Eric Trump has said President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are “lazy” compared to his father, former President Donald Trump, and claimed there’s a “vacuum” of power at the White House.
Trump, who is executive vice president of the Trump Organization, spoke to Newsmax TV’s Cortes & Pellegrino on Monday and highlighted the recent spike in gas prices and increased migrant crossings at the southern border, among other issues.
“You know, it’s sad. My father had these problems under control,” Trump said, calling the border situation “an absolute mess” and touting the U.S.-Mexico border wall, which was a major plank of the former president’s 2016 campaign.
Trump compared Biden and Harris unfavorably to his father and criticized them for not giving more press conferences.
“I think they’re lazy,” Trump said. “I think they lack motivation. I think they lack the charisma to do what my father did.
“My father was on a plane every single day. He was literally going somewhere every single day and where are these two? Why don’t you ever hear from them?
“They’re not giving press conferences. They’re not going out in the Rose Garden like my father was. They aren’t doing press conferences as they’re getting on Air Force One. They’re not traveling anywhere. I mean, there just seems like there’s a vacuum in Washington. There’s no energy. There’s no speed. There’s no desire to actually fix these problems, and that’s depressing.”
“People are seeing the mess that these people are making of this country right now; they’re seeing how bad these policies are,” Trump went on.
“As all of it unravels, these people who might not have liked a little mean tweet once in a while – or might not have liked somebody who was less PC from personality standpoint – are actually kind of recoiling and saying, ‘you know what, on second thought, that man was actually incredibly effective for this country versus what we have right now.'”
“And I think what it’s going to lead to in 2022 is going to be incredible. I think what it’s gonna lead to in 2024 is going to be something very special. I don’t think it’s the last you’ve seen of Trump to say the least,” he said.
“I really think we’re gonna have decisive victories because of it. I mean, Steve, you know you couldn’t have a larger contrast between two world views, and this current worldview isn’t working,” he said.
Former President Trump has said he is considering another run at the White House in 2024 but has not yet made a formal announcement. Republicans will be hoping to take back the House of Representatives next year when Biden faces his first set of midterm elections.
Newsweek has asked the White House for comment.
Eric Trump, son of former U.S. President Donald Trump, pre-records his address to the Republican National Convention at the Mellon Auditorium on August 25, 2020 in Washington, DC. Trump has said President Joe Biden lacks his father’s “charisma.” Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s approval ratings have fallen to a new low, a survey showed on Tuesday, as the country struggles to contain a devastating second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
Modi, who swept to power in 2014 and was re-elected in 2019 with the biggest majority of any Indian leader in three decades, has long fostered the image of a powerful nationalist leader.
But India’s COVID-19 caseload surged past 25 million this week, exposing a lack of preparation and eroding Modi’s support base, according to U.S. data intelligence company Morning Consult’s tracker of a dozen global leaders. read more
Modi’s overall ratings this week stand at 63%, his lowest since the U.S. firm began tracking his popularity in August 2019. The big decline happened in April when his net approval dropped 22 points. https://morningconsult.com/form/global-leader-approval/.
That sharp fall came as the pandemic appeared to be overwhelming large urban centres such as Delhi, where hospitals ran out of beds and life-saving oxygen and people died in parking lots, gasping for breath.
Bodies piled up in morgues and crematoriums and anger grew on social media over the suffering and perceived lack of government support.
The situation has since eased in Delhi and Mumbai as cases have fallen but the virus has penetrated deep into India’s vast hinterland where public health facilities are weaker.
“The people of India — or at least the vast majority — have… come to the conclusion that they have to rely only on themselves, and their families and friends, to protect their lives,” said P. Chidambaram, an opposition leader.
“In the battle against COVID-19, the state, especially the central government, has withered away,” he said.
Modi’s government has said it is doing its best to tackle the “coronavirus storm”, calling it a once-in-a-century crisis.
A survey among urban Indians by polling agency YouGov this month showed public confidence in the government’s handling of the crisis has plummeted since February when the second wave began.
Only 59% of respondents at the end of April believed the government was handling the crisis ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ well, down from 89% a year earlier during the first wave, it showed.
Modi does not face a national election until 2024 and despite the criticism he faces, the opposition is yet to mount a credible challenge to his authority, political analysts say.
No charges will be filed against North Carolina sheriff’s deputies who shot and killed Andrew Brown Jr., a 42-year-old Black man whose family claims he was “executed” as he sat in his car.
Elizabeth City, North Carolina, District Attorney Andrew Womble said at a news conference on Tuesday morning that the three deputies who opened fire on Brown, a father of seven, were justified in their use of deadly force because Brown drove his vehicle toward them and allegedly made contact with them twice before they fired their weapons.
Womble said he made his decision based on the results of an investigation by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.
“Mr. Brown’s death, while tragic, was justified, because Mr. Brown’s actions caused three deputies with the Pasquotank County Sheriff’s Office to reasonably believe it was necessary to use deadly force to protect themselves and others,” Womble said.
The shooting unfolded at about 8:30 a.m. on April 21 when deputies from Pasquotank and Dare Counties went to Brown’s home to attempt to serve two arrest warrants on Brown and a search warrant for Brown’s home in connection with a felony drug investigation, officials said.
Womble said an autopsy showed Brown was shot twice, once in the shoulder and once in the back of the head.
Brown’s family and their attorneys commissioned an independent autopsy they say shows he was shot five times, including once in the back of the head.
Seven Pasquotank deputies involved in the episode were initially placed on administrative leave, but four of them were allowed to return to duty after it was determined they did not fire shots at Brown, officials said.
The three deputies who opened fire on Brown were identified by Pasquotank County Sheriff Tommy Wooten as Investigator Daniel Meads, Deputy Sheriff II Robert Morgan and Cpl. Aaron Lewellyn. Meads and Morgan have each been with the sheriff’s office for more than five years, and Lewellyn has served over two years.
Womble said the officers fired a total of 14 shots after Brown allegedly used his car as a deadly weapon.
The district attorney released four body camera videos of the shooting that showed deputies arriving at Brown’s home in a marked sheriff’s office pickup truck, quickly surrounding Brown’s BMW and ordering him to show his hands. The videos showed Brown’s car go in reverse and then move forward toward at least one deputy, who fired a shot through the front windshield.
The footage showed Brown’s car continue across a grassy lawn as deputies fired at the rear and side of the vehicle. Brown’s car came to a stop when it crashed into a tree.
