First a pandemic lockdown, then race riots in the streets.
The current state of affairs in America has led to record sales of guns.
Small Arms Analytics &amp; Forecasting (SAAF) &#8220;estimates May 2020 U.S. firearms unit sales at 1,726,053 units, a year-over-year increase of 80.2% from May 2019,&#8221; the private research firm said in a <a href="https://smallarmsanalytics.com/v1/pr/2020-06-02.pdf">press release</a>. &#8220;Likely single handgun sales (1,052,723) increased year-over-year by 94.0% whereas single long-gun sales (535,014) increased year-over-year by 66.3%. All other likely background check-related sales (138,316) increased year-over-year by 48.2%. This includes so-called “multiple” sales where the allocation between handguns and long-guns cannot be determined from the data record.&#8221;
The rise in May followed another surge in April, which rose 71.3% over April 2019, with another 1.7 million firearms purchased. March also saw soaring numbers, 2,583,238 firearms sold — 85.3% more than the previous year, according to SAAF data.
&#8220;Yet again, firearms sales have surged in unprecedented ways,&#8221; said SAAF Chief Economist Jurgen Brauer. &#8220;In May 2020, very nearly two handguns were sold for every long-gun, pushing their ratio new record of 1.97. Traditionally, the ratio increases in the first half of the year before dropping off in the second half. Still, the boom in handgun sales has been particularly noticeable in recent months.”
Gun checks have also been soaring. More than 3 million checks were run through the FBI’s national instant check system in May, a record and 32% above from May 2019. The week of April 13-19 was in the 10 highest weeks since the tracking system was set up in November 1998. During that week in April, the FBI conducted 766,739 checks.
&#8220;This shows us there is continued appetite among Americans to be able to provide for their own safety during times of uncertainty,&#8221; said Mark Oliva, a spokesperson for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, whose organization found the numbers rose by 69.1% in April. &#8220;These are buyers who have witnessed their governments empty prisons&#8230; Police departments are stretched beyond capacity in many cases. Law-abiding Americans recognize this and exercising their right to own a gun and defend themselves and their loved ones,&#8221; he told <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/gun-sales-coronavirus-spiked-april">Fox Business</a>.
Dana Loesch, former spokesman for the National Rifle Association, told <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/gun-sales-may-record-coronavirus-riots">Fox Business</a> on Tuesday she was “not at all” surprised to hear the numbers.
“When people see the violence that they see on television – and people understand the difference between peaceful protesters and violent rioters – they see, you know, the sunset and then the fires start, and see the assaults and the looting and the breaking and destruction of private property,” Loesch said. “So they look at this and it unnerves them, especially after we&#8217;ve all been locked up for, like, three months.&#8221;
“This is people&#8217;s livelihoods. For some people, their lives are over when they lose their ability to make ends meet,” she said. “These aren&#8217;t rich corporation heads that are feeling the brunt of this.”
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">member</a>.

Pointed gun

Gun Sales In May Hit Record — Again

Coronavirus

Economy

Guns

Race

Another 1.8 million Americans made first-time claims for unemployment benefits last week, pushing the number of people who have lost their jobs amid the COVID-19 pandemic above 42 million, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
Weekly jobless claims totaled 1.877 million; Dow Jones analysts had <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/04/weekly-jobless-claims.html">estimated</a> a job loss of 1.775 million. Last week&#8217;s number was an improvement from the previous week’s jobless claims of 2.126 million.
Continuing claims, which show how many people remain unemployed and drawing benefits, totaled 21.5 million, a gain of 649,000 over the past week, also worse than Dow Jones analysts had expected.
As states have finally begun to reopen, the numbers are expected to continue to recede. The 1.8 million claims last week is the lowest total since the coronavirus crisis began. In fact, the numbers have dropped for eight weeks in a row since the week ending March 25, when first-time claims hit nearly 7 million.
But the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has offered a bleaker picture. The non-partisan government agency said in its May report that the lockdowns will hamper the U.S. economy through next year, inflicting long-term damage to business investment and the labor market.
The office forecast that the nation&#8217;s gross domestic product (GDP) will plunge 38% in the second quarter of the year, which would be the worst drop on record. And by the end of 2020, the CBO said 26 million more Americans will be unemployed at the end of the year, more than triple the number of job losses that occurred during the 2008 financial crisis.
&#8220;The economy is expected to begin recovering during the second half of 2020 as concerns about the pandemic diminish and as state and local governments ease restrictions,&#8221; the CBO&#8217;s May <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/56368">report</a> states. &#8220;The labor market is projected to materially improve after the third quarter—hiring will rebound and furloughs will drop significantly as the degree of social distancing diminishes. To account for the chances of the pandemic persisting or reemerging, CBO projects that social distancing will continue, but to a declining degree. The persistence of social distancing will keep economic activity and labor market conditions suppressed for some time.&#8221;
&#8220;Over the 2020–2021 period, economic activity is projected to fall by the greatest amount in the second quarter of 2020, because of the pandemic and the social distancing measures,&#8221; the CBO projects. &#8220;Real GDP — or real output — is projected to pick up during the second half of the year, and labor market conditions are expected to materially improve after the third quarter as concerns about the pandemic diminish and as state and local governments ease stay-at-home orders, bans on public gatherings, and other measures. The recently enacted laws will contribute to the moderate rebound in economic activity by boosting consumer spending and by preserving some connections between workers and employers so that firms can ramp up operations more quickly as the degree of social distancing subsides. Nonetheless, challenges in the economy and in the labor market are expected to persist.&#8221;
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">member</a>.

US quarantine, 100 dollar banknote coronavirus. The concept of pandemic and economic decline

