Mixed Messages Within the same hour on Tuesday, both Economic Council director Larry Kudlow and NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci delivered conflicting signals about where the United States economy is headed in the next couple of weeks. Kudlow told Fox Business’ Stuart Varney that “the country is ready to go back to work” at 11:20 a.m. EST., while Fauci told the Associated Press that “we’re not there yet” around the same time. It's like "Choose Your Own Adventure" but with actual human lives at stake. Dueling chyrons It’s often said that Fox News and CNN almost report as if from alternate universes. But rarely has a moment so starkly underlined this dichotomy than President Donald Trump’s bizarre coronavirus press briefing did yesterday, when those networks' dueling chyrons presented viewers with a real-time black-vs.-white, up-vs.-down narrative on the president’s behavior and rhetoric. Speaking of altering the news It's not just the New York Times under fire over editorial decisions on Tuesday. Bloomberg News, too, is in hot water, after it was revealed the outlet killed the second part of an investigation examining China’s Communist Party elite without notifying the reporters. A pretty sordid tale. Not to mention the Washington Post with their own controversy, over the framing of an article about a pastor who died from coronavirus. Endorsed Former President Barack Obama endorsed his former VP Joe Biden on Tuesday, in a very expected video. NOT Endorsed The former president un-endorsed in that video too, it seemed, with an apparent thinly-veiled shot at Fox News. 'Sudden cardiac death' A private CIA website warned employees about the potential dangers of hydroxychloroquine — the untested coronavirus treatment that President Trump has spent weeks promoting — including the potential for “sudden cardiac death.” Death spirals for everyone After being asked by The View co-host Meghan McCain about President Trump’s controversial coronavirus press briefings, former NJ Gov. Chris Christie said, "I think the press has been in a death spiral that the president participates in, which hurts both of them." Return to normalcy? Depends on your party... A new Gallup Panel Survey finds that most Americans are cautious about the idea of resuming normal, day-to-day business in the country after stay-at-home orders and social distancing mandates are lifted. But the poll also found the opinions divide over political lines, with three times as many Republicans expressing they would be “immediately” ready to return to prior activities as Democrats. |