Womble said deputies immediately removed Brown from the vehicle and began performing first aid while at the same time calling for paramedics.
He said deputies found a plastic baggie the size of a 50 cent piece inside Brown’s mouth that contained a substance that is consistent with crystal methamphetamine.
“The facts of this case clearly illustrate the officers who used deadly force on Andrew Brown Jr. did so reasonably and only when a violent felon used a deadly weapon to place their lives in danger,” Womble said.
On April 26, Brown’s family, including one of his sons, Khalil Ferebee, and one of the family’s attorneys, were shown a 20-second clip from the body camera of one of the deputies involved in executing the search warrant. Ferebee said the footage shows his father, who did not have a weapon on him, being “executed” as he attempted to drive away to save his own life.
Ferebee and his relatives were shown another 18 minutes of body camera video of the shooting last week and said it did not change their opinion that Brown’s death was not justified.
The body camera videos have not been made public.
Brown’s shooting prompted days of protests in Elizabeth City calling for the deputies to be criminally charged.
The FBI launched a civil rights probe on April 27 into Brown’s death. It is ongoing. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper has also called for a special prosecutor to handle the case “in the interest of justice and confidence in the judicial system.”
The shooting came a day after a jury in Minneapolis convicted former police officer Derek Chauvin of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man.
The fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants continued into its ninth day Tuesday, with two Thai workers killed at a packaging plant in southern Israel overnight by rockets fired from Gaza, according to Israeli authorities. Health officials in Gaza recorded no overnight deaths in the Palestinian enclave for the first time since the violence began on May 10.
Mounting international calls for a cease-fire, including from U.S. President Joe Biden, went ignored as shelling and rocket attacks continue from both sides.
Israel’s military reported that 62 of its fighter jets dropped 110 guided bombs onto the Gaza Strip overnight and into Tuesday, saying its targets included Hamas leaders, its tunnel network and rocket launchpads. It also said that 90 rockets had been fired from Gaza overnight, making the latest total 3,440 rockets, the majority of which caused no casualties.
In Jerusalem, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and elsewhere in Israel, Palestinian protesters held a strike in support of Gaza.
Israel has said it would continue its offensive to take out Hamas and Islamic Jihad — U.S.-designated terrorist organizations — the former of which also governs the Gaza Strip, a 140-square mile strip of land housing 2 million people that has been under Israeli blockade since 2007.
But Israel’s offensive, which it says is targeted at Hamas, has led to 213 Palestinian deaths in Gaza as of Tuesday afternoon, including 61 children and 36 women, according to Gaza authorities. The violence between Israelis and Palestinians is the worst in the region in seven years, and Sunday — which saw Israeli fighter jets level three buildings in Gaza — has been the deadliest day since the latest hostilities began.
Rocket attacks from Hamas and Islamic Jihad have also continued. Israeli strikes on what it says are Hamas tunnel networks have collapsed underneath Palestinian homes, leaving families buried in rubble. Ten people have died in Israel, including two children, Israeli authorities said Monday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address Sunday that Israel “wants to levy a heavy price” from Gaza’s Hamas leaders and that its offensive on the blockaded territory would “take time.” In a phone call between Biden and Netanyahu on Monday, the U.S. president reportedly called for a cease-fire, but did not demand an immediate stop to the violence from Israel’s military.
“The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] is not talking about a cease-fire. We’re focused on the firing,” Israeli military’s chief spokesman, Brig. Gen. Hidai Zilberman, told the country’s Army Radio station on Tuesday.
On May 5, before full-scale hostilities erupted but amid growing protests and clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces, the Biden administration notified Congress of an intended sale of $735 million in precision-guided weapons to Israel, Reuters reported. Israel is the single largest beneficiary of U.S. military aid, at $3.1 billion annually. The State Department did not immediately reply to a CNBC request for comment.
People in rural areas are receiving the Covid-19 vaccines at a lower rate than those in urban areas, potentially hindering the nation’s progress toward ending the pandemic, according to a new study published Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC analyzed county-level vaccine administration data among American adults who received their first dose of either the Pfizer–BioNTech or Moderna Covid-19 vaccine or a single dose of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine. It looked at data from 49 states and the District of Columbia through April 10.
The agency found a lower percentage of residents in rural counties who received at least one shot than in urban counties, at 38.9% and 45.7%, respectively. The CDC also found people in rural areas who did receive a vaccine often had to travel farther to get it than people in urban areas.
“Vaccine hesitancy in rural areas is a major barrier that public health practitioners, health care providers, and local partners need to address to achieve vaccination equity,” the CDC wrote in the report.
“As availability of COVID-19 vaccines expands, public health practitioners should continue collaborating with health care providers, pharmacies, employers, faith leaders, and other community partners to identify and address barriers to COVID-19 vaccination in rural areas,” the agency added.
The new data comes as more studies find rural residents may be more hesitant to get a vaccine. A Kaiser Family Foundation report published in April found 3-in-10 rural residents said they will either “definitely not” get vaccinated or will do so only if required.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky addressed the study before it was released Tuesday, saying the Biden administration was committed to reaching out to communities “in every corner of the United States.”
The U.S. is working to “make sure vaccine access is equitable regardless of whether you live in rural or urban areas,” she said during a White House Covid-19 briefing. “Public health staff are working nationwide to provide trusted information via trusted messengers.”
Walensky said over the past weekend CDC staff attended the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama where U.S. health officials provided Covid testing and vaccinations.
“We are truly making strides across the country to ensure people have access to vaccines,” she said.
The study Tuesday did not calculate coverage by race and ethnicity, the CDC said, because information on that was missing for 40% of the data.
Andrew Giuliani has dreams of turning next year’s gubernatorial race into another “Fight of the Century.”
The son of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani will announce Tuesday that he’s officially running for the Republican primary in 2022 — and is confident he can not only knock out veteran GOP competition but then go on to take out scandal-ridden Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
“I’m a politician out of the womb. It’s in my DNA,” Giuliani, 35, told The Post, referring to his childhood as the son of a larger than life Big Apple mayor.
“Giuliani vs. Cuomo. Holy smokes. Its Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier. We can sell tickets at Madison Square Garden,” he said, referring to the famous 1971 heavyweight title prizefight.
