January 1, Biden: Trump Will Try to Postpone 2020 Election

This Day in History | 1945

President Harry S. Truman learns the full details of the Manhattan Project, in which scientists are attempting to create the first atomic bomb, on April 24, 1945. The information thrust upon Truman a momentous decision: whether or not to use the world’s first weapon of mass destruction.

Good afternoon Middle Americans, 

I know you’ve probably heard this before. But things are getting really weird out there. Now former Vice President Joe Biden says president Trump is going to to try and postpone the 2020 election. 

It’s a thought that has come to mind, but it’s also a rallying cry for the left and an easy way to gin up Biden’s base, without any proof that it’ll actually happen. 

Georgia and several other states start to re-open today. This, while the death toll from Coronavirus tops 50,000. 

The virus has killed more than 20 million jobs. 

Also today, the president is trying to clean up his comments he made yesterday about injecting Lysol and other disinfectants into our bodies to help fight COVID-19. 

Yes he actually said that. It was a dumb thing to say. But it’s also dumb to take anything a non-doctor says about medications, literally. Especially President Trump. 

Read all about it. 

-Fraser Dixon

Biden Predicts Trump will Try to Postpone US Election

(AFP) – Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has predicted that US President Donald Trump will try to postpone the country’s November election in an attempt to win.

“Mark my words, I think he is gonna try to kick back the election somehow, come up with some rationale why it can’t be held,” Biden said during an online fundraiser Thursday.

The 77-year-old former vice president said it is “the only way he thinks he can possibly win.”

Six months before US voters head to the polls, Trump’s mind is already in election mode.

But with a pandemic raging and job losses climbing to 26.4 million on Thursday, Trump’s path to victory may be harder than he anticipated.

Biden, highlighting Trump’s recent threat to veto emergency funding for the US Post Office, claimed it was an example of the president’s intention to “do all he can to make it very hard for people to vote.”

While mail-in voting and absentee ballots remain methods many say could help limit voters spreading coronavirus, Trump maintains they create the potential for fraud.

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Georgia Eases Lockdown; US COVID-19 Death Toll Passes 50,000

(AP) — Barber shops, nail salons, gyms and a few other businesses reopened in Georgia on Friday as the Republican governor eased a month-long shutdown despite warnings from health experts of a potential new surge of coronavirus infections.

As some customers ventured back to these venues, the confirmed number of COVID-19 deaths in the United States surpassed 50,000, according to a tally compiled by John Hopkins University from government figures. The actual death toll is believed to be far higher.

Even though limited in scope, the reopenings in Georgia and at least two other states marked a symbolic milestone in the debate raging in the United States – and the world — as to how quickly political leaders should lift economically damaging lockdown orders.

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Trump Says Remarks About Heat, Light, Disinfectant were Sarcastic

(The Hill) – President Trump on Friday said he was being sarcastic when he suggested multiple times a day earlier that scientists should consider exposing the body to light, heat and disinfectants as a potential treatment for coronavirus.

“I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you just to see what would happen,” Trump told reporters at an Oval Office bill signing.

The president’s explanation drew skepticism among those who watched the briefing, where Trump directly turned to other government officials to ask about the idea.

Find out more here

Related: Lysol Manufacturer Warns Against Internal Use After Trump Comments

(NBC News) -The manufacturer of Lysol, a disinfectant spray and cleaning product, issued a statement warning against any internal use after President Donald Trump suggested that people could get an “injection” of “the disinfectant that knocks (coronavirus) out in a minute.”

“As a global leader in health and hygiene products, we must be clear that under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route),” a spokesperson for Reckitt Benckiser, the United Kingdom-based owner of Lysol, said in a statement to NBC News.

“As with all products, our disinfectant and hygiene products should only be used as intended and in line with usage guidelines. Please read the label and safety information,” the statement continued, adding that the company believes it has a “responsibility in providing consumers with access to accurate, up-to-date information as advised by leading public health experts.”

Read more here