New Jobless Numbers Released, Lowest Since Crisis But Total Still Getting Worse

On Tuesday, Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper officially rejected the Republican Party&#8217;s demand that he pre-authorize a &#8220;full&#8221; Republican National Convention as planned in Charlotte in late August. In response, President Trump announced that his party will now be looking to bring their economy-boosting, job-creating convention to another state.
In a letter sent to Republican leaders on Tuesday, Gov. Cooper said that he, under the advisement of public health officials, could not pre-authorize the party to hold a full, in-person convention, citing the ongoing COVID-19 &#8220;states of emergency&#8221; across the country.
&#8220;With the Nation, the State of North Carolina, and the city of Charlotte still under states of emergency, it&#8217;s important to conduct the RNC convention accordingly,&#8221; Cooper wrote Tuesday in a <a href="https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000172-7625-d3d2-ab7a-77255eb70000">letter</a> to Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.  &#8220;As much as we want the conditions surrounding COVID-19 to be favorable enough for you to hold the Convention you describe in late August, it is very unlikely. Neither public health officials nor I will risk the health and safety of North Carolinians by providing the guarantee you seek.&#8221;
&#8220;The people of North Carolina do not know what the status of COVID-19 will be in August, so planning for a scaled-down convention with fewer people, social distancing and face coverings is a necessity,&#8221; the governor wrote, adding that he would be glad to consider discussing a scaled-down convention.
In response, Trump announced in a three-tweet statement that the governor&#8217;s refusal has forced the Republican Party to &#8220;spend millions of dollars&#8221; somewhere other than Cooper&#8217;s state. The governor&#8217;s decision, he wrote, will end up costing North Carolina jobs and &#8220;hundreds of millions of dollars&#8221; in potential revenues.
&#8220;Had long planned to have the Republican National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, a place I love,&#8221; Trump tweeted Tuesday. &#8220;Now, [NC Gov.] Roy Cooper and his representatives refuse to guarantee that we can have use of the Spectrum Arena &#8212; [s]pend millions of dollars, have everybody arrive, and then tell them they will not be able to gain entry.&#8221;
&#8220;Governor Cooper is still in Shelter-In-Place Mode, and not allowing us to occupy the arena as originally anticipated and promised,&#8221; Trump continued. &#8220;Would have showcased beautiful North Carolina to the World, and brought in hundreds of millions of dollars, and jobs, for the State. Because of [Gov. Cooper], we are now forced to seek another State to host the 2020 Republican National Convention.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Had long planned to have the Republican National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, a place I love. Now, <a href="https://twitter.com/NC_Governor?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NC_Governor</a> Roy Cooper and his representatives refuse to guarantee that we can have use of the Spectrum Arena &#8211; Spend millions of dollars, have everybody arrive, and&#8230;
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1267985989471002626?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 3, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
&#8230;millions of dollars, and jobs, for the State. Because of <a href="https://twitter.com/NC_Governor?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NC_Governor</a>, we are now forced to seek another State to host the 2020 Republican National Convention.
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1267985991408799745?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 3, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Trump&#8217;s statement followed McDaniel&#8217;s statement earlier in the day that the party would be looking elsewhere to hold its convention if Cooper continued to &#8220;drag his feet,&#8221; explaining that the RNC has &#8220;an obligation to our delegates and nominee to begin visiting the multiple cities and states who have reached out in recent days about hosting an historic event to show that America is open for business.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<a href="https://t.co/sctEXBEjkJ">pic.twitter.com/sctEXBEjkJ</a>
&mdash; Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) <a href="https://twitter.com/GOPChairwoman/status/1267877052096577548?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 2, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In a tweet Tuesday, Cooper wrote, &#8220;We have been committed to a safe RNC convention in North Carolina and it’s unfortunate they never agreed to scale down and make changes to keep people safe. Protecting public health and safety during this pandemic is a priority.&#8221;
McDaniel replied: &#8220;What’s unfortunate is that you still have yet to give guidance on what &#8216;scaled down&#8217; means. Currently, you allow 10 people to gather indoors. Is that what scaled down means? Or is it 100 people? 1,000 people? Total lack of clarity from you.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
What’s unfortunate is that you still have yet to give guidance on what “scaled down” means. Currently, you allow 10 people to gather indoors. Is that what scaled down means? Or is it 100 people? 1,000 people? Total lack of clarity from you. <a href="https://t.co/4ceHrGRGu3">https://t.co/4ceHrGRGu3</a>
&mdash; Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) <a href="https://twitter.com/GOPChairwoman/status/1268005940730699776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 3, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Roy Cooper

Democrat NC Governor Rejects GOP Convention Demand; Trump: You Just Lost Your State ‘Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars,’ Jobs

Donald Trump

North Carolina

The United States&#8217; GDP shrank at &#8220;an even faster pace than initially estimated&#8221; in the first quarter of 2020, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/28/us-gdp-q1-2020-second-estimate.html">CNBC reported Thursday</a>, suggesting that coronavirus-related lockdowns had a more marked effect on the economy than many in the government anticipated.
There is at least one good sign, however: continuing unemployment claims dropped for the first time since reaching their peak in late March when more than 20 million individuals filed initial unemployment claims in the first round of coronavirus layoffs and furloughs.
&#8220;The Commerce Department reported Thursday that the gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic health, fell at an annual rate of 5% in the first quarter, a bigger decline than the 4.8% drop first estimated a month ago,&#8221; CNBC said Thursday. &#8220;It was the biggest quarterly decline since an 8.4% fall in the fourth quarter of 2008 during the depths of the financial crisis.&#8221;
The 5% decline is greater than market analysts expected, which could mean that second-quarter results, which cover April through June of 2020 &#8212; the height of the coronavirus pandemic and the associated lockdowns &#8212; will be worse than expected as well. CNBC says the decline could be as much as 40%, the single largest drop since the Congressional Budget Office began compiling records on economic progress in 1947,
The decline in continuing unemployment applications, though, does give analysts some hope that coronavirus&#8217; economic damage can be contained and that the worst may be over. <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2020/05/28/labor-department-coronavirus-covid-19-unemployment-40-million-jobless-claims-continuing-claims-decrease/">The Daily Caller said Thursday</a> that &#8220;3 million people who had previously filed unemployment claims during the pandemic — and continued receiving benefits for more than one weekly period — have re-entered the workforce as multiple states, including Georgia, Florida, and Texas, have all begun the reopening process.&#8221;
May was a difficult month for most businesses, <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/beigebook202005.htm">per the Fed&#8217;s monthly economic report</a>, which says that the United States saw &#8220;a deep, nationwide plunge in consumer spending, manufacturing activity, travel and construction due to disruptions driven by the pandemic, sending shockwaves through the energy, real estate, auto, aerospace and agricultural industries.&#8221;
In May alone, <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/big-bankruptcies-sweep-u-fastest-100000110.html">Yahoo Finance reports</a>, &#8220;some 27 companies reporting at least $50 million in liabilities sought court protection from creditors &#8212; the highest number since the Great Recession. They range from well-known U.S. mainstays such as J.C. Penney Co. and J. Crew Group Inc. to air carriers Latam Airlines Group SA and Avianca Holdings, their business decimated as travelers stayed put.&#8221;
Experts are hopeful, though, that the declarations and bankruptcies are the end result of the lockdowns and represent financial conclusions, not the start of a trend. Forthcoming progress may not be enough for the country to fully recover from the economic devastation wrought by COVID-19, but there may at least be some forthcoming, slow, upward movement for businesses.
The White House is planning to add to that hope, rolling out an &#8220;economic opportunity&#8221; plan focused on returning specific industries to work as quickly as possible.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