Giuliani, 35, who served for four years as a White House aide to former President Donald Trump, insisted he is qualified to run — despite having never before run for a public office — and that he has the best chance to topple embattled three-term incumbent Cuomo.
Andrew Giuliani, the son of former New York Mayor, Rudy Giuliani, stands at Castle Clinton where his great-grandfather Rudolpho Giuliani landed in 1895 when he immigrated to America.Gabriella Bass
“It would be one of the epic showdowns in the state’s history,” said Giuliani, saying he will run as a change agent as did Trump and his dad. His playbook will be pro-business, pro-police, pro-school choice.
Giuliani has his father’s bravado if not background as a Mafia-fighting Manhattan federal prosecutor coming into this race.
“I know we can defeat Andrew Cuomo in 2022. I am going to be the 57th governor of New York,” he said.
Gov. Cuomo has faced a number of scandals in recent months.AP
It would be the battle of two political dynasties. Andrew’s dad, Rudy, was mayor for a year while Andrew Cuomo’s father, the late Mario Cuomo, was serving the final year of his three-term run as governor in 1994.
But first Giuliani would have to compete in a GOP primary against Long Island Rep. Lee Zeldin, of Long Island and former Westchester County executive Rob Astorino, who lost to Cuomo as the GOP nominee for governor in 2014.
Andrew Giuliani announces his bid to run for Governor of New York.Gabriella Bass
Zeldin was the first to announce and has already secured the support of many Republican county leaders and committees to be anointed the party’s preferred candidate.
Giuliani said he’s unfazed, vowing to raise enough money to mount a credible campaign and will greet voters in all the state’s 62 counties.
“I believe we have the best chance to win if I’m the Republican candidate in November. It’s not even close,” he said during a lengthy interview.
“You’re going to have more enthusiasm in the race.”
Lee Zeldin is also vying for the GOP nomination for governor.AP
A Republican hasn’t won a statewide race since George Pataki, who denied Mario Cuomo a fourth term, was elected to his own third term as governor in 2002, a year after the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Giuliani said he spoke to Pataki about making a run.
But politics wasn’t always the driving force for Giuliani, who spent five years as a professional golfer after graduating from Duke University in 2009, where he majored in management and sociology.
A couple years later he landed a job in the Office of White House Liaison for Trump, for whom his dad was serving as a personal friend and attorney. It propelled him back into the spotlight.
Also, like the president and his dad, he tested positive for COVID-19. He insist his father and Trump are assets to his campaign — even in New York.
“I believe my dad was the greatest mayor ever in New York City, and maybe the United States of America,” Andrew said.
The FBI recently raided Rudy Giuliani’s apartment as part of a probe into his dealings in the Ukraine. Rudy Giuliani, a former federal prosecutor, denied wrongdoing and said he was being framed for serving as Trump’s lawyer, and Andrew also blasted the feds’ actions.
Andrew Giuliani is confident he can not only knock out veteran GOP competition but also take out Gov. Andrew Cuomo.Gabriella Bass
Andrew said his dad is on board with his campaign and some of his father’s top longtime advisers are helping, including Jakes Menges and Heather Powers McBride, both of whom Andrew has known since childhood.
Giuliani also spoke to Trump, but the ex-president isn’t taking sides because he is also fond of Zeldin.
But he said Trump “absolutely” encouraged him to run to bring attention and excitement into the GOP primary.
“President Trump certainly understands the importance of a strong primary,” he said.
In response to critics who may question his qualifications and experience, Giuliani said being in the White House fishbowl under Trump and learning from his father has prepared him for the governorship.
“My four years in the White House has prepared me for this moment,” he said.
Rudy Giuliani, Andrew’s dad, served as NYC mayor and as a lawyer to former President Trump.AP
He said he interacted with corporate CEOs to promote Trump’s actions to slash business regulations and the COVID-19 Payroll Protection Program, as well as fixing shortfalls with funding in Sept. 11 health fund benefits.
Giuliani also worked with the White House task force to curb opioid abuse.
He said he embraces Trump’s record and accomplishments.
“I am not going to run away from who I am and what I’ve done. I worked for four years in the Trump White House,” Giuliani said.
“Record low unemployment. The Trump White House was excellent in getting Americans to work and into successful careers. I will do that for New York.”
There’s a cultural issue where Giuliani is also in sync with Trump.
A diehard Yankees and football Giants fan, Giuliani said he opposed professional players kneeling during the National Anthem to protest police abuse of black citizens, calling it “disappointing” and “very sad.”
“They’re protesting. This is a war on our police,” he said.
“Sports is something that’s going to bring people together. Unfortunately now it’s become a divisive topic.”
Giuliani, citing an increase in shootings, said curbing crime will be a top priority.
He said Cuomo and the Democrats have been more interested in helping defendants by eliminating cash bail for many crimes.
Andrew Giuliani said his dad, Rudy Giuliani, is on board with his campaign.Gabriella Bass
“This has to be something dealt with at the state level. The police are not getting protection from City Hall and Albany to do the job right. There will be no greater friend to the police than Andrew Giuliani,” he said.
And he said “rolling back” the increase in corporate taxes and income taxes on the wealthy just approved by Cuomo and the Legislature would also be a top priority.
Giuliani said the high tax and anti-business environment “is one of the reasons New York is losing people.”
He spoke of the New York ingenuity that built the Erie Canal to attract commerce.
“We shouldn’t be building a canal to Florida,” he said.
Giuliani also accused Cuomo and Democratic legislators of abandoning parents and kids by failing to raise the cap on the opening of more charter schools.
“I will be someone to fight for your choice. The 270 cap in New York City is beyond absurd. The cap needs to go up. It’s hurting kids who don’t have the means to go to an expensive private school,” he said.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called on Tuesday for business leaders to pay higher taxes to support government stimulus spending, and backed stronger labor unions and lowering barriers to foreign competition.
In a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Yellen reiterated the White House’s intent to raise taxes on corporations and the highest earners as part of an ambitious infrastructure spending plan.
The administration also is seeking a global corporate minimum tax in an effort to stop companies from relocating their bases to avoid higher levies at home.
“With corporate taxes at a historical low of one percent of GDP, we believe the corporate sector can contribute to this effort by bearing its fair share: we propose simply to return the corporate tax toward historical norms,” Yellen said in prepared remarks for the Chamber’s Global Forum on Economic Recovery.
