Trump news: President claims Dr Fauci is ‘wrong’ over why US has more coronavirus cases as TikTok fights back against White House
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump has challenged Dr Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House's coronavirus task force, over why the United States has more coronavirus cases than other countries. Dr Facui said in front of a House subcommittee it was because the US only shut down 50 per cent of its economy, but Mr Trump says it's due to the country testing more.
Although the president has blamed testing, that doesn't explain the surge in death toll and hospitalisations. In the month of July, 10 days posted more than 1,000 people dying from the coronavirus in a one day. The month prior only had three days within the month hitting that number.
This comes as the president has said he would ban popular video app TikTok over security concerns.
Mr Trump said a ban could be implemented on Saturday. On Friday he said he could use emergency economic powers or an executive order to enforce the action, insisting, “I have that authority” before adding: “It’s going to be signed tomorrow.”
TikTok's US general manager came back with a video on Saturday to users, saying the app was not going anywhere.
Key impeachment witness Alexander Vindman penned a Washington Post op-ed against the president following his resignation. The lieutenant colonel accused Mr Trump of using "bullying and retaliation" against him after he spoke during the House impeachment trials against the president.
Meanwhile, Joe Biden is nearing the announcement of his vice presidential choice. The top contenders and their advocates are making final appeals. The leading contenders include California Senator Kamala Harris, California Representative Karen Bass and Obama National Security Adviser Susan Rice.
Representative Karen Bass responded to scrutiny on Saturday after a Scientology event she attended 10 years ago resurfaced. Ms Bass defended her attendance by stating she was trying to be accepting of all organisations in her community while acknowledging the recent allegations against Scientology.
'We're not planning to go anywhere', says TikTok's US general manager
TikTok's US general manager has posted a message on the video app on Saturday following reports the Trump administration might ban it from the country.
Donald Trump made the threat due to security concerns, as the app was created in China. But this move could also be because teenagers on TikTok have launched multiple campaign against the president in recent months, including requesting thousands of tickets to his Tulsa rally with no intentions to go.
Trump tweets against Dr Fauci about how the US compares to Europe in pandemic
Donald Trump has said Dr Fauci is "wrong" for stating the US has more cases than European countries because the country only shut down 50 per cent of its economy instead of 95 per cent.
The president expressed his thoughts in a tweet while sharing a video fo Dr Fauci speaking in front of a House subcommittee this week.
In the tweet, Mr Trump again claimed the only reason why cases were surging were because the US was testing more.
Mr Trump has not acknowledged the fact that the US reached 150,000 deaths this week from the novel virus. Multiple forecasts are now predicting an increase in the death toll compared to previous predictions.
In July, the US reported more than 1,000 Covid-19 deaths in a single day for 10 days of the month.
President defends event at Florida airport with limited social distancing
Donald Trump's tweets continued on Saturday by sharing a clip from CNN.
In the CNN clip, it was reported that the president held a small "rally" at the Florida airport while law enforcement endorsed him for the upcoming election.
Supporters of the president were pictured in the clip, and it was noted that most were not wearing masks or social distancing.
But Mr Trump corrected the report, saying it was actually a "successful gathering", not a rally.
'We're here for the long run': TikTok fights to hang on as Trump threatens to ban video app Andrew Buncombe has more on the fight between the Trump administration and TikTok:
Biden VP contender Karen Bass defends 2010 remarks praising Scientology
One of the women being seriously considered by Joe Biden to be his vice presidential running mate, has defended comments she made a decade ago praising the Church of Scientology.
Karen Bass, a Democratic congresswoman from California, has emerged in recent days as among the most tipped of the half-dozen contenders from which Mr Biden will announce his choice.
But Ms Bass, 66, is fighting off controversy after a right-wing website unearthed video of her from 2010 attending a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new Church of Scientology building in Los Angeles, when she served on the state legislature.
Our report:
Trump says he agrees income disparity is too large in US
Donald Trump shared a Business Insider video on Saturday showing the income disparity during the coronavirus pandemic.
In the video, it pointed out how billionaires like Amazon's Jeff Bezos saw an increase to their wealth during the pandemic.
This contrasted the millions of Americans who ended up unemployed during this time and lost money.
Mr Trump shared the video and said he agreed the income disparity was too large, adding something should be done about this "soon" but provided no details.
Coronavirus pandemic will be 'lengthy', World Health Organisation warns
The coronavirus pandemic is likely to be "lengthy," the World Health Organisation has warned after its emergency committee met to evaluate the crisis six months after first declaring an international emergency.
A "nuanced" approach to tackling Covid-19 is needed to reduce the risk of "response fatigue" as the diseases places continued social and economic pressures on countries, the panel said.
The committee gathered in Geneva on Friday exactly six months on from its declaration that coronavirus was public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), its highest level of alert.
Chris Baynes reports:
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