As we discussed, this week Southern, Republican governors created some kind of half-assed coalition to work together to reopen the economies in their states. Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia was going to be something like the canary in the coronavirus coalmine – Gov. Kemp wanted to reopen businesses like hair salons, movie theaters, gyms and tattoo parlors as early as TOMORROW. Gov. Kemp is tight with Donald Trump and I have no doubt that Trump probably told Kemp privately that it was okay for Georgia to reopen. But given the outpouring of scorn for Kemp’s plans, Trump still threw his political ally under the bus:
President Trump on Wednesday criticized the decision of a political ally, Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia, to allow many businesses to reopen this week, saying the move was premature given the number of coronavirus cases in the state.
“I want him to do what he thinks is right, but I disagree with him on what he is doing,” Mr. Trump said at a White House briefing. “I think it’s too soon.”
Mr. Kemp, a Republican, announced on Monday that he had cleared the way for what he described as a measured process meant to bolster the economy, as Georgia, like the rest of the nation, grapples with the devastation brought by the pandemic. Yet the decision was immediately assailed, as public health experts, the mayors of Georgia’s largest cities and others warned that it stood to have perilous consequences. Mayors said the decision had caught them off-guard and questioned its wisdom. Business owners who were otherwise eager to revive their livelihoods said they would hold off.
The governor’s plan gives permission to gyms, hair and nail salons, bowling alleys and tattoo parlors to reopen on Friday. Then, on Monday, restaurants are allowed to resume dine-in service, and movie theaters and other entertainment venues can reopen.
“I love those people that use all of those things — the spas, the beauty parlors, barbershops, tattoo parlors,” Mr. Trump said on Wednesday. “I love them. But they can wait a little bit longer, just a little bit — not much, because safety has to predominate.”
Mr. Kemp acknowledged speaking with Mr. Trump in a series of Twitter posts after the president’s briefing. And while he praised Mr. Trump for his “bold leadership and insight,” he gave no indication he was reconsidering his decision.
Again, I have no f–king doubt that Trump is telling Republican governors one thing privately and then saying something different in public. The whole idea of reopening the economy is something Trump has been pushing for weeks, and his medical/science advisors keep talking him down off the ledge. Basically, don’t give Trump a cookie for throwing a political ally under the bus. Trump is the one who created this leadership vacuum which led to individual dumbass governors doing terrible jobs to protect their populations.
Meanwhile, did you know Cardi B has been in lockdown in Georgia? I thought she was in New York with her family, but no, she’s been in Atlanta with Offset? Maybe? It’s not clear actually, but she did have something to say to Georgians.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp announced that gyms, barbers, hairdressers, nail salons, and other non-essential businesses can reopen at the end of the week amid the coronavirus. Cardi B spoke out against the decision‼️🚨#uaccessmagazine pic.twitter.com/obyoLbVOy8
— UAccessOnline (@infouaccessmag) April 22, 2020
Last thing – the Earth Day tree-planting at the White House yesterday was the first time Melania Trump did any public event this month. This lazy B.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
Oh I’m willing to believe he ACTUALLY thinks it’s too soon. Not because he’s worried about people – he’s worried that they’re going to make the numbers skyrocket and make him look bad, so he has to try to throw them under the bus to make it seem like he’s being reasonable.
THIS, exactly. Dumbass is now worried about how the dumbass moves he encouraged will reflect on him and his re-election prospects.
Exactly. He’s been encouraging it, but someone probably drew a picture to explain the projected numbers of infections and deaths in Georgia, and suddenly he was like not my fault! Blame the other guy! Typical. Hope Kemp enjoys those tire tracks on his back.
Acosta is reporting that Falci refused to defend this, so they had to change trump’s mind. lol
I have this vision in my mind of Kelly Ann drawing a bunch of sad faces to get it through to him
CNN has a story that the entire COVID task force had to draw the line with Trump to make him change his mind.