Yellen added that President Joe Biden’s American Families Plan will be paid for in part by a “series of tax reforms that ensure that wealthy individuals are paying their fair share.” She said the administration is also looking to stop tax evasion that has “stacked the deck for decades against responsible and compliant taxpayers.”
Along with the position on taxes and infrastructure, Yellen spoke about inequality and said it is in part fostered by a lack of bargaining power by labor, a potential sore spot for business owners at a time when only a little more than 10% of all workers belong to unions.
“Workers, particularly lower-wage earners, have seen wage growth stagnate over several decades, despite overall rising productivity and national income,” she said. “There are several contributors to this troubling trend, but one important factor is an erosion in labor’s bargaining power.”
She also talked up the benefits of global competition.
Former President Donald Trump had pushed policies such as tariffs, fought against Chinese theft of American technology and other intellectual property and pulled the U.S. from multiple global trade pacts. Yellen, though, said competition from abroad should be welcomed.
“Let others innovate and advance. Let us seek to advance faster and further. We ultimately benefit from the positive spillovers of innovation wherever it occurs,” she said. “As in any competition, if you lose one contest, you work harder to win the next. The better the competition, the stronger you will get. That has been the American way.”
Become a smarter investor with CNBC Pro. Get stock picks, analyst calls, exclusive interviews and access to CNBC TV. Sign up to start a free trial today.
NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s total virus cases since the pandemic began swept past 25 million on Tuesday as the country registered more than 260,000 new cases and a record 4,329 fatalities in the past 24 hours.
The numbers continue a trend of falling cases after infections dipped below 300,000 for the first time in weeks on Monday. Active cases in the country also decreased by more than 165,000 on Tuesday — the biggest dip in weeks.
But deaths have continued to rise and hospitals are still swamped by patients.
India has recorded nearly 280,000 virus deaths since the pandemic began. Experts warn that both the number of deaths and total reported cases are likely vast undercounts.
Infections in India have surged since February in a disastrous turn blamed on more contagious variants as well as government decisions to allow massive crowds to gather for religious festivals and political rallies.
In the last month, cases have more than tripled and reported deaths have gone up six times — but testing has only increased by 1.6 times, according to Bhramar Mukherjee, a biostatistician at the University of Michigan tracking India’s battle with the virus. With infections outrunning testing capabilities, there are fears that many cases are going undetected.
Experts also say India has lagged behind in doing the testing needed to track and better understand a worrisome virus variant first detected in the country. On Monday, the Health Ministry said 17 new labs will be brought online to help track variants.
The variant first identified in India has prompted global concern — most notably in Britain, where it has more than doubled in a week, defying a sharp nationwide downward trend in infections.
Meanwhile, ever since India opened up vaccinations to all adults this month, the pace of administering shots has plunged. Many states have said they don’t have enough stock to give out. The southern state of Karnataka, for example, has temporarily halted its drive to inoculate those aged between 18 and 44 at government-run centers due to a shortage of doses.
President Joe Biden’s finances took hit over 2020 according to income tax filings released by the White House on Monday.
Evan Vucci/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Evan Vucci/AP
President Joe Biden’s finances took hit over 2020 according to income tax filings released by the White House on Monday.
Evan Vucci/AP
What in other years would likely not be huge news is this year making headlines: President Joe Biden has released his tax returns.
The release of his financial records, as well as those of Vice President Kamala Harris, marks the return of a White House tradition defied by former President Donald Trump during the 45th president’s term in office.
“Today, the President released his 2020 federal income tax return, continuing an almost uninterrupted tradition,” the White House said on Monday, the deadline to file 2020 income tax returns.
According to filings released by the White House, Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, jointly earned $607,336 in 2020. The couple gave a little less than $31,000 — about 5% of their income — to charity. Together, they owed $157,414 in federal income tax.
Their combined income for last year, as Biden was on the campaign trail, was significantly lower than for 2019. The couple reported an adjusted gross income of about $985,000 for that year.
Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, appeared to have a more financially successful year, though they too earned less money than in the previous year.
The California couple had an adjusted gross income of $1,695,300 in 2020, according to their tax returns. That is a 45% decrease over their 2019 earnings of $3,095,590.
Harris earned about $346,000 from her work as an author and the couple donated a little more than $27,000 to charity. In all, they owed a total of $621,893 in tax.
In contrast, tax returns obtained by The New York Times showed Trump paid $750 a year in taxes his first two years in office.
Throughout his presidency, Trump maintained that he was unable to release his returns because he was being audited by the Internal Revenue Service. The move broke decades of presidential precedent. But the IRS has routinely audited the personal tax returns of every sitting president and vice president since the early 1970s, when President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew were both embroiled in tax scandals during the Watergate era.
The Republican-led Maricopa County Board of Supervisors condemned the state Senate’s GOP-led audit of the county’s 2020 election results as a “sham” in a letter Monday.
“You are photographing ballots contrary to the laws that the Senate helped enact, and you are sending those images to unidentified places and people. You have repeatedly lost control of your Twitter account, which has tweeted things that appear to be the rantings of a petulant child—not the serious statements of a serious audit,” wrote the board.
“I will not be responding to any more requests from this sham process. Finish your audit and be ready to defend what you’re finding in a court of law,” added Chairman Jack Sellers (R) at Monday’s meeting of the board, according to The Washington Post.
The blistering letter issued Monday by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors is just the latest instance of local GOP officials bucking the former president’s disproven claims about the 2020 election, as did Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) last year amid Trump’s efforts to overturn that state’s results.
Many GOP elected officials at the national level, on the other hand, have maintained their belief that irregularities or outright fraud occurred during the 2020 election or have refused to clearly state their position in the months since the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, during which hundreds of Trump supporters stormed the building hoping to stop the certification of the 2020 election results, and after which numerous GOP lawmakers voted to support some of those same objections.
Trump himself has lent support to efforts to overturn his defeat. He recently told a crowd at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida that should Arizona’s audit uncover fraud, other states would do the same.
“Let’s see what they find. I wouldn’t be surprised if they found thousands and thousands and thousands of votes,” Trump said earlier this month.
“After that, we’ll watch Pennsylvania, and you watch Georgia, then you’re going to watch Michigan and Wisconsin, and you’re watching New Hampshire,” he added.
The 40-year-old reality star took to Twitter on Monday to slam the body’s refusal to make its ban on non-unanimous juries retroactive.
