both.

As to being a wartime president, Mr. Trump did enact the Defense Protection Act to compel General Motors to start manufacturing ventilators, an action that should have been taken at least a month ago. Fmr. Vice President Joe Biden said that he would have taken this step in the production of personal protective equipment (PPE) - masks, gowns, face shields. He also said that the Congress should be preparing for the next round of funding because the current aid package may not be enough. All this speaks to the administration's slow response and its original approach of downplaying the danger. When the president says that no one could have seen this coming, it is simply not true because the administration back in 2017 cut from the security council pandemic response, drilled on this in 2019 and ignored warnings from the security council in January and February of this year. Carol Lee also explained that there is tension between the CDC and FEMA on who should take control of what. If Donald Trump wants to indeed be a wartime president, he needs to step up because the administration as it stands right now is losing this war.

In terms of the presumptive Democratic nominee and the president the polls have tightened as Mr. Trump is seeing his highest approval ratings of his presidency at 48 percent. Commentators are making this seem as though the president is operating from a position of strength when in actuality he is still underwater in terms of job approval. Mr. Hewitt said that we shouldn't pay attention to the polls at this time and he's right, but for the wrong reasons because he is presuming that they will improve in the president's favor come November, which isn't likely.

This is a flawed timeline for the president, just as the other arbitrary timelines the president has set like his administration's 15-day plan to slow the spread of the virus, which is up on Tuesday. This is unrealistic just as seeing packed churches on Easter (April 12). As Dr. Fauci has said, the administration can not set the timeline for reopening the country, the virus sets the timeline.


Panel: Andrea Mitchell, NBC News; Carol Lee; NBC News; Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post; Hugh Hewitt, Salem Radio Network

3.22.20: America Shuts Down and the President Won't Shut Up

The Trump Administration saw this coming...

Let that sink in as more and more Americans are being ordered to stay at home and practice social distancing, there is still a shortage of testing, N95 masks, ventilators and hospital beds. Meanwhile, unemployment claims are going through the roof.

For the first few months, the president downplayed the threat that the virus posed and it has only been in the last few days that the president has changed his tone for the better. As Kristen Welker explained, the president wants to be out front but there have been mixed results. Thenews media distills these press conferences to sort out what the facts are, mostly coming from Dr. Anthony Fauci, and what the president is saying, which has just made the response from the government more muddled and confusing. The president has just made things worse so as America shuts down, the president should just shut up.

The president has invoked the Defense Protection Act, which gives the president the authority to order private companies to switch in this case to the production of much needed medical equipment, however, Mr. Trump has not enacted the law so states are in bidding wars for masks, ventilators and hospital gowns. The military, as New York City Mayor, Bill de Blasio said, has vast medical capacity in crisis areas and is second to none in terms of logistics. This was needed a month ago but has yet to materialize.

Governor Larry Hogan's (R-MD) statement saying that we are still behind the curve is a gross understatement about the federal government's response, which frankly, has been awful. It's understandable that Governor Hogan's statements were measured as he has to work directly with the Administration. However, Mayor Blasio pleaded that his city and the states needed help now or more people would die. But because the federal government is slow in mobilizing, it is up to the states to act, which Mr. Hogan said was happening in conjunction with the federal action.

As David French explained, the states at this moment are acting with the maximum power they can muster, however, states acting individually is not going to get us through this crisis unless the federal government steps up. The good news is that FEMA is now running point for the federal response but that the FEMA Administrator, Peter Gaynor, gave a tepid answer when it came to the prevention of hoarding supplies, which stuck out as a concern for former HHS Secretary Jeh Johnson, who said if he were still in his role, he would call up the national guard with a Title 32 status that would have the states control the guard but the federal government would shoulder the burden of the cost, along with the Army Corps of Engineers. Mr. Gaynor did say that good things are happening, shipments of masks and supplies, and that is good. However, we're still playing a waiting game for all the supplies and mobilizations to be up to adequate production and speed.

Presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin said in times of national crisis we need to trust the word of the president and for the federal government to take systematic action. However, in reading that you can see the problem. That's not the president that we have. We're unable to trust the word of this president because of all his false statements on a plethora of topics and because the administration lacks cohesion and order, systematic action is readily coming through.

