March 12, 2020

Donald Trump Is Panicky and Clueless

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Last night, on national TV, in a prepared address, President Trump said that (a) we would ban all travel from Europe, (b) we would ban some or all trade with Europe, and (c) insurance companies had agreed to waive copays for coronavirus treatment. All of this was mistaken. The travel ban applies only to foreign nationals, not US residents. No trade is being banned. And insurance companies are waiving copays only for coronavirus testing, not treatment.

This morning, Trump said that everyone entering the United States is being tested. This is . . . what? A lie? A delusion? A panicky response to a question? Does anyone know? The truth, of course, is that we’re not testing anyone arriving in the US. Hell, people who are returning from the hottest hotspots in northern Italy have reported not even being questioned, let alone tested.

This is way beyond outrageous. It’s not a partisan thing. There’s something wrong with Trump, and it either needs to be addressed or he needs to be taken out of the loop. This kind of stuff can’t be allowed to continue.

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

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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