NY Stock Exchange

U.S. GDP Shrank By 5% In The First Quarter Of 2020 But Continuing Unemployment Claims Are Now Declining

jobs

More than 2.1 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, pushing the total number of people who have lost their jobs amid the coronavirus panic above 41 million.
The new Labor Department report, which covers the week ending May 23, shows jobless loss since the virus was declared a pandemic hit a rate unseen since the Great Depression.
But the report offered a few glimmers of hope. First-time claims for unemployment benefits, at 2.1 million, is the lowest total since the coronavirus crisis began. In fact, last week&#8217;s numbers marks the eighth week in a row that jobless claims declined since the week ending March 25, when first-time claims hit nearly 7 million.
And not all of those who have lost jobs remain unemployed.
&#8220;Continuing claims, or those who have been collecting for at least two weeks, numbered 21.05 million, a clearer picture of how many workers are still sidelined. That number dropped sharply, falling 3.86 million from the previous week,&#8221; <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/28/weekly-jobless-claims.html">CNBC</a> reported. &#8220;The insured unemployment rate, which is a basic calculation of those collecting benefits vs. the total labor force, came down sharply to 14.5% from 17.1% the previous week,&#8221; the outlet notes.
&#8220;Although initial claims are declining, the pace may only be plateauing,&#8221; Daniel Zhao, senior economist at Glassdoor, told <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/jobless-claims-numbers-coronavirus-may-23">Fox News</a>. &#8220;If [unemployment] claims remain in the millions for the next few weeks, it may signal that relaxed state-mandated restrictions alone aren’t enough to staunch the flow of unemployed Americans.&#8221;
But the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) last week offered a bleaker picture. The non-partisan government agency said the lockdowns will hamper the U.S. economy through next year, inflicting long-term damage to business investment and the labor market.
The office forecast that the nation&#8217;s gross domestic product (GDP) will plunge 38% in the second quarter of the year, which would be the worst drop on record. And by the end of 2020, the CBO said 26 million more Americans will be unemployed at the end of the year, more than triple the number of job losses that occurred during the 2008 financial crisis.
&#8220;The economy is expected to begin recovering during the second half of 2020 as concerns about the pandemic diminish and as state and local governments ease restrictions,&#8221; the CBO <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/56368">report</a> states. &#8220;The labor market is projected to materially improve after the third quarter—hiring will rebound and furloughs will drop significantly as the degree of social distancing diminishes. To account for the chances of the pandemic persisting or reemerging, CBO projects that social distancing will continue, but to a declining degree. The persistence of social distancing will keep economic activity and labor market conditions suppressed for some time.&#8221;
&#8220;Over the 2020–2021 period, economic activity is projected to fall by the greatest amount in the second quarter of 2020, because of the pandemic and the social distancing measures,&#8221; the CBO projects. &#8220;Real GDP—or real output—is projected to pick up during the second half of the year, and labor market conditions are expected to materially improve after the third quarter as concerns about the pandemic diminish and as state and local governments ease stay-at-home orders, bans on public gatherings, and other measures. The recently enacted laws will contribute to the moderate rebound in economic activity by boosting consumer spending and by preserving some connections between workers and employers so that firms can ramp up operations more quickly as the degree of social distancing subsides. Nonetheless, challenges in the economy and in the labor market are expected to persist.&#8221;
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">member</a>.

U.S. Jobless Claims Fall To Near Six-Year Low

U.S. Unemployment Filings Soar Above 40 Million Amid Virus Panic

Popular conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh spent a large portion of his Tuesday show highlighting the damage of lockdown policies across the nation, which he argued were largely politically motivated and ineffective against the virus.
The conservative host, tapping into President Donald Trump&#8217;s &#8220;psychology,&#8221; also explained why he believes Trump went along with such futile efforts.
&#8220;I’ve got a series of stories here in the Stack of Stuff that are really aimed at demonstrating how pretty much everything we’ve been told here from beginning of this has not been true,&#8221; Limbaugh <a href="https://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2020/05/26/the-lockdown-wasnt-necessary/">said</a>, referring to mitigation efforts against the novel coronavirus, and the fatality rate of the virus itself. &#8220;Some of you sly dogs out there, you’ve sent me emails. &#8216;Do you realize when you say this, you’re including Trump? You’re saying Trump lied…'&#8221;
Limbaugh sees it differently. According to the host, Trump was &#8220;lied to&#8221; about the virus by folks he wanted to trust and respect, which was apparently accomplished because the president is not innately partisan or political.
&#8220;No, I’m not including Trump in it,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I mean, I guess I could, but I think Trump was lied to, too, by people he wanted to believe. He was lied to by people he wanted to respect. He was lied to by people he wanted to respect him.&#8221;
&#8220;Look, I know the person Donald Trump better than some of his close friends know him. I just do. Do not doubt me on this,&#8221; Limbaugh emphasized.
&#8220;I know the president’s psychology. &#8230; Not as a trained psychologist. I’m just telling you: I know the guy,&#8221; continued the host. &#8220;I know what motivates him. I know what makes him happy. I know the kind of things that he would hope to have had.&#8221;
Trump &#8220;fully expected that a month after he was inaugurated, that all this stuff would go by the wayside and the country would unify,&#8221; he argued. &#8220;His experience in New York has been universal love. They loved him when he was on &#8216;The Apprentice.&#8217; They loved him when he was operating his casinos in Atlantic City. They loved him when he was the back page, front page, New York Post, Page Six.&#8221;
&#8220;They loved him constantly. He got used to it,&#8221; Limbaugh said.
&#8220;Once it started — once this vitriol, once this hatred, once he realized what they were trying to do to him — he did not change to try to make them go away,&#8221; the host said. &#8220;He did not change and bend to their will in order to make it go away. He stood up and took the fight to them.&#8221;
Limbaugh said the impeachment, the so-called &#8220;coup&#8221; and Russian collusion efforts against the president from the Left, &#8220;is one of the major disappointments of his life. &#8230; It’s not a badge of honor. I don’t care what anybody says, it’s not a badge of honor.&#8221;
&#8220;But, yeah, they continue lying to [Trump],&#8221; Limbaugh said. &#8220;They lied to him about the virus. They lied to about 2.2 million people might die. And it was only because the people he was talking to are the creme de la creme in American health care, in American disease, in American medicine.&#8221;
The president &#8220;wanted to believe they were on his side,&#8221; Limbaugh said. &#8220;Despite what he’s seen from the FBI, despite what he’s seen from Comey, despite what he’s seen from Mueller — despite all that — in this instance, he still wanted to believe that people were on his side and were willing to work with him, because of the nature of this virus and disease and the potential problem.&#8221;
&#8220;But it didn’t take him long to figure out what their really objective was. Their really objective was to get the country shut down, get the economy stopped, keep it shut down as long as possible so that the negative impact on him would be insurmountable,&#8221; the host argued. &#8220;He would not be able to win reelection in November.&#8221;
&#8220;I know many of you are saying, &#8216;He should have known it from the get-go,'&#8221; Limbaugh said. &#8220;Maybe. I’m not gonna comment on it.&#8221;
&#8220;Remember, Trump — even after all of this — is not instinctively political, meaning he’s not instinctively ideological,&#8221; said Rush. &#8220;He still looks at all of these Democrats and he does not see liberalism first. He sees it at some point as he’s assessing them. But he sees them as the opposition. He sees them as Democrats. He sees them as fake news or liars or what have you.&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rush-gives-florida-governor-limbaugh-institute-degree-for-his-handling-of-media">Florida Governor Unloads On Media; Rush Gives Him ‘Limbaugh Institute Degree’</a>
Partial transcript via <a href="https://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2020/05/26/the-lockdown-wasnt-necessary/">RushLimbaugh.com.</a>
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Rush Limbaugh

‘I Know The President’s Psychology’: Limbaugh Explains Why Trump Went Along With Lockdown

