Is It Finally Time for Republicans to Cut the Crap?

President Trump leaves the White House for Walter Reed medical center on Friday.Sarah Silbiger/CNP via ZUMA

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As of this writing, here’s the list of people who have contracted COVID-19 in the outbreak among DC politicians:

  1. Donald Trump
  2. Melania Trump
  3. Hope Hicks
  4. Sen. Thom Tillis
  5. Sen. Ron Johnson
  6. Sen. Mike Lee
  7. Chris Christie
  8. White House staffer
  9. Another White House staffer
  10. One reporter
  11. Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president
  12. Ronna McDaniel, chair of the RNC
  13. Fr. John Jenkins, president of Notre Dame
  14. Bill Stepien, Trump campaign manager

It’s inevitable that eventually some Democrat will report testing positive for the coronavirus, but it’s striking that so far it’s 12 Republicans out of 14 cases (plus two unknowns who attended the announcement ceremony for Amy Coney Barrett). Doesn’t this have to be a wakeup call for Republicans? As a matter of pure self-preservation, don’t they have to cut the crap and start urging everyone to wear masks and maintain social distancing? We’ll find out, I guess.

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Russian bots are impersonating us. Trump and his allies want to silence us. AI wants to (and does!) steal our content. The list goes on. But with 50 years of experience, we know we were built for this moment: We’re ready to keep diving deep and uncovering the truth, then getting that to you right here, completely accessible and never behind a paywall.

While our work is free to read, watch, and listen to online, it’s incredibly costly to make. Court documents, travel, research: It all adds up. Because we’re a nonprofit newsroom, we rely on reader support to fund our investigations. Will you stand with us in these extraordinary times, as headlines clamour for our attention and disinformation is rampant? We can’t get the truth out without you.

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