Trump news: Trump visits golf course for second day in a row as coronavirus deaths near 100,000
President spends Memorial Day weekend golfing and spreading false claims as nation's death toll climbs to devastating high
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As the nation's death toll approaches 100,000 lives lost during the coronavirus pandemic, Donald Trump was spotted playing golf on Saturday and Sunday, as crowds of people flocked to beaches and parties over Memorial Day weekend despite growing infection rates across the US.
The president also shared sexist insults about his political rivals, including one message that called Hillary Clinton a "skank", while also spending the weekend on Twitter floating conspiracy theories about MSNBC host Joe Scarborough.
After encouraging Americans to spend the weekend outdoors and at the golf course, White House health official Dr Deborah Birx defended her remarks following reports of massive crowds over the holiday weekend and suggested that Americans need to change their behaviour and follow physical distancing guidelines, which are beginning to ease in most states after weeks of quarantine.
Offline, Mr Trump spent the holiday weekend at his Virginia golf club, where he was captured putting, driving his golf cart and waving to supporters.
In another apparent attempt to undermine the results of an election, the president also continued to push his false claim that mail-in or absentee voting would lead to voter fraud, a falsehood that even a commission that he appointed to investigate had failed to find any evidence.
"The United States cannot have all Mail In Ballots. It will be the greatest Rigged Election in history," Mr Trump said on Twitter. "People grab them from mailboxes, print thousands of forgeries and 'force' people to sign. Also, forge names."
There is no evidence to suggest this happens.
The president's top economic adviser meanwhile has predicted that the unemployment rate will remain in double digits by the 2020 presidential election in November and hit 20 per cent by the end of May, as the number of unemployed Americans continues to creep upward.
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Charlamagne Tha God speaks out after Biden interview: 'The best apology is actually a black agenda'
Charlamagne Tha God appeared on MSNBC on Sunday following Joe Biden's apology for telling The Breakfast Club host that black Americans who don't vote for him "ain't black".
"The best apology is actually a black agenda," he told Joy Reid. "It has to come to a point where we stop putting the burden on black voters to show up for Democrats, and start putting the burden on Democrats to show up for black voters."
New York governor: Pro sports teams can begin spring training
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that professional sports teams can begin spring training camps on Sunday, following weeks of doubt whether team sports will pick up again this fall.
He said: "I believe that sports that can come back without having people in the stadium, without having people in the arena, do it. Do it. Work out the economics, if you can. We want you up. We people to be able to watch sports to the extent people are still staying home. It gives people something to do. It's a return to normalcy."
Veterinarians can also reopen this week, along with campgrounds and RV parks.
Trump's national security adviser: US may halt travel from Brazil
Following an explosive surges of cases and deaths in Brazil, led by right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro, who has downplayed the threat of coronavirus in his country, US national security adviser Robert O’Brien says it's likely the US could put a "temporary" ban on travel from the country, similar to holds in place for China and Europe.
“Because of the situation in Brazil, we are going to take every step necessary to protect the American people," he told CNN's Face the Nation on Sunday.
Brazil has the largest-known outbreak following the US with more than 347,000 infections and more than 22,000 deaths.
Trump falsely claims 'thousands' of forgeries on mail-in ballots, despite his own commission not finding a single case of fraud
Donald Trump continued to voice his opposition to expanded mail-in voting with a tweet on Sunday spreading falsehoods about the prevalence of fraud in the process, even though confirmed cases of voter fraud have been in the single digits in past presidential elections.
“The United States cannot have all Mail In Ballots. It will be the greatest Rigged Election in history,” Mr Trump tweeted, the latest in a recent uptick of attacks on Democrats’ — and even many Republicans’ — desire to expand mail-in voting to mitigate health risks during the coronavirus pandemic.
“People grab them from mailboxes, print thousands of forgeries and ‘force’ people to sign. Also, forge names,” the president wrote, falsely, without citing any evidence to support such claims.
Griffin Connolly has more:
Majority of coronavirus patients in US hospitals are black, study finds
Black patients were hospitalised at nearly three times the rate of white and Hispanic patients, according to an analysis of patient records from a large health care system in Northern California.
Trump golfs for second day in a row
Video from NBC News shows the president driving around in a golf cart and putting on the green at his Virginia course on Sunday, his second straight day of golfing as the US death toll from coronavirus approaches 100,000.
In 2014, then-citizen Trump slammed Barack Obama for golfing during the Ebola crisis, when there were a handful of cases, saying that it "send the wrong signal".
Trump calls university that shared report he doesn't like a 'disgraceful institution'
Following a Columbia University study that showed at least 30,000 lives could've been saved if social distancing guidelines were put in place a week earlier, Donald Trump called the university a "liberal, disgraceful institution."
"It's a disgrace" that "played right into their little group of people that tell him what to do," the president told Sharyl Attkisson's Full Measure. He suggested that the study "caters" to Joe Biden and his Democratic opponents as a political tool, though it has nothing to do with their campaigns.
The president also accused his rival, the former vice president, of being "not mentally sharp enough to be president," which sounds familiar.
He also told Full Measure that he sometimes tweets himself but when he's "too busy" he dictates to White House social media manager Dan Scavino.
Trump accuses TV presenter of murder as coronavirus deaths near 100,000
Despite there being no evidence Joe Scarborough had any part in the 2001 death of his congressional aide Lori Klausutis, Donald Trump tweeted over the weekend to to his 80 million followers: “A blow to her head? Body found under his desk? Left Congress suddenly? Big topic of discussion in Florida...and, he’s a Nut Job (with bad ratings). Keep digging, use forensic geniuses!”
On Sunday morning, the president picked up the theme again. “A lot of interest in this story about Psycho Joe Scarborough. So a young marathon runner just happened to faint in his office, hit her head on his desk, & die?"
Andrew Buncombe on the president's latest conspiracy:
Republican lawmaker to Trump on Scarborough conspiracy: 'It will destroy us'
Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger told Donald Trump to stop promoting allegations that MSNBC host and former congressman Joe Scarborough had anything to do with the 2001 death of a former intern.
He said: "Completely unfounded conspiracy. Just stop. Stop spreading it, stop creating paranoia. It will destroy us."
Trump wraps up his Sunday on the links
Donald Trump ended his Sunday golf session, his second in two days, this afternoon, with his presidential motorcade leaving Virginia's Trump National Golf Club several hours after his morning arrival.
He wasted no time getting back on Twitter — retweeting a few posts, agreeing with a message from 2019 that says Republicans shouldn't "move on" from the Mueller report, and sharing an article from conservative publication Western Journal comparing him to Ulysses S Grant.
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