LAWYER JOE BIDEN AND LAWYER KAMALA HARRIS VOW TO PROTECT LAWYER ANDREW CUOMO LIKE THEY DO LAWYER HUNTER BIDEN

 

Report: Biden Has Andrew Cuomo Lead White House COVID Calls with Governors

AMR ALFIKY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

JOEL B. POLLAK

26 Apr 20211,942

2:56

Embattled New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) has reportedly taken over the leadership of the weekly White House conference calls with the nation’s governors about the coronavirus pandemic, since President Joe Biden does not join them.

Philip Wegmann of RealClearPolitics reported Monday that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have both opted not to join the weekly conference calls with governors, unlike former President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.

Wegmann’s reporting was confirmed during Monday’s White House press briefing. Press Secretary Jen Psaki demanded to know how many governors he had spoken with, and insisted Biden had never intended to join the calls, despite his pledge a conference call with governors after the election in November that he would work closely with them once he took office.

In addition, Wegmann reported that Gov. Cuomo is now leading the weekly conference calls between the governors and the Biden administration’s coronavirus team, due to his role as head of the National Governors Association:

Andrew Cuomo now leads the calls as chairman of the National Governors Association. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki explained that the New York governor was put in charge instead of the vice president because a change was needed. One of the reasons, Psaki told reporters in March, “is that there were operational aspects of the way the last administration approached COVID and approached the distribution of vaccines or approached planning and engagement with governors that wasn’t working.”

Cuomo has come under severe criticism for his policy of forcing nursing homes to accept coronavirus patients in the early months of the pandemic, when the risk to older people was already well known and  there were alternatives available.

Cuomo’s administration has since been accused of covering up thousands of nursing home deaths. In addition, the governor faces numerous accusations of inappropriate sexual behavior towards colleagues. The New York State Assembly continues to conduct an impeachment investigation, amid calls by leading Democrats from his state for him to resign his office.

Still, the Biden White House has continued to allow Cuomo to lead the nation’s governors, filling in for the absent Biden and Harris.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

Jen Psaki Admits Biden Has Never Joined COVID Call with Governors: ‘I’m Not Sure There’s, Like, a Big Controversy Here’

White House

Volume 90%

JOEL B. POLLAK

26 Apr 202131

3:53

While House Press Secretary Jen Psaki admitted Monday that President Joe Biden had never participated in conference calls with the nation’s governors on the coronavirus pandemic, but claimed that he had never intended to do so.

On Monday. Philip Wegmann of RealClearPolitics reported that nether President Biden nor Vice President Kamala Harris had participated in the weekly calls, contrary to the practice of President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.

Later Monday, at the White House press briefing, Wegmann had the opportunity to follow up with Psaki. She demanded to know how many governors Wegmann had heard from, and claimed that Biden never intended to participate in the calls:

Wegmann: I’ve heard from a number of governors who are frustrated that they haven’t heard directly from President Biden on these weekly coordinating COVID calls. Why hasn’t he joined those weekly calls?

Psaki: How many governors?

Wegmann: So, I —

Psaki: How many governors have you heard from?

Wegmann: I’ve heard from a number, but how many times –

Psaki: Like, how many? One, two?

Wegmann: Well, I’m actually curious to see how many times he’s joined those calls, and if there’s a reason why —

Psaki: It was never his int — but, I’m curious the answer to your question, too.

Wegmann: It’s in our story,

Psaki: I think there were two in your story.

Wegmann: There are two in my story, and there are others who didn’t go on the record, but we reflected that in the story.

Psaki: OK, so, two governors and some anonymous governors. I will say that the intention was never for the weekly call, the COVID call that is led by our COVID coordinator, to be a part, for the President to be leading that call. The intention was for our COVID coordinator to be providing an update directly from the president, directly from our work across the federal government to get the pandemic under control. And what we’ve done on that call is provided weekly updates on the number of doses that are going out to states, which have increased nearly every week, we’re talking about an average of about 28 million out to states now, it’s an opportunity to engage and have a discussion about where there are challenges in the system, how to better operationalize, better communicate, which was a complaint that we came in and tried to solve when we came into office. So that was the intention. I can assure you that the American public, governors hear quite a great deal from the president on his plans to get the pandemic under control, and it’s in excellent hands with his COVID coordinator.