We're not saying that the Trump Administration is to blame, but Americans rely on the federal government to combat the problems and crises that individuals cannot solves themselves. Mr. Trump has made a signature of his presidency to disparage the 'deep state' but the deep state is the federal bureaucracy that's in place for just these situations.

So when Chuck Todd asks, how the president's response has been during this crisis, the first one of his presidency that isn't self-made, it hasn't been difficult to predict how the president would handle it.

The president is simply not up to the task, and this lack of leadership and experience and empathy is a compounding circumstance that has made overcoming the challenge of this crisis all the more difficult.


Panel: Kristen Welker, NBC; Doris Kearns Goodwin, presidential historian; Jeh Johnson, fmr. HHS Secretary; David French, Time Magazine

3.8.20: Coronavirus Scaring Voters Straight, in the Face of Anti-Leadership

On the one hand, you can be glad that "Meet The Press" had Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Disease, deliver real answers on what to do and expect regarding the spread of the Coronavirus. On the other, none of it was particularly good.

He explained that as they get a better sense of the virus, what they're seeing is not good. The two strategies at this point are mitigation and containment, the latter of which doesn't seem to be working so well. Candidly, he said that if you're elderly with an underlying condition, you may want to think twice about getting on a plane or long contained travel such as cruise ship, of course.

Dr. Fauci did say that the virus may just burn itself, like SARS, but right now there is no determining that so his main concern is community spread because a vaccine is a way off and we're not ready for survey testing or even doctor to patient testing,which is being ramped up.

And we need to ramp things up...

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In the meantime, Governor Larry Hogan (R-MD) has declared a state of emergency in his state to coordinate all the state agencies and get more ready access to funds through the Maryland Legislature if necessary.

Governor Hogan also explained that a concern for all the states' governors is the ramping up effort, but that Vice-president Pence has been doing a good job of coordinating and getting everyone on the same page. Sure that's good, but it's in spite of the president's stupid and unhelpful statements. Mr. Hogan said that politics should be left out of it and that the president's statements on the Coronavirus aren't what he would say or what he would have like the president to say, but the rest of the team is doing a good job.

The New York Times, Helene Cooper said that the world isn't looking to Trump to lead on this, but what we've come to expect is that the president can't even do it here at home.  Hallie Jackson there is this separation - him from everyone else, to which Chuck Todd responded that we do it naturally now. We have to rely on government agencies doing their best despite Mr. Trump's anti-leadership.

With the stock market losing 10 percent of its value in the last two weeks, the administration, particularly the president, faces a real challenge and questions about its leadership. This is what is scaring voters straight... Straight to Joe Biden.

Voters are deciding enough of the chaos, they want a steady hand leading the country - some calm. This Trump-chaos fatigue puts a drag on Senator Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign because at this time, people don't want revolution as Mr. Sanders terms his movement. In recent interviews, including today's Mr. Sanders has been more subdued because he did not turn out the vote on Super Tuesday. Mr. Sanders has proved like all before that relying on an overwhelming youth vote, especially in a primary, is wishful and flawed thinking.

Mr. Sanders also said that he is fighting both the corporate establishment and the party establishment on his path to the nomination. He explained that the party establishment put pressure on Buttigieg and Klobuchar to drop out, essentially 'falling in line.' The bitter part that he left out is that all those votes went to Mr. Biden.

This leads us to where Senator Warren's supporters will go now that she has withdrawn from the race, a race that as the panel discussed, still is significantly sexist. If Joe Biden wins the nomination, it's difficult no seeing him pick a woman as his vice-presidential running mate. It's long long overdue.


Panel: Matt Bai, The Washington Post; Hallie Jackson, NBC, Helene Cooper, The New York Times; Al Cardenas, Republican Strategist


A couple more things...
Matt Bai was so right to hammer home the point that the president goes on and on about the 'deep state.' But as Mr. Bai pointed out, this is the government, the civil servants that we rely on to get things done and to keep the population safe. He thinks there is a looming political cost for this. Maybe not directly, but it speaks to the larger more existential problem of trust, which wouldn't be a problem if the president didn't constantly bash the government that he leads.

SxSW in Austin, TX was cancelled this year, the first time in 35 years. That's an economic hit to the tune of $350 million for the city. Stay tuned for even more big hits.