As summer quickly approaches, the question remains how long the COVID-19 lockdowns will continue in certain states and cities. In a segment on Tuesday&#8217;s &#8220;Ingraham Angle,&#8221; host Laura Ingraham argued there is &#8220;no good reason&#8221; to keep the lockdowns going, asserting it will only cripple the economy and help Democrats in the November election.
&#8220;Today the Dow jumped 500 points, almost closing above 25,000. Consumer confidence is rising. Investors across the board are seeing light at the end of the tunnel. And Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, Utah, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi [are] all run by pretty conservative governors. Well, you see, their life is finally getting back to normal,&#8221; Ingraham said, as reported by <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/ingraham-keeping-lockdowns-to-hamstring-economy-election">Fox News</a>. &#8220;Even California&#8217;s lockdown lover, [Gov.] Gavin Newsom, he&#8217;s under pressure from lawsuits from small business owners and people in the faith community. And he has had to ease up also.&#8221;
States like Michigan, North Carolina, New York and Virginia (all run by Democrats) have signaled that they will keep the lockdowns going. Ingraham denounced them as frauds that are &#8220;endangering their state&#8217;s futures.&#8221;
&#8220;And as for those blue state governors, that just won&#8217;t accept yes for an answer. Well, don&#8217;t believe for a second their fraudulent justifications that it&#8217;s all for your own safety,&#8221; Ingraham warned. &#8220;You know, they always say that when they&#8217;re taking away your constitutional rights, but it&#8217;s becoming more obvious by the day that these power-hungry governors and radical mayors are endangering their state&#8217;s futures and will eventually see their states left behind.&#8221;
To back up her assertion, Ingraham pointed to a <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/26/2020-election-democrats-281470">report</a> by Politico that showed Democrats were worried that swift economic recovery would help Trump in November.
&#8220;There&#8217;s no good reason to keep any part of the country completely closed unless that is, you don&#8217;t want America to recover, at least while Trump is president,&#8221; Ingraham said. &#8220;An article in Politico, you may have heard of it, reported over the weekend that Democrats are privately freaking out &#8212; yes, you heard that right &#8212; that the American economy will be in a massive recovery mode come the fall.&#8221;
&#8220;Deep down, it seems like they&#8217;re rooting against life getting better for American families, rooting for Americans to remain unemployed,&#8221; Ingraham added.
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/democrats-are-actively-rooting-for-economic-collapse">noted</a> by The Daily Wire, Jason Furman, one of the Obama administration’s top economists, said that America will likely see a V-shaped recovery after the lockdowns drop.
&#8220;We are about to see the best economic data we’ve seen in the history of this country,&#8221; Furman told officials from both parties over a conference call, including former cabinet secretaries and Federal Reserve chairs. “Everyone looked puzzled and thought I had misspoken.&#8221;
A Democratic operative told Politico that Biden will have a difficult time campaigning against Trump if the economy recovers.
“Trump beats Biden on the economy even right now!” the operative said. “This is going to be extremely difficult no matter what. It’s existential that we figure it out. In any of these economic scenarios Democrats are going to have to win the argument that our public health and economy are much worse off because of Donald Trump’s failure of leadership.&#8221;
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Laura Ingraham, host of The Ingraham Angle on Fox News

Laura Ingraham: Democratic Governors ‘Endangering Their State’s Futures’ In Attempt To Take Out Trump

2020 Election

Laura Ingraham

Democrats are actively hoping for the economy to continue to collapse so that presumptive Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden can beat President Donald Trump in November.
In an article titled, “The general election scenario that Democrats are dreading,” Politico <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/26/2020-election-democrats-281470">reported</a> that multiple Biden campaign officials and Democratic strategists are dismayed at the possibility of an economic boom in the months before the presidential election. The coronavirus pandemic caused much of the country to shut down, which has led to the highest number of people filing for unemployment since the Great Depression.
Democrats – who have led the charge forcing people to lose their jobs and plummet the country’s economy – were hoping the economic downturn would get them back into the White House. But Jason Furman, one of the Obama administration’s top economists, threw cold water on their hopes during a Zoom conference call in early April, Politico reported.
Instead of validating Democrat hopes, Furman said, “We are about to see the best economic data we’ve seen in the history of this country.” As Politico reported, the conference call included officials from both parties, including former cabinet secretaries and Federal Reserve chairs.
“Everyone looked puzzled and thought I had misspoken,” Furman told Politico. He told the outlet he explained on the call how the months before the November election would see an economic boom that would allow Trump to boast about huge employment gains and GDP growth.
Furman, Politico reported, has been sharing this same prediction with others since that April call, including top members of Biden’s campaign.
More from Politico:
<blockquote>Furman’s counterintuitive pitch has caused some Democrats, especially Obama alumni, around Washington to panic. “This is my big worry,” said a former Obama White House official who is still close to the former president. Asked about the level of concern among top party officials, he said, “It’s high — high, high, high, high.”
And top policy officials on the Biden campaign are preparing for a fall economic debate that might look very different than the one predicted at the start of the pandemic in March. “They are very much aware of this,” said an informal adviser.</blockquote>
Furman said the economic collapse tied to the coronavirus pandemic was unlike the Great Depression or the Great Recession, after which recovery was slow. Furman predicted this economic downturn was more like what happens after a natural disaster, which is followed by a quick recovery. Furman said data already suggest this to be the case.
Consumption and hiring, he noted, began to increase “in gross terms, not in net terms,” after states and localities began reopening on April 15. Furman said that a “partial rebound” was already underway. This rebound “can be very very fast, because people go back to their original job, they get called back from furlough, you put the lights back on in your business. Given how many people were furloughed and how many businesses were closed you can get a big jump out of that. It will look like a V.”
Trump’s White House economic advisers and the president himself have made the same argument. Kenneth Baer, a Democrat strategist who worked for the Obama administration, told Politico that the economy will still “look historically terrible come November.”
“But relative to the depths of April, it will be on an upswing — 12 percent unemployment, for example, is better than 20, but historically terrible. On Election Day, we Democrats need voters to ask themselves, ‘Are you better off than you were four years ago?’ Republicans need voters to ask themselves, ‘Are you better off than you were four months ago?’” he added.
Another Democrat operative worried about recent polling that shows Biden loses to Trump on who can better handle the economy.
“Trump beats Biden on the economy even right now!” the operative told Politico. “This is going to be extremely difficult no matter what. It’s existential that we figure it out. In any of these economic scenarios Democrats are going to have to win the argument that our public health and economy are much worse off because of Donald Trump’s failure of leadership.”
“Even today when we are at over 20 million unemployed Trump gets high marks on the economy, so I can’t imagine what it looks like when things go in the other direction. I don’t think this is a challenge for the Biden campaign. This is the challenge for the Biden campaign. If they can’t figure this out they should all just go home,” the former Obama White House official told the outlet.

