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| Dr. Anthony Fauci |
Congratulations to Dr. Anthony Fauci for winning the prestigious Dan David Prize in public health for “defending science” against the disinformation about COVID-19 that was spewed by the Trump administration.
The Dan David Foundation, which is based at Tel Aviv University, honored America’s top infectious disease doctor and president Biden’s chief medical advisor for “courageously defending science in face of uninformed opposition during the COVID crisis.”
Fauci “leveraged his considerable communication skills to address people gripped by fear and anxiety and worked relentlessly to inform individuals in the United States and elsewhere about the public health measures essential for containing the pandemic’s spread,” according to a statement from the Foundation’s awards committee.
Diplomatically the Foundation did not mention Donald Trump in crediting 80-year-old Fauci for “speaking truth to power in a highly charged political environment.”
Fauci has served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984.
The Dan David Prize was established in 2000 by the late global businessman Dan David.
Trump’s path to reputational recovery took a big detour on Feb. 16 with the filing of a lawsuit by the NAACP charging the former president and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani, claiming they violated the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871.
Talk about poor optics.
The KKK Act protects Congress against violence that may interfere with it carrying out its Constitutional duties. For instance, the Jan. 6 storming of the US Capitol to prevent the certification of the presidential election.
Trump’s fellow defendants the Proud Boys, right-wing nationalist group, and Oath Keepers militia, are not exactly the company desired by a former president who believes “our historic, patriotic and beautiful movement to Make America Great Again has only just begun.”
The lawsuit contends Trump, Giuliani, Proud Boys and Oath Keepers incited the riot that resulted in five deaths and a global blow to America’s image as a bastion of democracy.
The NAACP lodged the suit on behalf of Congressman Bennie Thompson (D-MS), who claims the shelter-in-place order put into effect at the Capitol posted a threat to his health.
The 78-year-old sheltered in close quarters with two members of Congress who tested positive for COVID-19 after the uprising.
In his statement following his second impeachment trial, Trump promised to “emerge with a vision for a bright, radiant and limitless American future.”
It looks like he’ll have to focus on the Ku Klux Klan Act suit instead.
More than half of Americans (54 percent) hold Trump responsible for the storming of the Capitol, according to a Quinnipiac University Poll released Feb. 15. Forty-five percent want him to face criminal charges.
Forty-nine percent of respondents say the attack on the Capitol would not have happened without Trump’s rally at the Ellipse. Forty-three percent believe it would have happened.
Nearly seven out of 10 Americans (68 percent) think Trump did not do anything to stop the assault, while a quarter say he did do everything he could to stop the attack on the Capitol.
A majority of Americans (55 percent) want Trump to just disappear from the the political scene.
Republicans, though, still love Trump, as 87 percent of them believe he should be allowed to hold elected office in the future.
Trump crushes possible Republican contenders for the presidency.
If the GOP 2024 primary was held today, he would grab 53 percent of the vote, according to a Morning Consult/Politico poll.
Mike Pence takes second place (12 percent), followed by Nikki Haley/Donald Trump Jr. (six percent), “Would Not Vote” (five percent), Mitt Romney/Ted Cruz (four percent), “Someone Else” (three percent) and Marco Rubio/Mike Pompeo (two percent).
The Trump Cult GOP will be toast in 2024.
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