3.1.20: South Carolina was Telling while the President was Unable To on Anything

Vice President Joe Biden made his statement yesterday in South Carolina emphatically with a 28 point gap between him and Bernie Sanders who finished second with 20 percent of the vote. It was the type of resounding victory that a candidate not named Bernie Sanders needed. Mr. Biden garnered 48 percent of the vote winning every county in the state. The question that the panel batted around was whether of not South Carolina was an outlier in the race given Senator Sanders' momentum so far.

As a matter of fact, South Carolina is indicative of where Democratic voters are, seeking a more moderate candidate to face Mr. Trump in the general election however, given what's on the horizon - Super Tuesday with Mike Bloomberg on the ballot - it's difficult to see Mr. Biden making it a two person race. For Joe Biden, he need to stay close to Sanders in the delegate count come the results of the primaries on Tuesday and then hope that other moderates (e.g. Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar) withdrawal from the race. If that happens then Mr. Biden will make it a two person race and will be at advantage to take the nomination. The moderate vote is great than that of Mr. Sanders but it's being split, which is working to his advantage.

Kristen Welker summed up the Pete Buttigieg interview today saying that Mr. Buttigieg could not name one state in which he sees a victory. That should tell you everything you need to know about where Mr. Buttigieg's campaign is headed, as is Ms. Klobuchar's. As for Elizabeth Warren, she is another pretender for the nomination, and as we've said in the column previously, she would not make a good president.

Another aspect of the Democratic primary that flummoxed the panel was how Latino voters are going to Bernie Sanders and the African-American voters are supporting Joe Biden. Usually these two voting blocks are on the same page, but not this time around. However, it's explainable in as much as given that the Culinary Union in Nevada did not endorse a candidate, it gave the Latino voting block in the state no guidance. The Latino voting block has a familiarity with leftist politics in countries they've emigrated from so Bernie Sanders isn't such a wild idea. However, African-Americans are more pragmatic and conservative, perhaps thoughtful as well, about who they vote for.

Wednesday will supply plenty of clarity as to where we are in the Democratic primary, but as it is looking right now, it's Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden. Even though, Mr. Biden has a better chance in against Mr. Trump in the general, there is little doubt that either Mr. Biden or Mr. Sanders would be handling the Coronavirus threat much better than the current administration, who didn't have its priorities straight when considering public health and safety. Prior to the crisis, the Trump administration had cut significant funding from the CDC and EPA, the very two agencies that are seeing their roles becoming more and more significant in terms of national security.

Having Vice President Mike Pence as the point man to combat the potential outbreak is only remotely comforting given the fact the president is certainly not up to the task. President Trump has created a situation in which he can not level with the American people on anything. Now, we're really seeing the danger in this. Mr. Trump has told so many falsehoods in his 3 1/2 years as president but has messaged that his administration has been 'perfect' that no one can count on what the president says. ]

Because of this lack of trust in the president's statements, you see things like the stock market lose 12 percent of its value in a week because of uncertainty, in part created by Mr. Trump. Friday night he told a rally crowd that the Coronavirus was a Democratic hoax, but gave his usual non-walk-back walk back, 'that's not what I said,' at a Saturday during a press conference and then tells the news media told speak responsibly.

And doesn't say a lot of the true character of Mr. Trump that he appointed his Vice President to head up the effort. During the interview, Mr. Pence repeatedly referenced the president's 'good judgement' when it came to early measures and adding that the administration would bring to bear the full resources of the federal government to combat this virus. The president now has his fall guy if things go south, but it's clear that Mr. Trump knows himself that he's not up to the task. His handling of it has not reassured the public or more importantly to the president the market. A Washington Post report explains that it went to the VP's office because of lack of leadership and structure at the White House.

The Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan said that the president has been very lucky in terms of not having to had to face any real crises during his presidency. However, this one is certainly demonstrates a 'competency crisis' as Eddie Glaude Jr. described it. Well, the potential of a worldwide viral outbreak is a crisis so in terms of the United States, you have to go with the part of the administration that can actually administer instructions and resources and that is the Vice President's office... Because the White House doesn't have its shit together, to indulge Trumpian vernacular. Going back to the 'full federal resources,' the department that we need the most right now have been cut so heavily by this administration with other key positions unfilled, it's little consolation from the vice-president.


Panel: Kristen Welker, NBC; Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal; Robert Gibbs, fmr. White House Spokesperson in the Obama Administration; Eddie Glaude Jr., Princeton University