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As it happenedended

Trump news: President boasts about being in rap songs after press secretary shares police 'propaganda' video and contradicts CDC coronavirus study

Millions of out-of-work Americans lose out on unemployment benefits extension as president complains about 'downer' pandemic

Trump cancels Republican convention in Jacksonville over coronavirus concerns

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During a Friday briefing, White House secretary Kayleigh McEnany shared a video of Portland protestors described by critics as "propaganda" following Donald Trump's call to send federal law enforcement to cities across the US.

The United Nations has pleaded with the US to halt the use of force against journalists, at least 70 of which have been placed in custody during Black Lives Matter demonstrations.

Trump's administration has defended pushing for schools to reopen in the coming weeks, following the release of Centres for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines that downplay the agency's own findings about the risks of infections among school-aged children.

During a Friday briefing, Ms McEnany said: "Even if there is transmission ... we believe that students should be going back to school because the effect on a child we know scientifically they are not affected the same way as an adult."

Mr Trump meanwhile sat for a softball interview with Barstool Sports in which he admitted regretting some late-night posts on Twitter and boasted about being in rap songs while calling the Covid-19 outbreak a "downer".

"We were doing a great job," he said. "We were sailing. George Washington would've had a hard time beating us ... And then when the China virus came in. It's a dampener, it's a downer."

The president has also signed a series of orders in an effort to lower prescription drug costs, despite pushback from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell over similar legislative efforts from Democrats.

Without any deal in sight, Congress has failed to extend federal unemployment benefits, which expire for most Americans this week. More than 30 million people – or roughly one in five workers – are unemployment amid the pandemic.

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Disease likely to become one of leading causes of death in US this year, CDC experts predict

Louise Hall writes: Coronavirus is likely to become one of the leading causes of death in the US in 2020, Centres for Disease Control (CDC) statisticians have predicted.

While experts cannot officially rank leading causes of death until they have a full year's worth of data at the end of the calendar year, statisticians at the CDC told CNN that they expect Covid-19 will end up among the Top 10 leading causes of death in the nation.

“We know that based on the # of Covid-19 deaths so far in 2020, it will end up as a Top 10 leading cause of death but won't know exactly how high it will rank until next year,” CDC mortality statisticians told the broadcaster on Thursday.

“Heart Disease and Cancer, the two leading causes of death in the US, account for more than half of all deaths in the US each year and that isn't expected to change.”

In 2018, the latest year for which final data is available, the top three causes of death across the country were heart disease, cancer, and unintentional injury.

Chris Riotta24 July 2020 17:55

Dr Fauci faces criticism on Twitter for having face mask pulled down

The nation's leading infectious disease expert is catching heat - at least from some prominent influencers on Twitter - for lowering his mask at a public outing. Dr Fauci was captured on camera by an AP reporter with his mask down in the photos seen below:

Chris Riotta24 July 2020 18:20

Podcast alert: How a Trump supporter grew to love Biden

Happy Friday! In the latest episode of The Independent's Behind the Headlines, I spoke with host Ben Kelly about how former Trump supporters are building a new voting bloc that's organizing to unseat the president in the November elections. 

Listen here:

Chris Riotta24 July 2020 18:45

ICYMI: Dr Fauci facing 'serious threats'

Dr Anthony Fauci said he and his family have received “serious threats” in a new interview on Thursday, as Donald Trump's White House reportedly staged an effort to discredit the nation’s leading infectious disease expert.

As director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) since 1984, Dr Fauci compared the hate mail he received while working with AIDS activists during the HIV crisis to the threats he now faces as a member of the White House coronavirus response task force while speaking on David Axelrod’s “The Axe Files” podcast.

“It’s really a magnitude different,” the epidemiologist said. “As much as people inappropriately, I think, make me somewhat of a hero … there are people who get really angry at thinking I’m interfering with their life because I’m pushing a public health agenda.”

Dr Fauci has been at odds with the Trump administration at times over its plans to reopen states still battling a rise in coronavirus infections, with the US surpassing 140,000 total deaths resulting from the pandemic. His strong advocacy for social distancing and self-isolation measures to remain in place have led to “serious threats against me, against my family … my daughters, my wife”, he said on Thursday, adding: “I mean, really? Is this the United States of America?”

My latest:

Chris Riotta24 July 2020 19:05

White House press secretary shares 'propaganda' during briefing

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany is facing mounting criticism for sharing the below video during a press briefing today:

Chris Riotta24 July 2020 19:31

Nancy Pelosi slams Senate GOP over coronavirus bill

The House speaker just attacked Senate Republicans over their failure to pass significant coronavirus relief legislation in an interview with MSNBC, saying: “Millions of people are out of work. We’ve reached 4 million infected. And Senate Republicans have decided to take the weekend off.”

Chris Riotta24 July 2020 19:55

Trump congratulates former Olympian Jim Ryun for receiving Medal of Freedom

The president extended a celebratory congratulations former Olympian Jim Ryun in a video he posted to social media:

Chris Riotta24 July 2020 20:20

McEnany downplays CDC data on children and coronavirus as White House promotes schools reopening

Alex Woodward writes: White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany defended the administration's push to reopen schools amid the coronavirus pandemic this fall despite a Centres for Disease Control and Prevention study that shows children ages 10 to 19 are as infectious as adults.

Donald Trump announced this week that the Republican National Convention will cancel its Florida portion of the event in August over Covid-19 concerns, but then argued that it is crucial for schools to return within the same time frame.

On Friday, McEnany claimed that "schools are a different situation, when you have children as the CDC guidelines clearly note, are not affected the same way as adults."

The CDC released its revised guidelines for reopening schools on Thursday, downplaying the risk of transmissions and arguing that "death rates among school-aged children are much lower than among adults."

"At the same time, the harms attributed to closed schools on the social, emotional, and behavioural health, economic well-being, and academic achievement of children, in both the short- and long-term, are well-known and significant," the guidelines said.

Chris Riotta24 July 2020 20:45

Trump says Covid - which has killed 140,000 Americans - is a 'downer' while bragging about being in 'so many rap songs'

Danielle Zoellner writes: Donald Trump has called the coronavirus a "downer" and "dampener" on his poll numbers, less than one week after the United States hit the grim milestone of 140,000 deaths.

"We were doing a great job. We were sailing. George Washington would've had a hard time beating us," Mr Trump said when speaking to Barstool's Dave Portnoy at the White House.

He added: "And then when the China virus came in. It's a dampener, it's a downer."

Chris Riotta24 July 2020 21:00

Trump delivers remarks on drug pricing

The president is delivering a live statement on drug pricing and new programs to test "promising medicines" -

Chris Riotta24 July 2020 21:07

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