Wegmann: To clarify: he has not joined. Does he have any plans in the future to join those calls?

Psaki: We’ve never conveyed it as a call that would be a part of his agenda, so I’m not sure there’s, like, a big controversy here.

In November, on a conference call with governors, President-elect Biden promised to work closely with them on COVID, telling them his administration would work “hand in glove” with the states on the pandemic. Harris made similar pledges.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

 

COVID-19 deaths surge in Michigan

Bryan Dyne

12 hours ago

Michigan, the center of auto production in the United States, is facing the deadliest wave of COVID-19 anywhere in the country. Since the beginning of the month, more than 1,200 Michigan residents have died from COVID-19. The 7-day average of daily deaths has more than quadrupled from its low in mid-March, from 16 lives lost per day to 67.

Michigan hospitals are now admitting twice the number of those in their 30s and 40s compared to during the fall and winter peak, according to data aggregated by the Michigan Health & Hospital Association. Like last spring, hospitals are once again implementing “surge protocols” to handle the emergency.

Despite the disaster, however, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has rejected the necessary measures to contain the disease, including closing schools, limiting after-school activities or shutting bars. In an effort to blame the population for the outbreak, Whitmer has insisted that the state has a “compliance problem,” not a “policy problem.”

Dr. Rafik Abdou and respiratory therapist Babu Paramban check on a COVID-19 patient. [Credit: AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File]

Whitmer’s inaction has led scientists and public health experts to demand emergency measures to contain the pandemic. “As a matter of disease mitigation, there’s no question” that closing schools and other restrictions would slow transmission and save lives, Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, associate dean for Public Health Practice and Training at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told the Detroit Free Press. He urged that “stronger action” be “seriously considered.”

Children have also been increasingly hard hit, in Michigan and nationally. At least 70 were in intensive care last week in the state, double the number during the worst days of last November. The American Academy of Pediatrics reported that the 10–19 age group had the most new infections in the second week of April, averaging 1,150 new cases each day. Nationally, children now make up about 1 in 5 new cases, and at least 582 deaths have been caused by the deadly contagion.

These figures give the lie to the claims of US President Joe Biden, who told a second-grader in February, “Kids don’t get … COVID very often. It’s unusual for that to happen.” He added, “You’re in the safest group of people in the whole world.”

In fact, a recent study done in Nebraska shows the complete opposite. By regularly testing both staff and students, infection rates were found to be two-and-a-half times higher for staff and nearly six times higher among students than what had been revealed by self-initiated tests. This and numerous other accounts make clear that children are more likely to be asymptomatic while functioning as carriers and spreaders of the virus.

Michigan’s latest surge of new cases is predominantly driven by the B.1.1.7 variant of the coronavirus, first identified in the United Kingdom. It is estimated to be 60 percent more contagious and 67 percent more deadly. It has emerged as the dominant mutation of the coronavirus in the United States and now causes an estimated 70 percent of cases in Michigan.

Before the new variant took hold this past winter, twice as many of those 65 and older who contracted the virus were hospitalized as compared to those younger. Now, the reverse is true, with data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing that adults in their 20s to 50s are the most hospitalized in Michigan, as well as Minnesota, New Jersey and North Carolina.

According to data from the state of Michigan, the greatest driver of new outbreaks are schools and universities, followed by workplaces such as factories and warehouses.

The disaster has only been exacerbated by the big three automakers, who have done everything possible to conceal outbreaks at their plants. Auto workers at multiple plants have told the WSWS that management refuses to tell workers when their coworkers have tested positive for COVID-19, making it impossible for workers to quarantine.

In rejecting any measures to contain the disease, Whitmer has capitulated to the demands of Trump and his fascistic supporters. In late 2020, the FBI revealed the existence of a far-reaching fascist plot to kidnap Whitmer and overthrow the state government, centered on the demand that she reopen schools and workplaces.

Now, five months later, Whitmer has effectively embraced the policies of the coup plotters, refusing to take any measures to contain the pandemic that would impinge on the profits of the auto bosses that run the state.

The past year has made clear that if things are left to the capitalists and their subservient politicians, the disease will never be stopped, and workers will continue to die by the thousands. It is urgently necessary to close all non-essential production, with full compensation for all lost income for workers, contractors and small business people.