“I’m deeply disappointed by the terrible decision out of the US Supreme Court this morning deciding not to overturn their sentences and apply the unanimous jury requirement to their cases,” she said online.
News broke on Friday morning that SCOTUS had made such a call, denying relief to up to 1,600 Louisiana inmates who were found guilty by divided juries and have exhausted their appeals.
The justices ruled 6-3 along conservative-liberal lines that prisoners whose cases had concluded before the justices’ 2020 ruling shouldn’t benefit from it. The decision affects prisoners who were convicted in Louisiana and Oregon as well as the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, the few places that had allowed criminal convictions based on divided jury votes.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote for the conservative majority that the court’s “well-settled retroactivity doctrine” led to the conclusion that the decision doesn’t apply retroactively. The decision “tracks the Court’s many longstanding precedents on retroactivity,” he wrote.
In a dissent joined by his two liberal colleagues, Justice Elena Kagan wrote that as a result of the ruling, “For the first time in many decades … those convicted under rules found not to produce fair and reliable verdicts will be left without recourse in federal courts.”
During arguments in the case in December, which were held by phone because of the coronavirus pandemic, the justices were told that ruling in favor of the prisoners could mean retrials for 1,000 to 1,600 people in Louisiana alone. States and the Trump administration had urged the court not to give more prisoners the benefit of the ruling, saying doing so would be “massively disruptive” in both Louisiana and Oregon and might mean “the release of violent offenders who cannot practically be retried.”
As a result of the high court’s 2020 ruling, juries everywhere must vote unanimously to convict. But that decision affected only future cases and cases in which the defendants were still appealing their convictions when the high court ruled. The question the high court was answering in the current case was whether the decision should be made retroactive to cases that were final before the ruling.
Kim Kardashian, an aspiring lawyer, was verbal upset by the Supreme Court’s decision to not make the ban on non-unanimous juries retroactive. (Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/WireImage)
During arguments, several justices noted the very high bar past cases have set to making similar new rules retroactive.
The case the justices ruled in involves Louisiana prisoner Thedrick Edwards. A jury convicted Edwards of rape and multiple counts of armed robbery and kidnapping. The jury divided 10-2 on most of the robbery charges and 11-1 on the remaining charges. Edwards, who had confessed to police, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Edwards, who is Black, has argued among other things that prosecutors intentionally kept Black jurors off the case; the lone Black juror on the case voted to acquit him.
In a statement, Edwards’ attorney André Bélanger said he was “disappointed in the Court’s ruling.” But he said the “fight is not over,” explaining that rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution are just a minimum standard and Louisiana is free to apply the Supreme Court’s 2020 ruling retroactively as a matter of state law. “This is obviously something that will be litigated moving forward,” he said.
A week of fighting has left more than 200 people dead in Israel and the Palestinian territories, the vast majority of them Palestinians killed by Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.
Deaths in Israel and the Palestinian territories
Deaths in the Palestinian territories
Deaths in Israel
Jenin
Tulkarm
Nablus
10 people were killed
in Hamas rocket and
missile attacks.
Mediterranean Sea
Marda Village
Tel Aviv
Ramat Gan
Salfit
2 people died in
civil unrest.
Rishon LeZion
WEST BANK
Lod
Moshav
Netaim
Ramallah
Jericho
Moshav
Shtulim
East Jerusalem
ISRAEL
20 people have been killed related to clashes with Israeli security forces in the West Bank.
Ashkelon
JORDAN
North Gaza
Netiv Ha’Asara
Hebron
Sderot
Al Fawwar
Refugee Camp
gaza strip
Gaza City
Central Gaza
Khan Younis
Gaza
Strip
WEST
BANK
Rafah
Israeli airstrikes killed
at least 212 people
in the Gaza Strip.
Israel
EGYPT
25 MILES
Deaths in the Palestinian territories
Deaths in Israel
Jenin
Mediterranean Sea
Tulkarm
Nablus
10 people were killed in Hamas rocket and missile attacks.
Marda Village
Tel Aviv
Ramat Gan
Salfit
Rishon LeZion
2 people died in civil unrest.
WEST BANK
Lod
Moshav
Netaim
Ramallah
Jericho
JORDAN
Moshav
Shtulim
East Jerusalem
ISRAEL
20 people have been
killed related to clashes
with Israeli security forces in the West Bank.
Ashkelon
North Gaza
Netiv Ha’Asara
Hebron
Sderot
Al Fawwar
Refugee Camp
Gaza City
gaza strip
Central Gaza
Khan Younis
Gaza
Strip
Rafah
WEST
BANK
Israeli airstrikes killed
at least 212 people
in the Gaza Strip.
Israel
EGYPT
25 MILES
Deaths in the Palestinian territories
Deaths in Israel
Jenin
Mediterranean Sea
Tulkarm
10 people were killed
in Hamas rocket and
missile attacks.
Nablus
Marda Village
Tel Aviv
Ramat Gan
Salfit
JORDAN
2 people died
in civil unrest.
Rishon LeZion
WEST BANK
Lod
Moshav
Netaim
Ramallah
Jericho
Moshav
Shtulim
East Jerusalem
20 people have been killed related to clashes with
Israeli security forces in
the West Bank.
ISRAEL
Ashkelon
North Gaza
Netiv Ha’Asara
Hebron
Sderot
Al Fawwar
Refugee Camp
Gaza City
gaza strip
Central Gaza
Khan Younis
Gaza
Strip
WEST
BANK
Rafah
Israeli airstrikes killed
at least 212 people
in the Gaza Strip.
Israel
EGYPT
25 MILES
Deaths in the Palestinian territories
Deaths in Israel
20 people have been killed related to clashes with Israeli security forces in the West Bank.
Mediterranean Sea
Jenin
Tulkarm
10 people were killed
in Hamas rocket and
missile attacks.
Nablus
Marda Village
Tel Aviv
Ramat Gan
Salfit
2 people died
in civil unrest.
Rishon LeZion
WEST BANK
Moshav
Netaim
Lod
Jericho
Ramallah
Moshav
Shtulim
East Jerusalem
ISRAEL
North
Gaza
Ashkelon
Netiv Ha’Asara
Hebron
Gaza
City
Sderot
Al Fawwar
Refugee Camp
Central Gaza
Khan Younis
JORDAN
Israeli airstrikes killed
at least 212 people
in the Gaza Strip.
