“GROSSLY INCOMPETENT” Asked about Obama’s remarks criticizing his administration’s response to the coronavirus, Trump responds, “Look, he was an incompetent president. That’s all I can say. Grossly incompetent.”
STEVE LINICK. Trump fires State Department’s inspector general, who “was looking into [Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s] misuse of a political appointee at the Department to perform personal tasks for himself and Mrs. Pompeo.”
TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE? NYT runs hit piece on Ronan Farrow.
CHINA. Xi announces $2 billion for coronavirus response at WHO meeting: “Xi also called for a ‘global review’ of the international response, but said it should be led by the WHO itself and launched only after the virus ‘is brought under control.’ Xi’s statement via video link came as more than 100 health ministers from around the world prepared to call for an independent evaluation of the WHO’s handling of the outbreak.”
LOCKDOWN ORDERS. Report says they’ve saved 232,878 American lives, and prevented 2.1 million people from requiring hospitalization.
WHO. Trump leaning toward preserving his total funding cut for the World Health Organization. “Trump spent his weekend at Camp David with some of his closest Republican allies in the House of Representatives. A source familiar with the private discussions said that House members at Camp David pressed Trump ‘to not give a dime to WHO.'”
BILL BARR. Not expecting criminal probe of Obama or Biden over origins of Russia probe.
MUSIC VIDEO OF THE DAY. Harry Styles “Watermelon Sugar”.
INDEPENDENCE DAY. Bill Pullman slams Trump for video showing him superimposed on Pullman’s Independence Day character.
CAROLE BASKIN. Guess who is in talks to play her?
CREMATED. YouTube makeup guru Jeffree Star slammed for launching ‘Cremated’ eyeshadow palette during pandemic.
OLDER VOTERS. Abandoning Trump? “The most startling shift, though, is among voters age 65 and older. Four years ago, Trump bested Hillary Clinton by 13 points, 55 percent to 42 percent, according to the Cooperative Congressional Election Study, a survey of more than 60,000 voters organized by Harvard University and administered by YouGov. But now Biden narrowly leads Trump 48 percent to 47 percent, based on an average of 48 national polls that included that age group.1 If those figures hold until November, they would represent a seismic shift in the voting behavior of America’s oldest voters.”
GHOSTING. Peter Thiel said to have abandoned Trump over COVID-19 response. “Though Thiel declared a year and a half ago that he supports Trump’s re-election, he so far hasn’t donated large sums to any of the major Trump campaign committees, and it is unclear to various Trump lieutenants if those contributions are forthcoming. Top officials in the president’s political orbit say that Thiel has been absent from 2020 discussions, with one proclaiming the famous investor had “ghosted” Team Trump lately.”
COVID-19 PROTECTION ROUTINE OF THE DAY. Naomi Campbell. “I think we must take every precaution that makes us protected and comfortable. I’m definitely going to be keeping traveling to a minimum.”
POLL WATCHERS. Republicans step up efforts to patrol voting: “The Republican program, which has gained steam in recent weeks, envisions recruiting up to 50,000 volunteers in 15 key states to monitor polling places and challenge ballots and voters deemed suspicious. That is part of a $20 million plan that also allots millions to challenge lawsuits by Democrats and voting-rights advocates seeking to loosen state restrictions on balloting. The party and its allies also intend to use advertising, the internet and President Trump’s command of the airwaves to cast Democrats as agents of election theft.”
CELEBRITY INSTA SNAPS. Christopher Meloni’s shaved head, Donnie Wahlberg and Danny Woods, Lil Nas X, Jeremy Pope and MORE.
RAINBOW WRISTS. Apple announces two new Pride-themed sports bands for Apple Watch.
THE CHIFFON TRENCHES. Andre Leon Talley talks about his time working at Vogue.
SARAH PAULSON. She responds to all the chatter that she looks like Adele.
SELF-PLEASURING DEMO OF THE DAY.
TRAILER OF THE DAY. The Umbrella Academy Season 2.
MONDAY MUSCLE. Ryan Phillippe.
