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HHS secretary Alex Azar "directly warned Trump of the possibility of a pandemic during a call on Jan. 30, the second warning he delivered to the president about the virus in two weeks. The president...responded that Mr. Azar was being alarmist."

nytimes.com/2020/04/11/us/…
"Trump fumed as he watched the stock market crash after Dr. Messonnier’s comments. Furious, he called Mr. Azar when he landed at around 6 a.m. on Feb. 26, raging that Dr. Messonnier had scared people unnecessarily."

nytimes.com/2020/04/11/us/…
"The number of infections in the US started to surge through Feb and early March, but the admin did not move to place large-scale orders for masks and other protective equipment, or critical hospital equipment such as ventilators. Pentagon sat on standby'

nytimes.com/2020/04/11/us/…
This is a key detail from the new NYT expose. Senators directly told administration officials that they would need more money for the response in early Feb. Those officials replied that they didn't need any more funding:

nytimes.com/2020/04/11/us/…
This new NYT reporting confirms to the letter the detailed account that @ChrisMurphyCT gave me in an interview, in which he described these early meetings:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
@ChrisMurphyCT Here's another key detail from the NYT:

Coronavirus "took a back seat" to Trump's "desire not to upset Beijing during trade talks."

It's only *later* that Trump lurched around to blaming China, after he needed to shift blame for what was happening:

nytimes.com/2020/04/11/us/…
@ChrisMurphyCT Importantly, this new reporting delivers another hard blow to the Trump campaign's whole campaign narrative (captured in that disgusting new ad) that Biden was soft on China and coronavirus:

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More from @ThePlumLineGS see all

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Greg Sargent
@ThePlumLineGS
I've compiled a side-by-side comparison of the reaction to coronavirus by Trump and the World Health Organization.

The timeline is utterly, comprehensively damning to Trump.

What it shows about him is far worse than what it shows about WHO.

New piece:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Trump is not just attacking WHO. He's also using his attacks to present himself as a champion of empiricism, effective crisis management, and accountability.

This would be positively comical if he hadn't presided over such a monumental catastrophe:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
The timeline reveals two damning facts:

* Trump showed less concern about coronavirus spreading outside China than WHO did

* Trump showed the same credulity about China he now faults WHO for showing, but without appreciating the urgency of the threat

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Read 5 tweets
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Greg Sargent
@ThePlumLineGS
It's now clear that the GOP effort to force voters to the polls in a pandemic backfired hugely.

Wisconsin Dems tell me the backlash was harsh. They saw lots of evidence that it fueled voter turnout, helping Karofsky pull off her big upset.

New piece:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Two more points in this piece:

* @benwikler tells me Dems will keep pushing for all-mail balloting for this fall. If and when Rs oppose it again, they risk another big backlash.

* Karofsky's map was similar to Tammy Baldwin's in 2018, which bodes well:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
@benwikler Also key:

Dems say they'll spend the next six months organizing people to vote absentee, which would protect voters' health, while pressuring GOP to drop opposition to all-vote-by-mail, which puts voters' health at risk.

This energizes voters big time:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Read 3 tweets
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Greg Sargent
@ThePlumLineGS
How is it possible that Trump can assert "total" authority while claiming "I don't take responsibility at all"?

Easy.

Trump wants to create the appearance of taking charge, without accepting any responsibility for any actual bad outcomes.

New piece:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
The idea that the president can use an emergency to wield quasi-dictatorial powers is a product of public legal misunderstanding.

I talked to @steve_vladeck, who doused Trump's claim of "total" authority with a pail of ice cold water very effectively:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
@steve_vladeck Trump's basic problem is that he needs to both erase his responsibility for all his early catastrophic failures while simultaneously appearing to take command of the recovery:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Read 3 tweets

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