What a mess
Cardi recently bought a huge house in the Atlanta area
I personally found this hilarious. Kemp was doing this to appease Trump. Trump was praising him & then someone w/a brain pulled the Orange buffoon aside & explained (I am assuming w/crayons & finger paint) what a BAD idea this was. Mr. “I take no responsibility” tosses Kemp under the bus & backed over him.
Please remember all this BS come November & vote this monster out of office & in the meantime keep yourselves safe from harm.
It’s so obvious that this is what happened! I wonder what Kemp thinks of Trump now. Blind loyalty yields no rewards, apparently.
Even a passing familiarity with trump’s history would show he has never shown loyalty to any person, ever. That’s why he demands it from others. To him it’s a sign of weakness, and he plays the domination game, and he’s always the top. Kemp must be a real moron to have thought otherwise. I marvel at these IQ’s and how the hell they got where they are sporting them. I really do.
Li’l Jeff Sessions still kisses his ass despite his history with him. So will Kemp. They don’t have the backbone to stand up to him. Really says something about the people who continue to vote for these invertebrates.
You know those books about the Great Depression, or other historical eras like that, in which stories of different ordinary people are collected, just a page each? Anthology.
I’m looking forward to a collection like that, where Republicans tell how they went along with Trump’s moronic ideas, only to find themselves discarded and humiliated. It will be a very thick book.
Trump also (in the same breath) praised Kemp and said Georgia residents should listen to their governor. He’s talking out of both sides of his mouth so he can take credit if it goes well and blame Kemp if it doesn’t. His behavior is so utterly predictable.
Technically, Governors make the decisions for their states, so it’s not like there’s anything Trump can really do. Except the Governors reopening are really following Trump’s lead. He just had Barr threatening to sue states that chose to stay shut when the Feds say to open.
So it’s not throwing under the bus as much as complete hypocrisy.
Agreed. The federal government doesn’t decide when the states open – that’s up to the governors and the mayors. I gave a big yawn when Trump pushed for re-opening. The states didn’t wait for his permission to close, nor will they need his permission to re-open.
We live in a dystopia ruled by a disjointed maniac.
I see no end and no let up without a new president. I’ve really tried to hunker down, mentally, so I don’t end up having a breakdown. We’re in it for the long haul.
Darla- yep. We need a new President with plans to provide proper management of the situation. However, I fear that even if we get one in November, it may be too late. If people can’t/won’t listen to reason now, I fear they’ll be less inclined months from now.
Basically, it’s up to Governors.
Agree, we desperately need a change in leadership and every time I think there’s hope we can vote Orangino out of office, I read depressing stuff like this:
Biden and Trump deadlocked in 6 ‘Key States
https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/politics/trump-biden-deadlocked-in-6-key-states-cnbc-change-research-poll-finds/2281855/
I’ve resigned myself to not reading and viewing anything political cause it’s demoralizing.
It’s all about turn out. There are way more of “us” than “them”, but we need every person to vote. Check your registration status, apply for vote by mail if you can, volunteer for get out the vote efforts, donate if you can, and just keep going.
Doesn’t look like Melania has roots? Has someone been doing her hair I wonder.
Melania wears wigs.
I’m curious how you can tell?… like, in those pics, it doesn’t look like a wig to me. you can see her scalp at the part in her hair, and that’s usually how I can tell a wig; that is, there’s no TRUE part where the scalp shows a bit.
I mean, I’d completely believe that she wears one…esp based on how “flat” or thin her hair used to be (in old pics) AND based on how, when she wears it down, it always looks the same – highlights, etc.
In this particular case she very obviously is not wearing a wig.
Her face on the other hand, looks strange. But she is also wearing a balooning outfit, so it’s possible she just gained some weight and it shows on her face.
someone has definitely been working on her face
I noticed that too.
Me, too. Her face looks jacked. There’s a good reason to stay out of public view: her face was recovering. 🤦🏻♀️
Sometimes, in the morning, they accidentally take the wrong wig! She takes his, and he takes hers! The WH staff has to gently tell them they got it wrong. It has to be done discreetly, so that they don’t feel humiliated, because if they do, it will be a very bad day for the whole world!