Business collapse

Democrats Are Actively Rooting For Economic Collapse

Joe Biden

Democrats are reportedly panicking over an election scenario prediction by Harvard professor Jason Furman, a top economist in the Obama administration, who said last month that the United States is about to the see the &#8220;best economic data&#8221; in its history.
The news reportedly stunned Democrats who had been hoping that the economic damage suffered as a result of the pandemic would be enough to sink President Donald Trump&#8217;s re-election chances.
“We are about to see the best economic data we’ve seen in the history of this country,” Furman told a group of bipartisan leaders from both parties.
&#8220;Instead of forecasting a prolonged depression-level economic catastrophe, Furman laid out a detailed case for why the months preceding the November election could offer Trump the chance to brag — truthfully — about the most explosive monthly employment numbers and GDP growth ever,&#8221; Politico <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/26/2020-election-democrats-281470">reported</a>. &#8220;Furman’s counterintuitive pitch has caused some Democrats, especially Obama alumni, around Washington to panic.&#8221;
One former top Obama official told Politico that this was their “big worry,” and, when asked about the level of concern that this scenario has among top Democrat party officials, the individual said,  “It’s high — high, high, high, high.”
The report indicated that the Biden campaign is well aware of the situation and that they are preparing for the economy to look much different this fall than it does right now.
Furman said that when the economic data from the last couple of months started coming in that he noticed that the data pointed to a type of recovery that is similar to what economics see after major natural disasters.
Larry Kudlow, the head of the White House National Economic Council, told Politico that he &#8220;totally agree[s]&#8221; with the analysis that Furman presented to political officials last month, adding, “Q3 may be the single best GDP quarter since regular data. 2nd half super big growth, transitioning to 4% or more in 2021.”
Other top Trump administration officials, including Kevin Hassett and Peter Navarro, indicated that they agreed with the analysis.
Democrats that Politico interviewed were distressed over the prospect that the economy would be improving before the election. “Trump beats Biden on the economy even right now!” one Democrat told Politico. “This is going to be extremely difficult no matter what.”
Another Democrat told Politico: “Even today when we are at over 20 million unemployed Trump gets high marks on the economy, so I can’t imagine what it looks like when things go in the other direction. I don’t think this is a challenge for the Biden campaign. This is the challenge for the Biden campaign. If they can’t figure this out they should all just go home.”
Political strategist Arthur Schwartz responded to Politico&#8217;s report in a tweet, writing: &#8220;Dems are spooked because the economy is going to rebound quickly. Their strategy for November is to keep the country closed. Their interests are served by hurting as many Americans as possible.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Dems are spooked because the economy is going to rebound quickly. Their strategy for November is to keep the country closed. Their interests are served by hurting as many Americans as possible.
The general election scenario that Democrats are dreading <a href="https://t.co/z8CzlD3DYD">https://t.co/z8CzlD3DYD</a>
&mdash; Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) <a href="https://twitter.com/ArthurSchwartz/status/1265233763350581251?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 26, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

US-ATTACKS-GAYS-OBAMA-BIDEN

Democrats ‘Dreading’ Election Scenario Predicted By Obama’s Top Economist: ‘Best’ U.S. ‘Economic Data’ In History About To Happen

Politico

President Trump said the United States will not shut down again if a second wave of coronavirus cases hits the country.
Trump made the pledge while touring a Ford Motor Co. plant outside of Detroit on Thursday. The plant was converted from automobile manufacturing to ventilator production during the pandemic.
Trump spoke with reporters after touring the facility and fielded a question on what the strategy would be to combat a second wave of coronavirus infections in the fall or winter.
“People say it’s a very distinct possibility. It’s standard. And we’re going to put out the fires. We’re not going to close the country, we’re going to put out the fires,” Trump said, as reported by <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/21/trump-says-he-wont-close-the-country-if-second-wave-of-coronavirus-hits.html">CNBC</a>. “Whether it is an ember or a flame, we are going to put it out, but we’re not closing our country.”
Throughout the pandemic, the president has left the decision to shut down or not up to the governors of each state. Although he weighed in on some states’ policies, the administration refrained from giving any direct orders and instead chose to offer assistance as requested.
Now, as Trump urges states to reopen, the Department of Justice has begun to push states to adopt more aggressive reopening plans by threatening lawsuits for violating Americans’ civil liberties. The DOJ <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/doj-says-newsoms-lockdown-discriminates-against-religious-exercise">sent</a> a letter to California Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this week saying that the state’s shutdown and reopening plans unfairly targeted houses of worship.
Attorney General William Barr <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ag-barr-directs-doj-to-go-after-states-localities-violating-civil-liberties-over-coronavirus">directed</a> the DOJ in an April 27 memo to look for instances of states being too harsh with lockdown orders or reopening too slowly.
“These kinds of restrictions have been necessary in order to stop the spread of a deadly disease — but there is no denying that they have imposed tremendous burdens on the daily lives of all Americans,” Barr wrote. “Now, I am directing each of our United States Attorneys to also be on the lookout for state and local directives that could be violating the constitutional rights and civil liberties of individual citizens.”
Even without pressure from the DOJ, it remains unclear how feasible a second round of lockdowns would be. Unemployment data released by the Department of Labor on Thursday shows that roughly 39 million workers have lost their jobs or paychecks since mid-March. The lockdowns have sparked large protests from California to New York.
Businesses, churches, and local officials have begun pushing back against governors that are slow to lift lockdowns. In Texas, a salon owner was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dan-crenshaw-small-minded-officials-who-arrested-texas-salon-owner-are-drunk-with-power">arrested</a> and put in jail for opening her business against the lockdown order, sparking a national outcry against heavy-handed restrictions. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the salon owner released from jail and rolled back restrictions on salons and barbershops.
In Michigan, a barber in Owasso has resisted Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s shutdown order for weeks. Seventy-seven-year-old Karly Manke has refused to close his shop despite receiving several fines and having his license to operate revoked by state health officials. Local officials in Owosso have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/another-michigan-hairdresser-breaks-lockdown-as-barber-bashes-police-state-that-shut-him-down">refused</a> to grant or enforce state orders against the barber.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

President Trump

Trump: 2nd Covid Wave ‘A Very Distinct Possibility,’ But ‘We’re Not Going To Close The Country’

