March 13, 2020

Trump Just Can’t Keep His Hands to Himself

President Donald Trump shakes hands with Doug McMillon, president and CEO of Walmart Inc.Alex Brandon/AP

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President Trump—modeling exactly the behavior health experts have been warning us to avoid—just shook the hands of five top CEOs and adjusted the microphone for them all at his coronavirus press conference this afternoon.

Trump also touched the hand of Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and gave Vice President Pence a firm pat on the shoulder. The press conference was meant to make the nation feel confident that Trump’s on top of the situation—never mind that he’s been in close contact with a Brazilian official who tested positive for the disease, then freely shared his germs with the other speakers at a dense press gathering on the White House lawn.

Finally, Bruce Greenstein of LHC group forced Trump to do an elbow-bump instead, quipping, “Practice that one.”

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We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

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