Rafah
gaza strip
Gaza
Strip
WEST
BANK
EGYPT
25 MILES
Israel
The violence has intensified over the past eight days as diplomatic efforts have stalled and Israel has scaled up its bombing campaign against Hamas.
The war is being fought on multiple fronts. According to the Israeli Air Force, Hamas, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip, has fired more than 3,300 rockets toward Israeli cities and towns, killing at least 10 people. Israeli forces and settlers have killed 20 Palestinians during unrest in the West Bank, a Palestinian human rights group said. And a wave of mob attacks hit at least one mixed Arab-Jewish city in Israel.
But the worst devastation is in Gaza, a densely packed coastal enclave of about two million people. Israeli forces have struck homes, refugee camps, medical facilities and other buildings.
Israeli officials have said the assault is aimed at Hamas military officials and a network of underground tunnels used by Hamas to move people and equipment. But the strikes have killed at least 212 people, including at least 61 children, according to local health authorities, drawing international condemnation.
Deaths in Gaza
Deaths in the Gaza Strip
North
Gaza
May 15
Beit Lahia
An airstrike destroyed a high-rise building that housed media organizations.
Shanti camp
Beit Hanoun
Jabalia
May 16
Gaza City
More than 40 Palestinians, including at least 10 children, were killed in a strike that destroyed several homes.
May 10
Gaza
Two young boys were killed
when a missile struck while they were playing outside their home.
Nusseirat
Deir
Al-Balah
al-Bureij
al-Maghazi
Mediterranean Sea
May 15
Deir al-Balah
An Israeli airstrike that hit a house in a refugee camp killed at least 10 people from the same extended family, eight of them children.
GAZA STRIP
Khan Younis
Abasan al-Jadidah
Khan
Younis
Bani Suheila
ISRAEL
Rafah
Rafah
WEST
BANK
Gaza
Strip
Israel
Deaths in the Gaza Strip
May 10
Two young boys were killed when a missile struck while they were playing outside their home.
May 16
More than 40 Palestinians, including at least 10 children, were killed in a strike that destroyed several homes.
North
Gaza
Beit
Lahia
Beit
Hanoun
Shanti camp
Jabalia
Gaza City
Gaza
May 15
An Israeli airstrike that hit a house in a refugee camp killed at least 10 people from the same extended family, eight of them children.
Nusseirat
Deir
Al-Balah
al-Bureij
Mediterranean Sea
al-Maghazi
Deir al-Balah
Khan Younis
Abasan al-Jadidah
Khan
Younis
Bani Suheila
ISRAEL
Rafah
WEST
BANK
Rafah
GAZA
STRIP
Israel
Beit
Hanoun
Beit
Lahia
North
Gaza
Jabalia
Shanti
camp
Deaths in
the Gaza Strip
Gaza City
Gaza
GAZA
STRIP
Nusseirat
al-Bureij
Deir
Al-Balah
al-Maghazi
Deir al-Balah
ISRAEL
Abasan al-Jadidah
Bani Suheila
Khan
Younis
Khan
Younis
Rafah
Rafah
WEST
BANK
NORTH
Gaza
Strip
Israel
On Saturday, an Israeli airstrike destroyed a well-known tower that housed some of the world’s leading news media organizations, including The Associated Press and Al Jazeera. The strikes have destroyed 132 buildings in Gaza and left 2,500 people homeless, according to Palestinian officials.
Towers destroyed in Gaza City
al-Johara tower, May 12
A nine-story building was
struck by multiple missiles
but did not collapse.
al-Shorouq tower, May 12
An Israeli airstrike destroyed
a 14-story building.
al-Jalaa tower, May 15
A 12-story building housing
the offices of The Associated
Press and Al Jazeera was
destroyed.
DESTROYED
TOWERS
GAZA
STRIP
Hanadi tower, May 11
A 13-story tower with a mix of
residential apartments and
commercial offices was destroyed.
al-Johara tower, May 12
A nine-story building was
struck by multiple missiles
but did not collapse.
al-Shorouq tower, May 12
An Israeli airstrike destroyed
a 14-story building.
al-Jalaa tower, May 15
A 12-story building
housing the offices of
The Associated Press
and Al Jazeera was
destroyed.
DESTROYED
TOWERS
GAZA
STRIP
Hanadi tower, May 11
A 13-story tower with a mix
of residential apartments
and commercial offices was
destroyed.
al-Shorouq tower, May 12
An Israeli airstrike destroyed
a 14-story building.
DESTROYED
TOWERS
GAZA
STRIP
al-Johara tower, May 12
A nine-story building was
struck by multiple missiles
but did not collapse.
al-Jalaa tower, May 15
A 12-story building housing the offices of The Associated Press and Al Jazeera was destroyed.
Hanadi tower, May 11
A 13-story tower with a mix
of residential apartments
and commercial offices
was destroyed.
The conflict exploded into daily bouts of violence on May 10, after the Israeli police raided the Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, one of Islam’s holiest sites, and Hamas militants fired rockets toward Jerusalem.
Eight days of violence
Day 1 May 10 |Israeli airstrikes began Monday after Hamas militants fired a salvo of rockets toward Jerusalem.
28 killed in Gaza
3 killed in Israel
Day 2 May 11 |By Tuesday night, more than 30 Palestinians had been killed, including 10 children.
4 killed in Gaza
1 killed in Israel
Day 3 May 12 |Waves of mob violence between Jews and Arabs spread across Israeli cities as rockets and missiles streaked overhead.
21 killed in Gaza
4 killed in Israel
Day 4 May 13 |Israel intensified its campaign of airstrikes against Hamas, pulverizing buildings, offices and homes.
34 killed in Gaza
2 killed in Israel
Day 5 May 14 |Violence erupted in several places on the West Bank, as Israeli soldiers fired on demonstrators, some of whom threw stones and lit fires.
39 killed in Gaza
0 killed in Israel
Day 6 May 15 |Israel destroyed a building housing the offices of two major news media outlets, thousands of Palestinians fled their homes and Hamas militants fired more rocket barrages toward the Tel Aviv area.
13 killed in Gaza
1 killed in Israel
Day 7 May 16 |In the conflict’s most lethal episode so far, dozens of Palestinians were killed early Sunday morning in an airstrike on several apartments in Gaza City.