On Thursday, The Hill’s Bob Cusack <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/498956-mnuchin-sees-strong-likelihood-of-needing-another-covid-19-relief">interviewed</a> Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and Mnuchin stated that he believes another coronavirus stimulus bill is “likely.”
“2.4 million new jobless claims of unemployment this morning, several Senate Republicans said yesterday they want to see some action now on the next relief package,” Cusack said. “Is another package necessary, and if so, when?”
Mnuchin replied, first noting that he’s “very sympathetic to the people who are not working at no fault of their own because we&#8217;ve closed down the economy.”
“As we slowly reopen the economy in a safe way, we&#8217;ll get people back to work. And in the current CARES package, there&#8217;s several parts of it that are designed to help those American workers,” Mnuchin added, mentioning the PPP loans, the $1,200 stimulus checks, and the additional unemployment money, which he noted needs to be adjusted so as not to provide individuals with “more than they made” while working.
<blockquote>We&#8217;re gonna carefully review the next few weeks. I think there is a strong likelihood we will need another bill, but we just have $3 trillion we&#8217;re pumping into the economy, and we&#8217;re gonna step back for a few weeks and think very clearly how we need to spend more money and if we need to do that.</blockquote>
Later in the interview, after discussing the PPP loan program, as well as the need for China to “be held accountable,” they spoke about ongoing unemployment.
“CBO recently has predicted that unemployment will be 10% plus this year into next,” Cusack said. “Do you agree with that prediction?”
“Well, let me just comment – and this is nothing against CBO, and this is nothing against the rest of the economic models – we&#8217;re in an unprecedented situation,” Mnuchin responded. “This unemployment was not a result of bad economic issues; this is a result of medical issues. So I think it&#8217;s very hard to predict.”
<blockquote>A lot of it depends on the reopening of the economy, a lot of it depends on, as we make advances in virals, vaccines, in testing, and people feel comfortable. So I think the the economic models, quite frankly, follow the medical models, and I think it&#8217;s too premature to predict those things.</blockquote>
Mnuchin then noted that he does believe the second quarter will be “dreadful,” but that as the economy begins to reopen, the second quarter will be shown to be the bottom of the barrel, and “the third and fourth quarter will be better.”
<blockquote>As the president has said, and I have said, with the great advancement in medical progress in killing this virus, we expect our economy will be great again next year.</blockquote>
Cusack pressed Mnuchin on his rosy fourth quarter predictions, asking him if he is now “tempering expectations.”
Mnuchin replied that he isn’t tempering, and that “when you come off of a low number of closing down the economy, you&#8217;re gonna have very, very big increases. So yes, I think you&#8217;re gonna see a very large, call it a gigantic, increase in the fourth quarter.”
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According to the <a href="https://www.marketplace.org/2020/05/21/covid-19-layoffs-unemployment-weekly-jobless-claims-2-4-million-people/">Labor Department</a>, approximately 38.6 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits in the wake of COVID-19 business closures.
COVID-19 has infected over 5 million people worldwide, and led to more than 329,800 deaths, <a href="https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6">according to data</a> from the Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) Global Cases map. 1.9 million people have recovered.
In the United States, there have been more than 1.5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, and over 93,800 deaths. As of publication, 294,312 individuals have recovered from the virus.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

$100 bills.

Mnuchin: ‘Strong Likelihood We Will Need Another Bill’; Pushes Back On CBO Unemployment Estimates

COVID-19

Steve Mnuchin

stimulus

Unemployment

With no end in sight to restrictions brought in due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, small business owners in New York demanded a change else they will be forced to close for good.
Re-Open NY, a coalition of hundreds of small businesses, held a press conference on Wednesday in a park that overlooks the Statue of Liberty in Lower Manhattan. Re-Open NY say that the conference was their last “desperate cry” to save their businesses.
“The whole idea of this press conference was just to show that we are pleading and that we cannot hold on any longer. Stores are dying every day. Just yesterday I heard that three small businesses within my own community are closed. That’s three families,” Simcha Minkowitz said, the founder of Re-Open NY.
On March 22., Cuomo signed <a href="https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-issues-guidance-essential-services-under-new-york-state-pause-executive-order">New York Pause</a>, an executive order which mandated that all businesses deemed to be non-essential must shut their doors. It did not specify how long the order would be in effect.
Shortly after the restrictions rolled in, <a href="https://www.crainsnewyork.com/coronavirus/local-small-businesses-face-unprecedented-crisis">Crain’s</a> predicted that New York’s small businesses, who have been suffering for years <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/458343-mayor-de-blasio-the-small-business-killer">under heavy regulations</a>, faced an impending and “unprecedented crisis.”
New York has offered some public assistance, but Re-Open NY says they don’t want handouts, they want to work. Over two and a half months after closing, businesses owners cannot put food on the table for their families.
“People’s livelihoods are crumbling,” said Minkowitz.
Minkowitz recently put her heart and soul into opening a new store called Amore Fine Jewelry.
Now, her business is in the red.
“It’s very important that people know that you’re right, jewelry is not essential, but it is essential to me because this is what feeds our family,” she said.
Minkowitz founded Re-Open NY after a middle-aged man called her husband crying that his checks were bouncing and that he couldn’t pay his bills. After losing sleep over this story, as well as countless others she had heard, Minkowitz decided that something had to change.
“So I made a video,” she said. “The video went viral.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
A frustrated Brooklyn business owner asks why she and her husband can’t be trusted like the big box stores can. Let’s remember how this this is impacting entrepreneurs who want to feed their families. <a href="https://t.co/JRNLQvZmT1">pic.twitter.com/JRNLQvZmT1</a>
&mdash; Tova Herskovitz (@tovaherskovitz) <a href="https://twitter.com/tovaherskovitz/status/1261121646414442496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 15, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Next thing she knew, 200 small businesses signed on to her group immediately.
“You’ll see stores closing all the time, every day I hear about more and more stores that are just calling it quits,” said Bruce Backman, the press person for Re-Open NY.
With an understanding of this dire public health crisis, Re-Open NY says that it can serve its patrons and open their stores safely by introducing reasonable measures to protect public health, such as wearing gloves, using sanitizing agents, and limiting the numbers of patrons and customers that they allow into their stores. They point out that small businesses are far more capable of limiting the foot traffic than big box stores such as Walmart, Target, and Costco.
“We have essentially created a society now where we&#8217;re pushing everybody to go to like three stores — and those stores have many more people in them, they’re much more dangerous insofar as spread would be concerned,&#8221; Backman said. &#8220;I’ve been to those stores — they’re packed with people. Smaller stores are much more able to limit the capacity of clients.&#8221;
Business owners in New York are holding out hope that things will change the next day, Backman said.
At first, the businesses were compliant and understood the need to lower the apex, which was expected to hit New York around mid-April. But as May rolled around and no changes were made, the Coalition realized it needed to take a stand. They demand that by the end of May all businesses must be allowed to open.
“Everybody locked down, I didn’t complain for a second to close my business. I didn’t complain and I didn’t yell at anybody. I was disappointed, I was sad, I was depressed, but I didn’t blame anyone. I understood what it was that I had to do,&#8221; said Backman.
&#8220;But at some point… We have to go back to our lives. We cannot do this indefinitely. We cannot live like this,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It’s not fair, it&#8217;s not right, it&#8217;s not American, it’s not constitutional.&#8221;
New Yorkers such as Peter Raven, a Manhattan clothing shop owner, <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/nyc-peter-elliot-reopens-coronavirus-employees-business">actively defied</a> mandatory closure orders over the past few weeks. According to <a href="https://abc7ny.com/reopen-new-york-small-business-nyc-retail/6199483/">ABC News</a>, the police have been sent to his store on Lexington Avenue five times and he has never been issued a summons.
When Raven explained his reasoning he said, “We are not a country of sheep, but we have been treated like sheep.”
With <a href="https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/covid/covid-19-data.page">16,153 deaths</a>, New York City has been <a href="https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-why-is-new-york-the-epicenter-20200417-76446skdgzgolh7vodm7ervg2e-story.html">the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak</a> in the United States.
Governor Cuomo’s press office did not immediately respond for comment regarding the ending of restrictions on “non-essential” businesses.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

The Fruit Market cultural quarter, Hull

New York’s Small Businesses Issue Last ‘Desperate Cry’ To Save Their Livelihoods

Andrew Cuomo

New York

New York City

Coronavirus newspaper headline montage

SICHEL: How Much Damage Are The Lockdowns Causing?

