"We Don't Need No Stinking Medical Experts!"

I refuse to watch Trump's daily "Ain't I Great?" TV appearances, masquerading as virus updates, but apparently, according to press reports, yesterday's was a doozy for the way Trump shut down Dr. Antony Fauci's attempt to answer a legitimate question. I'm thankful for Allyson Chiu and Meagan Flynn's blow-by-blow account:

President Trump spent a portion of Sunday’s press briefing yet again promoting an unproven treatment for the novel coronavirus, repeatedly asking, “What do we have to lose?”

So toward the end, a CNN reporter turned to Anthony S. Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, for his opinion on the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine with a sharper question: “What is the medical evidence?”

Standing at the microphone, Fauci opened his mouth — but before he could speak, the answer came out of Trump’s instead.

“Do you know how many times he’s answered that question?” Trump cut in. “Maybe 15.”

A tight smile stretched across Fauci’s face. His eyes, framed by a pair of wire-rimmed glasses, flicked quickly to Trump. He glanced back at the reporter, who was saying to the president, “The question is for the doctor. … He’s your medical expert, correct?”

Fauci’s smile, for just a moment, was all teeth now. Trump raised his finger sternly, telling the journalist, “You don’t have to ask the question,” and so Fauci didn’t answer it, and the news conference shuffled right along.

The unexpected interruption was an extraordinary moment even in this season of brash behavior exhibited by the president during his daily briefings. While Trump has been at odds with Fauci in the past, repeatedly clouding his administration’s public health messaging, the president has never shut down his top medical expert so abruptly and publicly before, intervening to keep him from answering. In other contexts, the president routinely calls on Fauci for medical questions.

But had he been permitted to speak, Fauci’s answer, which he’s given many times, probably would not have tempered Trump’s enthusiastic endorsement of the antimalarial drug as a potential treatment for covid-19. Trump, advised by his lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani, among others, has touted the drug for weeks....

Surprised Fauci Has Lasted This Long

Testing for the virus is still woefully inadequate, personal protection gear for medical workers is still alarmingly scarce, and the Trump true-believers are determined to see the only true scientist on the stage with Trump at the daily brag-sessions, Dr. Anthony Fauci, is discredited as a "deep-state" Hillary Clinton stooge.

Twitterman appears all too ready to separate himself from science because, after all, "I have a feeling," and those prepared to bow down to that man's feelings, may they somehow keep safe, even though and after all, the whole thing is a Democratic hoax, ain't it?

Trump insisted to Hannity on Fox yesterday that there was “no way” he would cancel the Republican National Convention, which is scheduled for August in Charlotte. 

Y'all go do that. And have yourselves a big old time. The rest of us will keep at least six feet away.

In a Dark Time, the Eye Begins To See

Hypothetical: What would it be like to have the worst possible president in office during a global pandemic?

Unfortunately for us and our republic, it ain't hypothetical.

In a new interview with Science magazine, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he works behind the scenes trying to keep President Trump’s statements about the pandemic fact-based. Asked about things that “are being said that aren’t true and aren’t factual” Fauci said he tells “the appropriate people” and they speak to Trump, “be careful about this and don’t say that. But I can’t jump in front of the microphone and push him down. OK, he said it. Let’s try and get it corrected for the next time.” Fauci also gave a “no comment” when asked whether he’d been reprimanded for covering his face when Trump referred to the “deep State Department.”

Trump mocked Senator Mitt Romney for self-quarantining himself after being exposed to Rand Paul's infection: “Romney’s in isolation?” Trump said. “Gee, that’s too bad.”

Goddamn our luck at having this guy in the White House at this time.