LOL
Kemp did this so he could toss people off unemployment.
And Melania didn’t know how to use a shovel!
LP- thank you! Yes, indeed. This push to reopen is due largely in part because the government doesn’t want to provide any more aid to people. They are looking for an excuse not to provide assistance. Reopening gives them the excuse to say, “hey, we let you open, so if you fail now, you get nothing”
The idiots who think these reopenings are really going fix the economic struggles people are facing are in for a rude awakening. They will not help, not in the long term.
I’ve been screaming it for days: these protests are part of a concerted propaganda campaign to get citizens to think it’s better, nobler even, to die than ask Uncle Sam to use citizen tax money to help citizens.
God this is so disgusting. But people keep voting for them.
The governor says the business is open; he doesn’t have to give out unemployment benefits or any additional benefits like healthcare or food stamps that might go with it. The business opens, the employee is forced to work or be fired and you can’t get unemployment benefits if you have been fired. It’s vicious.
LP- it’s even worse than that. What will also happen is businesses will fail. They’ll reopen and not enough people will use them, but they’ll still be paying overhead, causing them to go kaput faster, only they’ll be no aid, because “hey, we let you open.”
Also, with a lot supply chains suffering, more businesses vying for supplies will cause supply chains to break. And more cogs in the supply chain will get infected (ie, Tyson, Smithfield) and shut down, making it even more difficult for even the behemoth businesses to get supplies and then they become endangered, as do the supply chain cogs that can’t operate.
But nobody will eligible for stimulus support since being open means you aren’t affected.
THIS right here. SC is reopening for basically the same reason, they don’t have enough $ for unemployment payouts.
The conspiracy theorist on my shoulder also doesn’t think it’s a conscience we started hearing calls to reopen more once it was found to affect minorities at a higher rate. I’d like to believe they aren’t that evil, but there’s always a new level to sink to.
This is where we’re at. We are in WA so we don’t have to worry about it yet, but my partner is a personal trainer if they open back up before this is gone (and they will open as soon as they can because they are an awful company) no one is going to come in. My partner will won’t make money and will loose his health care and all full time benefits. At least being on a leave of absence we get enough in unemployment to pay the mortgage and he can keep his health care
“Kemp did this so he could toss people off unemployment.”
Yup. As well, opening salons, etc., is a perfect way to hasten African-Americans getting infected and dying. Note Trump’s comment about how he “loves those people” who use those businesses.
Every single nurse I know is trying their best not to have people “Die Slow” Thinking that once patients are in desperate shape that foods will work over medication is ridiculous. Cardi, shut up.
Yes, she’s another idiot.
Yeah that was upsetting to me. She sitting there in a mansion criticizing healthcare workers and accusing them of mistreating their patients? WTF.
Doing their best, but they have no resources. There have been many articles describing the horror patients are facing alone. Especially the ones on ventilators. I think she is more correct than wrong. It is not mistreatment….it is lack of support, and fear of getting ill themselves.
Suggesting that POC avoid hospitals because of fear of slow death and incorrect food is only going to increase the death rate of POC, not help that community in any way. Seeing places like New Orleans bringing the idea of hospices for COVID patients, so that family can be with them as they pass gives me hope.
Oh so having some tea is going to boost their immune systems? I mean – there’s just SO much wrong with she said. Your immune system is not a muscle that you can train. She has a point only in terms of the social distancing portion of her post, but she’s just spreading more misinformation just like the other side is and making it seem like health care workers are doing this for fun or to hurt people. On top of that, she’s basically telling them NOT to seek medical treatment by pushing that fear. Wildly dangerous things to put out there.
Trump is hedging his bets so he can claim victory regardless. And the people in the southern “reopen” states are being used as guinea pigs.
How is two days between opening salons etc. and dine in restaurants measured? It would take minimum 3 weeks to know if they’re seeing an increase in COVID hospital cases as a result. Covidiots can’t do math.
That’s what I said to my husband last night. It’d be one thing if they were doing one step and then waiting 3 weeks minimum. This is a mess.