Illinois State Police (ISP) said in a statement posted Tuesday to social media that they will not arrest or jail any individual in violation of Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker&#8217;s lockdown or emergency orders.
Pritzker rammed through &#8220;emergency orders&#8221; on Friday targeting businesses, which level misdemeanor charges at owners who defy his edicts. Not only will they face fines up to $2,500, but owners would possibly face time behind bars.
Apparently, ISP will not be arresting or jailing anyone for such &#8220;crimes,&#8221; though they said they would be issuing some citations in accordance with &#8220;state and constitutional law.&#8221;
&#8220;During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Illinois State Police (ISP) continues to focus on community caretaking, educating citizens and businesses and urging voluntary compliance,&#8221; a statement from ISP started. &#8220;As part of that effort, the ISP will act incrementally to urge compliance of the executive order.&#8221;
&#8220;Consistent with this community spirit and with state law, policy guidance and discretion,&#8221; the statement continued, &#8220;the Illinois State Police will not issue any criminal misdemeanors to individuals for violations of temporary emergency rules or executive orders.&#8221;
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&#8220;The Illinois State Police will only apply those emergency rules to entities such as corporations, LLPs or other business entities consistent with state and constitutional law,&#8221; the statement added. &#8220;No individual will be arrested or taken to jail for a violation of the Executive Orders or emergency rules.&#8221;
&#8220;We encourage all citizens to continue to do their part to maintain public health as we move forward in the days ahead with Reopening Illinois,&#8221; conclude ISP.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
&quot;Illinois State Police will not issue any criminal misdemeanors to individuals for violations of temporary emergency rules or executive orders.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/JQan5BPZBa">pic.twitter.com/JQan5BPZBa</a>
&mdash; Amanda (@AmandaPresto) <a href="https://twitter.com/AmandaPresto/status/1263113371064373250?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2020</a></blockquote>
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As noted by <a href="https://wsiltv.com/2020/05/20/illinois-state-police-no-one-will-be-arrested-but-urges-businesses-to-comply/">WSILTV</a>, emergency rules issued by Pritzker on Friday &#8220;codify opening a business in violation of his order as a violation of Illinois Department of Public Health regulations.&#8221;
&#8220;The rules allow businesses to be charged with a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by a fine ranging anywhere from $75 to $2,500. Less than a year of jail time is also a possibility,&#8221; the report noted.
On Wednesday, a bipartisan oversight committee of legislators will have the opportunity to reject the emergency orders. &#8220;If the committee doesn&#8217;t take action to reject the rules, they would remain in effect for 150 days,&#8221; according to WSILTV.
Illinois Republicans quickly slammed Pritzker over the emergency orders, deeming it a blatant &#8220;legal overreach.&#8221;
“These rules are a legal overreach and beyond the scope of the governor’s authority,” House Republican Leader Jim Durkin said in a statement, according to <a href="https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/coronavirus/pritzker-order-reportedly-authorizes-new-punishment-for-businesses-violating-restrictions/2273474/">NBC Chicago</a>.
“It will be a dark day in Illinois when we charge small businesses with a jailable crime for salvaging their livelihoods,&#8221; Durkin emphasized.
The governor&#8217;s office claimed the emergency rules are &#8220;an additional enforcement tool for businesses that refuse to comply with the most critical aspects of the stay-at-home order,&#8221; a spokesperson for Pritzker <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/illinois-governor-jb-pritzker-threatens-jail-time-if-business-owners-defy-coronavirus-lockdown-orders">said</a>.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/illinois-governor-jb-pritzker-threatens-jail-time-if-business-owners-defy-coronavirus-lockdown-orders">Illinois Governor JB Pritzker Threatens Jail Time If Business Owners Defy Coronavirus Lockdown Orders</a>
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The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.  
</div>

J.B. Pritzker

State Police In Democratic State: We Will Not Arrest, Jail Any Individual For Violating Lockdown Orders

Illinois

A top White House official said Sunday that more Americans could die “indirectly” from the stay-at-home orders enacted in order to stem the spread of COVID-19 than from the virus itself.
Peter Navarro, who serves in the Trump administration as assistant to the president, director of trade and manufacturing policy, and the national Defense Production Act policy coordinator, said President Trump is right to urge governors to reopen their states.
“Opening up this economy is not a question of lives versus jobs,” Navarro said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
&#8220;President Trump realized early on that if you lock people down, you may save lives directly from the China virus, but you indirectly are going to kill a lot more people,” Navarro said.
More than 36 million Americans have lost their jobs during the virus panic as governors shut down all businesses they deemed &#8220;nonessential.&#8221; Millions have missed rent and mortgage payments, and a bunch of states plan to stay shut down until the end of May, with several planning lockdowns into June.
Navarro has made clear who&#8217;s to blame. “Yes, I do blame the Chinese,” Navarro said on ABC’s “This Week,&#8221; adding that China will be responsible for what he called a “Chinese winter” of global death and misery.
Navarro also blamed the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for not getting ahead of the virus. “Early on, the CDC, which really had the most trusted brand around the world in this space, really let the country down with the testing,” Navarro said on NBC.
The White House adviser also accused China of a plot to &#8220;seed&#8221; the coronavirus globally by sending sick travelers around the world, all the while denying that the virus was a serious danger.
&#8220;I did not say they deliberately did it, but their China virus — let&#8217;s go over the facts here. Correct me if I&#8217;m wrong,&#8221; said Navarro. &#8220;The virus was spawned in Wuhan province. Patient zero was in November. The Chinese, behind the shield of the World Health Organization, for two months hid the virus from the world, and then sent hundreds of thousands of Chinese on aircraft to Milan, New York, and around the world to seed that. They could have kept it in Wuhan. Instead, it became a pandemic. So, that&#8217;s why I say the Chinese did that to Americans and they are responsible.&#8221;
Navarro also shot down George Stephanopoulos&#8217; claim that &#8220;lost weeks&#8221; in February set back the U.S. response to the virus:
<blockquote>So, first of all, I think it&#8217;s great that we have a president that can get along with all world leaders, so that&#8217;s number one. But number two, there&#8217;s no lost weeks. This starting gun for the China pandemic started on January 30th when President Trump had the courage to pull down the flights from China, that was an enormously courageous decision. He took a lot of heat from that.
And from that day, and I was personally involved in a lot of this, we were moving on three vectors on attack in February &#8212; vaccine development, development of therapeutics like Remdesivir, and building up the capacity for things like N95 masks. And the work we did throughout February has borne beautiful fruit here in the spring, because what we saw on Friday in the Rose Garden was the announcement of a 14-company race to a vaccine, with the goal of December, what we have seen therapeutics like Remdesivir already going into hospitals right now to save American lives and we had company like Honeywell building two factories in five weeks, George, instead of nine months, five weeks, that&#8217;s Trump time, to produce 20 million N95 masks a month.
So don&#8217;t tell me we lost February, because I was there. I&#8217;m right here. And this president was directing us to move as quickly as possible, even as publicly we were trying to figure out in the fog of war just how serious this pandemic.</blockquote>
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">member</a>.