53 killed in Gaza
0 killed in Israel
Day 8 May 17 |The Israeli Army released 110 rockets and bombs on some 35 targets in a predawn bombardment that lasted about 20 minutes.
20 killed in Gaza
1 killed in Israel
Underneath the military battle in the skies, mob violence erupted in the city of Lod, where rival Arab and Jewish groups attacked people, cars, shops, offices and hotels early last week. Two people died of their injuries.
Reports of civil unrest in Israeli cities
LEBANON
Mediterranean Sea
SYRIA
Acre, May 12
A Jewish-owned hotel was ransacked by an Arab mob.
Tamra
Tiberias
Haifa
Nazareth
Jisr az-Zarqa
Umm al-Fahm, May 12
Israel’s national medical
service said an ambulance
crew was attacked.
Or Akiva
Jaffa, May 14
A Molotov cocktail thrown through the window of a home injured two Arab children.
Jaffa
West Bank
Bat Yam, May 12
A Jewish mob pulled an Arab man from his car and beat him unconscious.
Lod, May 12
Israel declared a state of emergency after sectarian violence swept through the city.
Ramia
ISRAEL
gaza
Strip
JORDAN
Be’er Sheva
Jerusalem, May 10
Israeli police armed with tear gas, stun grenades and rubber-tipped bullets burst into the Aqsa Mosque for the second time in three days.
EGYPT
25 MILES
LEBANON
Mediterranean Sea
SYRIA
Acre, May 12
A Jewish-owned hotel was ransacked by an Arab mob.
Tamra
Tiberias
Haifa
Nazareth
Jisr az-Zarqa
Umm al-Fahm, May 12
Israel’s national medical
service said an ambulance
crew was attacked.
Or Akiva
Jaffa, May 14
A Molotov cocktail thrown through the window of a home injured two Arab children.
Jaffa
West Bank
Bat Yam, May 12
A Jewish mob pulled an Arab man from his car and beat him unconscious.
Lod, May 12
Israel declared a state of emergency after sectarian violence swept through the city.
Ramia
ISRAEL
JORDAN
Gaza Strip
Be’er Sheva
Jerusalem, May 10
Israeli police armed with tear gas, stun grenades and rubber-tipped bullets burst into the Aqsa Mosque for the second time in three days.
25 MILES
JORDAN
EGYPT
LEBANON
Mediterranean Sea
SYRIA
Acre, May 12
A Jewish-owned hotel was ransacked by an Arab mob.
Tamra
Tiberias
Haifa
Nazareth
Jisr az-Zarqa
Umm al-Fahm, May 12
Israel’s national medical
service said an ambulance
crew was attacked.
Or Akiva
Jaffa, May 14
A Molotov cocktail thrown through the window of a home injured two Arab children.
Jaffa
West Bank
Bat Yam, May 12
A Jewish mob pulled an Arab man from his car and beat him unconscious.
Lod, May 12
Israel declared a state of emergency after sectarian violence swept through the city.
Ramia
ISRAEL
JORDAN
Gaza Strip
Be’er Sheva
Jerusalem, May 10
Israeli police armed with tear gas, stun grenades and rubber-tipped bullets burst into the Aqsa Mosque for the second time in three days.
25 MILES
JORDAN
EGYPT
LEBANON
Mediterranean Sea
Acre, May 12
A Jewish-owned hotel was ransacked by an Arab mob.
Tamra
Tiberias
Haifa
Nazareth
Jisr az-Zarqa
Umm al-Fahm,
May 12
Israel’s national medical service said an ambulance crew was attacked.
Or Akiva
Jaffa, May 14
A Molotov cocktail thrown through the window of a home injured two Arab children.
West Bank
Jaffa
Bat Yam,
May 12
A Jewish mob pulled an Arab man from his car and beat him unconscious.
Lod, May 12
Israel declared a state of emergency after sectarian violence swept through the city.
Ramia
ISRAEL
Gaza Strip
JORDAN
Be’er Sheva
Jerusalem, May 10
Israeli police armed with tear gas, stun grenades and rubber-tipped bullets burst into the Aqsa Mosque for the second time in three days.
25 MILES
EGYPT
The violence is the worst since 2014, when Israel’s seven-week invasion of Gaza and Hamas’s rocket fire ultimately claimed 2,200 lives, rendered large areas of the Gaza Strip uninhabitable and paralyzed Israel’s south. It took nearly three months for Israelis and Palestinians to reach a cease-fire.
An additional 32,253 coronavirus vaccine doses were administered Sunday, bringing the total to 10,407,841. Over the last seven days, the state reached an average of 61,275 vaccines administered daily, the lowest since an average of 61,132 was reported Feb. 17, when supplies of the vaccines were still well below demand.
While a cease-fire would be welcomed by the White House, Mr. Netanyahu has in recent days made clear that he intended to continue bombing until Israel has destroyed Hamas’s stockpile of rockets, launchers, and the tunnels from which Hamas fighters are operating.
“The directive is to continue striking at the terrorist targets,” Mr. Netanyahu said on Monday after meeting with Israeli security officials. “We will continue to take whatever action necessary in order to restore quiet and security for all the residents of Israel.”
By late Monday, the Israeli bombardment had killed 212 people in Gaza, and Hamas rockets had killed at least 10 in Israel. Hamas had fired almost as many rockets in eight days — 3,350, the Israeli military said — as it did in the 50-day war the two sides fought in 2014.
So far, Israel has resisted efforts by Egypt, Qatar and the United States to broker a cease-fire. And Hamas has continued its rocket fire into Israel.
In his conversations with Mideast leaders, Mr. Biden has tried to move the United States to a more neutral role as a peacemaker, after four years of former President Donald J. Trump favoring Israel.
President Biden remained a millionaire last year and paid 25.9 percent in federal taxes, according to records released Monday by the White House.
Biden and first lady Jill Biden jointly earned $607,336 in 2020, according to a copy of their tax return released by the White House.
The first couple gave $30,704, or about 5 percent of their income, to charity, which helped lower their federal tax bill to $157,414. They paid nearly $29,000 in Delaware taxes.
The Bidens also reported an apparent drop in cash and investments as part of a separate disclosure to the Office of Government and Ethics, reporting between $1.2 million and $2.88 million in assets — including up to $1,780,000 in cash, down from up to $3.2 million reported last year.