The difference isn’t so they can measure the disease spread; it’s so people can get their hair cut and colored and eyebrows waxed before going out to dinner.
My family in Georgia is staying put
Has anyone heard about people catching Covid-19 through the restaurant air conditioning?
That’s terrifying if true. Summer is coming and everyplace will have a/c on full blast.
https://www.businessinsider.com/air-conditioning-spread-coronavirus-restaurant-can-service-industry-open-again-2020-4
I’m not setting foot in a movie theater or restaurant till I know things are safer.
I saw a long term forecast for Canadian businesses, and it noted that it would be September ’21 before things were close to back to normal in the country, barring a vaccine.
That’s actually why diseases spread so easily on planes and in enclosed spaces, to be honest. Filters cycle the same air back in over and over again and rarely are they at the HEPA level that hospitals use. If nothing else comes out of this, I’d hope the airlines seriously consider updating their filtering practices.
I have a planned trip in Sept with my 8 year old granddaughter. If (and that’s a big if because it’s to Disney World) we go we will be wearing masks on the plane or I’ll drive it.
air conditioning is how my dad got LEgionnaires in 2018.
Don’t know why these fools can’t look to little Jeffy Beauregard Sessions as an example. Elfin little Jeff was the first Senator to take up residence in trump’s lower intestine and look what happened to him. For once in his life he took a principled stand by recusing himself and trump has taken a dump on him ever since, even endorsing moron Tommy Tuberville over Sessions in the senatorial race. And still Sessions grovels and panders for him. I think Cruise could leave Scientology easier than these pathetic weasels could leave trump.
👍 👍
Trump and Kemp are having a junior high pissing contest. Trump is angry that Kemp didn’t select his pick — a Trumpian to the extreme — to fill Johnny Isaakson’s Senate seat, so he’s happy to throw Kemp under the bus. They’re both reprehensible and stupid.
It’s just an utter lack of leadership on both parts. Neither has any clue what they’re doing, any ability to think for themselves and make a stand, and any willingness to accept responsibility for their decisions.
I mean I appreciate Cardi B for her general outspokenness but this is throwing some massive shade on healthcare workers in the US. Jesus. And no, hospitals aren’t the place to get organic or fresh food but you also don’t cure C19 with vitamins. Once you’re sick, you’re sick. It probably won’t be the hospital or lack of fresh apples that kill you.
Are people not allowed to visit dying relatives in the US? My father, who is chronically ill and has been declining slowly for years, had to go into hospital on Monday (we’re in Germany). There just wasn’t another option and hospital are generally not at capacity here. My mom wasn’t allowed past the reception area but they made it clear that if he got worse, she would be allowed in. That is a HORRIBLE thought. To think people die alone.
Currently in my hospital you’re allowed to visit dying patients. We had one instance where it seemed very likely the patient was going to die (non-Covid related) so we let the family visit….but then the patient started improving so we had to kick the family out. This whole experience is just absolutely brutal whether you have Covid or not.
Emmy- right now, in my area, yes, you will die alone in a hospital right now. I had an uncle who was in very critical condition and my Aunt, his wife, was not allowed and told if he died, she’d be notified by phone.
Well, shit. I wonder if I would just take it or sue the living hell out of them. I’m generally not someone who likes to think this way because I know that hospitals don’t make up rules willy-nilly. But if someone is dying from non-infectious diseases/illnesses, how are those wives/husbands/kids going to make a difference in the grand scheme of things? It’s not an issue here but I would probably lose my shit.
Like I said, this is not what is happening in hospitals here. And it already prevents elderly people from seeking medical help at all. Many doctors here are warning people to not stay home and try to wait it out just because they’re afraid of C19, the alternative might be worse. Emergency rooms etc. have noticed a massive decline in patients. Those people didn’t stop being sick or injured, they just stopped coming. My dad already stayed home far longer than he should have because we thought it would be awful for him to not have visitors (his mind is not what it used to be). But again, it’s not even a rule here so I guess it depends on the overall situation.
