Trump news live: Trump visits golf course for second day in a row as coronavirus deaths near 100,000 – The Independent

As the nation's death toll approaches 100,000 lives lost during the coronavirus pandemic, Donald Trump was spotted playing golf, 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.

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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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Following a Columbia University study that showed at least 30,000 lives could've been saved if social distancing guidelineswere put in place a week earlier, Donald Trump calledthe 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. Hesuggestedthat the study "caters" toJoe Biden and his Democratic opponents as a political tool, though it has nothing to do with their campaigns.

The president also accusedhis 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.

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".

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.

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.

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 adviserRobert OBrien 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.

Brazilhas the largest-known outbreak following the USwith more than 347,000 infections and more than 22,000 deaths.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that professional sports teams can begin spring training camps on Sunday, following weeks of doubtwhether 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.

Charlamagne Tha God appeared on MSNBC on Sunday following Joe Biden's apology for tellingThe 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."

Donald Trump unleashed a string of vile, sexist messages against his Democratic rivals while promoting false claims about absentee ballots and suggesting MSNBC host Joe Scarborough had something to do with the death of a former intern in 2001 just before he headed to his Virginia golf club for a second day while nearly 100,000 Americans died from coronavirus.

Face coverings have become a political symbol among the nation's right wing.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, echoingNorth Dakota Governor Burgum's emotional press conference urging residents to wear face coverings, told NBC's Meet the Press that"it's not about conservative or liberal, it's about helping other people."

Without any effectivelaw-binding or consistent mandates on the state or federal level to enforce social distancing, Dr Deborah Birx questioned about her encouraging people to spend the Memorial Day weekend outdoors said "we've made it clear" there's asymptomatic spread and that "social distancing is absolutely critical".

"We've learned a lot about this virus, but we need to translate that learning into real changed behaviour," she told ABC on Sunday.

But, Martha Raddatzsaid, we're not seeing that months after those guidelines have been in place.

"It's our job to communicate," Dr Birx said.

When Donald Trump said in late March he didnt think the economic devastation from stay-at-home orders was a good trade-off for avoiding Covid-19 deaths, tweeting, WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF, economists across the country already were busy working on the exact kind of cost-benefit analysis implied by the president.

On Friday, after Donald Trump ordered states' governors to "reopen" houses of worship, White House health official Dr Deborah Birx encouraged Americans to head outside, "play golf" and spend the Memorial Day weekend outdoors, with the caveat that social distancing bein place.

Most states already have begun easing quarantine measure over the last several weeks, andMemorial Day weekend has emerged as a benchmark test to determine whether Americans are willing to embrace a "new normal" that involves careful physical distancing, face coverings and other protective measures in what's still the early phase of the coronavirus pandemic.

They aren't.

Reports of crowded beaches and boardwalks over the weekend have alarmed police, doctors and health officials. At least one mayor supports seeing the swelling crowds.

A top economic adviser to Donald Trump has predicted that the unemployment rate could still be in double digits by the 2020 presidential election in November, as the number of unemployed Americans continues to creep upward due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Griffin Connolly reports:

Hong Kong police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse thousands who, in defiance of curbs imposed to contain the coronavirus, gathered on Sunday to protest against Beijing's plan to directly impose national security laws on the city.

In a return of the unrest that roiled the financial hub last year, crowds thronged the bustling shopping area of Causeway Bay, where chants of "Hong Kong independence, the only way out", and other slogans echoed through the streets.

Coronavirus restrictions have largely kept protesters off the streets in recent months.

Underground production at AngloGold Ashanti's Mponeng mine in South Africa will remain closed until further notice after 53 employees tested positive for the coronavirus, a provincial health department said in a statement on Sunday.

The mine, the deepest in the world, restarted operations on April 22 after closing entirely during a nationwide lockdown, and was operating at 50% capacity.

The department of health in Gauteng, the province where the mine is located, said in statement posted on Twitter that 53 employees at the mine had so far tested positive for the virus, and that a further 104 tests were still being processed.

"The management of the mine has indicated that the underground production will remain closed until further notice," the statement said.

China reported three new cases of the coronavirus on Sunday, two from outside the country and one locally transmitted in the northeastern province of Jilin, which has experienced a minor outbreak now apparently largely contained. No new deaths were reported and 79 people remain in treatment, with another 380 under isolation and monitoring for being suspected cases or having tested positive for COVID-19 without showing any symptoms. China has reported a total of 82,974 cases, including 4,634 deaths.

Former Durham Police Chief Constable Mike Barton has said of Dominic Cummings trip to Durham: Lets not beat about the bush he broke the rules. Its very clear.

If youre suffering from coronavirus, you stay at home. Youre in lockdown, you do not leave your home under any circumstances. Not only did they do that and travel 260 miles, but are also then trying to justify it and evade their responsibilities, he said to the BBC.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said the COVIDSafe app is playing a strong role in Australia's response to the pandemic and that several countries have expressed interest in learning from its positive impacts.

If a user is diagnosed, the app works to identify other users who have been in close proximity for 15 minutes or more in the previous three weeks.

The government has said at least 40% of Australia's 26 million people need to use the app for it to be effective. There are approximately 17 million cellphones in Australia.

The government and states have been easing restrictions on travel and allowed for increased use of restaurants and bars in the past few weeks. Australia has recorded more than 7,100 cases of thecoronavirus, including 102 deaths.

Labour's Ian Murray has condemned a lack of transparency from both the UK and Scottish governments as the further impact of coronavirus cases linked to a Nike conference in Edinburgh came to light.

More than 70 employees from around the world attended the event at the Hilton Carlton Hotel on February 26 and 27.

Investigations found that at least 25 people linked to the event contracted Covid-19, including eight in Scotland, but the incident was not made public until it was revealed in a television documentary earlier this month.

The first coronavirus case in Scotland was announced on March 1 and was a Tayside resident unrelated to the conference.

But the Sunday Times says it has been reported locally that the North East of England's "patient zero" attended the conference in February and the infection was passed to a second person in Newcastle at a child's birthday party.

The Chronicle newspaper also states that a church in Newcastle closed after a member tested positive for coronavirus, with it being "understood the patient works for Nike in Sunderland and contracted the virus after attending a conference in Edinburgh" - although this was unconfirmed at the time.

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Trump news live: Trump visits golf course for second day in a row as coronavirus deaths near 100,000 - The Independent