The first couple earned about half of their income through pensions, annuities and Social Security payments. Much of the rest was book revenue, with Jill Biden also earning $12,681 as a teacher at Northern Virginia Community College.
Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Douglas Emhoff, a high profile attorney, reported $1,695,225 in income, mostly from Emhoff’s work as a partner at DLA Piper. Harris took a much smaller salary as a senator. The couple paid $621,893 in federal income taxes, or about 36.7 percent.
Harris and Emhoff reported assets of between $3.1 million and $7 million.
Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Douglas Emhoff paid $621,893 in federal income taxes last year.EPA/YURI GRIPAS / POOL
Former President Donald Trump consistently declined to release his annual tax returns, citing federal audits, but he did release annual financial disclosure forms that provided a glimpse into trends in revenue in his business empire.
Unlike Trump, Biden worked much of his life in public office. From 1973 to 2009, he was a US senator from Delaware, a role that currently pays $174,000 per year. He was vice president from 2009 to 2017, which now pays $235,000. But he banked a windfall after leaving office, netting more than $16.5 million in 2017, 2018 and 2019, largely from speaking at colleges.
Biden earned nearly $1 million from the University of Pennsylvania from 2017 to 2019, despite appearing rarely at the Ivy League school and raked in funds as a public speaker. He took $190,000 to speak at Drew University in New Jersey, $182,000 from Lake Michigan College and $180,000 to appear at Vanderbilt University.
The Bidens’ charity giving last year included $10,000 to the Beau Biden Foundation, $5,000 to the Food Bank of Delaware and $5,000 to the International Association of Fire Fighters Foundation.
(CNN)Conservatives have been waiting decades for this moment: a transformed Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear an abortion case that directly challenges women’s reproductive rights tracing to the 1973 Roe v. Wade milestone.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden restored a long-standing presidential tradition Monday by releasing his tax returns, showing that 25.9% of the first couple’s income went to the federal government in 2020. The average federal income tax rate is just over 14%.
Biden and his wife, Jill, a teacher, earned $607,336 last year while he was running for president. That is down from $985,223 in 2019, when they primarily earned money from book sales, speeches and positions at the University of Pennsylvania and Northern Virginia Community College. Those income opportunities diminished because of the campaign.
Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, declined to release his tax returns, a precedent that the new administration rejected.
“I would expect that we will continue to release the president’s tax returns, as should be expected by every president of the United States,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Monday ahead of the release.
The Bidens donated $30,704 to 10 charities last year. The largest gift was $10,000 to the Beau Biden Foundation, a nonprofit focused on child abuse that is named after the president’s deceased son. The president separately released his financial holdings through the Office of Government Ethics and has assets worth between $1.2 million and $2.88 million.
Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Douglas Emhoff, also released their 2020 tax filings. They paid a rate of 36.7% on income of $1,695,225 and contributed $27,006 to charity. Harris was previously a U.S. senator representing California, while Emhoff was a Los Angeles-based entertainment lawyer. He now teaches law at Georgetown University.
Harris also made public her financial holdings through the Office of Government Ethics, showing her assets valued at between $1 million and $2.4 million. Harris also listed just under $359,000 in advance payments for her 2019 memoir, “The Truths We Hold.”
Biden campaigned on the transparency of his personal finances, releasing 22 years’ worth of tax filings ahead of the 2020 election. It was a direct challenge to Trump, who claimed for several years that an audit prevented him from releasing his taxes — even though the IRS had mandated for more than four decades that the tax returns of a sitting president and vice president be audited.
The New York Times later obtained the tax records of the reputed billionaire and reported that he paid just $750 in federal income taxes during his first year in the White House. IRS figures indicate that the average tax filer paid roughly $12,200 in 2017, about 16 times more than what the former president paid.
“You have not released a single solitary year of your tax returns,” Biden told Trump at one of their presidential debates. “What are you hiding?”
Trump claimed — without evidence — that he had prepaid his taxes and that he thought the $750 was a filing fee.
California first issued its mask requirements nearly a year ago — on June 18. | AP Photo/Hector Amezcua, Pool
OAKLAND — California will not lift its Covid-19mask mandate to align with new federal recommendations until after June 15, the target date for the state to fully reopen businesses, state health officials said Monday.
“This four-week week period will give Californians time to prepare for this change while we continue the relentless focus on delivering vaccines,” Health and Human Service Secretary Mark Ghaly said.
This announcement makes California, along with New Jersey and Hawaii, one of the final holdouts to revise its mask policy after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention abruptly announced Thursday that fully vaccinated people can go without masks in most situations.
Gov. Gavin Newsom at a news conference Friday said the state was reviewing its mask policies but underscored that questions remain about enforcement, guidance for schools and what happens if businesses decide to continue requiring masks. “There’s a whole host of complexities that we all have to work through,” he said.
California first issued its mask requirements nearly a year ago — on June 18. Under the most recent update, the state allowed fully vaccinated people to be maskless outdoors except in crowded events such as concerts, festivals and sporting events, and to socialize indoors without masks with other fully vaccinated people.
Ghaly said California wasn’t challenging the federal decision by waiting a month to adjust its own rules. “It’s really just giving ourselves across the state some additional time to have it implemented with a high degree of integrity, with a continued focus on protecting the public,” he said.
Some businesses, such as Trader Joe’s, Costco and Walmart, already moved to lift restrictions for vaccinated customers nationwide, but that won’t be allowed in California. “We expect businesses in California to adhere to where the state is and move to implement these standards, or prepare for them, on June 15 as opposed to now,” Ghaly said.
The state is also working with employers and businesses to figure out how to best determine who is vaccinated for masking purposes, Ghaly said.
Bob Wachter, chair of the Department of Medicine at the UC San Francisco, agreed with California’s decision to delay the change. “Good call — simply too much virus & too many unvaxxed folks who won’t [wear] masks for no-mask indoor spaces to be safe now,” he said on Twitter.
But the decision also drew criticism. “This is like saying, ‘We are going to follow the science, but we are going to wait until June 15 to do so,’” Assemblymember Chad Mayes (I-Rancho Mirage) wrote on Twitter.
Republican gubernatorial candidate John Cox chided Newsom for “going into hiding when he has something unpopular to announce” and called on the governor to “drop the mask mandate now.”
This is a widget area - If you go to "Appearance" in your WP-Admin you can change the content of this box in "Widgets", or you can remove this box completely under "Theme Options"