@TheOriginalTiffany
30 years in healthcare-you’re awesome!!! I hope I can have that kind of longevity
It’s my first year as a nurse and I am…..overwhelmed is an understatement 🙃
Nearly any ICU bans adolescent or younger visitors (they are plague carriers even outside pandemics), and a lot of them are restricted to one or two people at a time for really severe, infectious cases unless it’s end of life and they’re saying goodbye. For a hospital getting slammed by a pandemic rush, it’s very likely they’d ban any on site visitors, so she’s not entirely wrong there. I’m not thrilled with how she worded it and its implications, but she has a point – once your family member goes in for something like this and finds themselves in an ICU, chances are they aren’t coming out. Statistics from NYC show close to 90% of patients on ventilators died.
Yeah, my take on it is that she’s trying to give the worst possible scenario to encourage people to stay home.
Yeah..
Not to mention tea isn’t going to help someone recover over “straight medication”
Glad she’s all for a quarantine but geeeez it’s easy for people to spread dumb opinions like facts. (Which kind of sums up trump’s whole brand tbh)
So is the coalition holding Trump rallies too and then inviting him over and then shaking his hand and hugging him? Asking for a friend.
I f*#king hope so. I want him shaking every hand and hugging everyone
And coughing and sneezing on him? You gotta go whole hog, man!
Wait, so was Trump’s Twitter account hacked by someone who was practically inciting a civil war by agitating crowds, ARMED crowds no less, to bully their governors into reopening asap? Surely the demented lunatic who posted that can’t be the same person who is trying to sound like a voice of reason to Kemp.
I can completely understand why Trump can’t keep people in his administration. He makes up reality as he goes along. He will praise an ally one minute and throw him or her under the bus the next. He and Ivanka and Jared are our equivalent of that dynasty of nutty dictators that North Koreans have been stuck with.
My parents threatened to disown me if I vote for Trump. Then we all broke down into fits of laughter over the phone. As if!
One thing people need to know is this virus isn’t like the flu. Superficially it is but they’re finding more and more alarming differences as we go along. It’s now becoming apparent that the virus is potentially fatal even if there are mild or no obvious respiratory symptoms. It can make the blood a clotty mess and it can cause heart problems. It is a bundle of nasty surprises and our health care system needs our support in buying them time to get a handle on it.
great comment, Guest!
He’s so laughably and predictably pathetic. I’m always deeply entertained when people support him because he “says it like he is.” This man flip flops more than a well done hamburger on a home grill.
Him throwing Kemp in the ocean five miles out should but just another in a very long line of reasons Republicans should step up. Surely chiropractors in Washington are booked solid with all the whiplash.
Cardi b is trapped in L.A , yesterday she was asking if anyone felt the earthquake they had. But she normally lives in Atlanta
Trump is saying and doing whatever he can so the blame of ppl getting sick and dying won’t be on his hands. Telling governors to open up for business and inciting his base to protest in a PANDEMIC, but then saying it’s really not up to him. Complete sociopath. Someone wake me up when this all over.
I just can’t with this man anymore. He disgusts me.
That looks like her “I don’t really care” jacket. Klassy
I totally agree he told Kemp behind the scenes to go for it. Tbh I sometimes wonder if he has dementia with the way he randomly says things then, later on, behaves as if he has no clue how people took what he says to heart. Whatever the case maybe this will stop Kemp from his asinine plans.
And Cardi has a home in ATL. Offset and their child is her family.
I don’t think he’s doing this for the good of all. He probably saw the backlash against Kemp and thought to himself “this won’t be good for MY re-election bid”. Not like I feel at all sorry for Kemp with that bus now sitting on him.
We were discussing last night how opening these businesses with less than a week’s notice is going to increase infections. I’m a chiropractor and it’s been damn near impossible to get the necessary cleaning products and hand sanitizer for me and my staff. How will these small, non-medical businesses acquire the proper cleaning supplies and PPE to open and operate safely? They won’t be able to.
As for Kemp being thrown under the bus? Good. He’s a damn fool to believe in and trust Trump. They are both dumb and racist. They deserve each other.
I can’t believe that I live in a country where going to Walmart, getting your nails and hair done, and being able to buy guns (NRA is trying to get Cuomo and New York to list gun shops as “essential” so they can reopen) are priorities over healthcare in some states. And the excuse given is BECAUSE ECONOMY. Even if these states reopen, don’t expect a surge of people frequenting shops as many of us are still hurting financially, furloughed, or laid off — and most of us are still concerned about possibly getting or spreading a highly communicable virus. I. Just. Can’t. with people.
Also, the Mayor of Las Vegas is an idiot. That’s all I got this morning.
The mayor of Las Vegas is unbelievably stupid.
I loved when Anderson C called her ignorant on live tv. She most certainly is. And you noticed when he asked if she’d be hanging out in the casinos she weaseled around before finally saying she didn’t gamble, which is not an answer at all.
I keep thinking this. The economy will quite honestly tank if we reopen too soon. So many people have lost jobs or taken pay cuts and won’t be eager to go shopping or dine out. Plus, MANY of us are still intending to stay home for the foreseeable future because it just doesn’t seem safe to resume “normal” life. So all these places are going to incur operating costs with few customers? How does that help anything?
The mayor of Las Vegas is nothing more than a promoter. Congresswoman and the Gov of Nevada disagree with her, as well as, major casino owners.
I’m floored that Trump and his fellow scum think nearly enough folks will feel safe enough to come keep reopened businesses afloat, much less profitable. How the fuck is this sensible economic planning?
Keeping politics out of this discussion which focuses more on speculation on what was maybe said…..focus on this….. it’s too soon to open areas of commerce where one supports the economy without social distancing.
Get the message out.
Trump isn’t changing his stance in any way because he’s finally listening to his staff, or even medical experts. He is throwing Kemp under the bus because he’s ruled by ratings. He still thinks he’s running a reality show.
For those states that do open too soon, there will be wave upon wave of new infections culminating in the regular flu season. Can you imagine how many people will sicken under that double-load? People are now being reinfected in Korea and China and none of the health experts seem to know why, just that for some reason some people are not developing enough antibodies after supposedly getting over COVID-19 to prevent the virus lingering and mutating. I can see Washington State across the Strait of Juan de Fuca from my perch here in Victoria BC and it gives me chills to imagine what a hellscape the US is going to be, and much of the globe.
It’s terrifying. I don’t understand why the U.S. is acting as though life will just go back to normal. Things will continue to be like this for the long haul, and the sooner people get on board with that, the safer we will be.
If Trump likes being praised so much, maybe he should look to what other world leaders are doing successfully and think about continuing to keep people SAFE by listening to EXPERTS instead of worrying about the economy. It’s a lie that we need everything to reopen to keep the economy and working citizens afloat. Places like Australia and Canada are giving their citizens monthly checks to help them out, and that would work here, too.
I have to say I think it’s hilarious that Kemp did this because he thought it would make Trump happy and then he got thrown under the bus. Hilarious. These wretched people deserve each other.
I’m kind of freaking out. My office has been deemed “essential”, so they are making us go in 20 at a time starting on Monday. I have my own office, but it will be impossible to do my job from there without encountering people in tight quarters in the elevators, hallways, scan stations and copy rooms. I’ve asked if I can go in super early in the morning to use common area equipment before everyone else gets there, but I haven’t heard back.
My state has Stay at Home orders until May 15th. I don’t understand why my office is making changes this drastic when we have been able to get core responsibilities done from home. It’s all about billable hours, and everyone at the firm except the very top are being endangered.
ETA: I also know how privileged I am to still have a job when so many are struggling. I need to be a bit more thoughtful about what I complain about. I feel a strange mix of lucky but scared.
You don’t sound like you’re complaining. You sound understandably concerned about your health and safety in the face of your bosses chasing the almighty dollar. It’s a crappy situation at best. You are one of the most positive and thoughtful contributors to this site and I’ll be sending you good energy. Hang in there and good luck.
Thank you very much! That was very kind of you.