White House Coronavirus Task Force Holds Daily Briefing

Top White House Official Says Stay-At-Home Measures Could Kill More People ‘Indirectly’ Than Coronavirus

Peter Navarro

A coronavirus shutdown protest in Long Island turned into a referendum on the mainstream media that left one local reporter declaring he&#8217;ll &#8220;probably never forget what happened&#8221; after he was &#8220;insulted,&#8221; &#8220;berated&#8221; and &#8220;practically chased by people who refused to wear masks in the middle of a pandemic.&#8221; But President Trump, who promoted video of the incident published by the reporter, cheered the &#8220;great people&#8221; at the &#8220;reopen&#8221; rally, whom he suggested are motivated by a &#8220;love of country&#8221; and share with him a healthy disdain for &#8220;fake news.&#8221;
As reported by News 12 Long Island, protesters gathered last Thursday in Commack, Long Island to advocate for the reopening of small businesses in the city after Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that New York&#8217;s PAUSE order has been extended for some counties until May 28.
When News 12&#8217;s Kevin Vesey went on the scene to report on a rally, at which the outlet made sure to note that people were not practicing proper &#8220;social distancing&#8221; mandates, protesters quickly let him know how they felt about his &#8220;fake news&#8221; reporting and the media&#8217;s bias against Trump and in favor of Cuomo.
&#8220;The level of anger directed at the media from these protestors was alarming,&#8221; Vesey tweeted along with video showing rallyers slamming the media over its coronavirus coverage (post below). &#8220;As always, I will tell a fair and unbiased story today.&#8221;
&#8220;Go home!&#8221; says one incensed protester. &#8220;You&#8217;re destroying Suffolk and Long Island!&#8221; declares another. &#8220;You are the enemy of the people!&#8221; says another. &#8220;We want real journalism that&#8217;s unbiased,&#8221; says another. &#8220;You&#8217;re a hack,&#8221; says one Trump shirt-wearing protester. &#8220;You&#8217;re supposed to be unbiased. You&#8217;re not unbiased,&#8221; says a female protester, who calls the reporter&#8217;s social media posts &#8220;disgusting.&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;ll probably never forget what happened today,&#8221; Vesey wrote in a follow-up post with his final report. &#8220;I was insulted. I was berated. I was practically chased by people who refused to wear masks in the middle of a pandemic. All the while, I was there to tell THEIR story.&#8221;
He also posted footage of what aired on the station the following day from the event. WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The level of anger directed at the media from these protestors was alarming. As always, I will tell a fair and unbiased story today. <a href="https://t.co/5jCR0YY9VH">pic.twitter.com/5jCR0YY9VH</a>
&mdash; Kevin Vesey (@KevinVesey) <a href="https://twitter.com/KevinVesey/status/1261001977598808065?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 14, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I&#39;ll probably never forget what happened today. I was insulted. I was berated. I was practically chased by people who refused to wear masks in the middle of a pandemic. All the while, I was there to tell THEIR story. Here&#39;s the finished product. <a href="https://t.co/HV2Hrcs7gi">pic.twitter.com/HV2Hrcs7gi</a>
&mdash; Kevin Vesey (@KevinVesey) <a href="https://twitter.com/KevinVesey/status/1261054854044229635?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 14, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
This was my story that aired on TV today &#8212; a recap of yesterday&#39;s events, and what&#39;s happened since. <a href="https://t.co/cfGrBYiLGJ">pic.twitter.com/cfGrBYiLGJ</a>
&mdash; Kevin Vesey (@KevinVesey) <a href="https://twitter.com/KevinVesey/status/1261409049087803394?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 15, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
President Trump, however, had a far different takeaway from the footage. Rather than seeing something &#8220;disturbing,&#8221; Trump saw something patriotic and stemming from a shared loathing of &#8220;fake news.&#8221;
&#8220;People can’t get enough of this. Great people!&#8221; Trump wrote Saturday in a post highlighting one of Vesey&#8217;s posts.
&#8220;This love of Country went all over,&#8221; Trump tweeted Monday in another response to Vesey&#8217;s footage. &#8220;They hate Fake News, and so do I!&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
People can’t get enough of this. Great people! <a href="https://t.co/b4HM0C298h">https://t.co/b4HM0C298h</a>
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1261651008398282754?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 16, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
This love of Country went all over. They hate Fake News, and so do I! <a href="https://t.co/b4HM0C298h">https://t.co/b4HM0C298h</a>
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1262358453760262144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Vesey has since posted more footage related to Thursday&#8217;s rally in which the organizers say that their reopen message was &#8220;obscured by a few loud voices.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The organizers of Thursday&#39;s protest say their message was obscured by a few loud voices. So we gave them another chance to have their views heard. Here&#39;s the story. <a href="https://t.co/JRfhGk606N">pic.twitter.com/JRfhGk606N</a>
&mdash; Kevin Vesey (@KevinVesey) <a href="https://twitter.com/KevinVesey/status/1262143471298674693?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
News 12 has since reported on another &#8220;reopen&#8221; rally in East Meadow of New York&#8217;s Nassau County.
&#8220;Protesters gathered in Nassau County Sunday to call for small businesses to reopen, as Long Island remains under New York&#8217;s PAUSE order due to the COVID-19 pandemic,&#8221; the outlet <a href="http://longisland.news12.com/story/42138842/protesters-in-east-meadow-demand-nassau-county-reopen">reported</a> Sunday.
&#8220;Two months ago I would have not been here,&#8221; a resident told News 12. &#8220;In March, I think the shutdown was perfect. I think we had to flatten the curve — we flattened the curve.&#8221;
That rally too featured some &#8220;disturbing&#8221; messages directed at the media. &#8220;Several people at the rally alleged that News 12 would not be fair and one sign on display said &#8216;Fake News is Not Essential,'&#8221; the outlet reported.
News 12 also made sure to not that &#8220;some people at Sunday&#8217;s rally were not practicing social distancing or wearing masks, but that &#8220;Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder says it wouldn&#8217;t be safe to enforce those rules.&#8221;
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

&#8220;Open New York&#8221; Rally

WATCH: ‘Open NY‘ Rallyers Unload On ‘Hack’ Reporter; Trump Responds

Media Bias

New Yorkers have clearly had their fill of the COVID-19 lockdown orders and are now beginning to openly rebel by attending bars and other establishments, willing to risk the government&#8217;s ire in the process.
Over the weekend, city residents crowded several bars and flouted social distancing measures by huddling in close without masks, prompting Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio to threaten a forceful shutdown. The bars were open after the city relaxed social distancing enforcement over the weekend amid a <a href="https://apnews.com/94550a0c4586bc6d1ecb9a1a83f31429">spate of violent arrests</a> that sparked outrage for being predominantly against people of color.
&#8220;We’re not going to tolerate people starting to congregate. It’s as simple as that,&#8221; the mayor said, as reported by <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/new-york-mayor-bill-de-blasio-warns-city-bars-crowded-1294927">The Hollywood Reporter</a> (THR).  “If we have to shut places down, we will.&#8221;
The mayor asked people to call the 311 hotline to report any businesses in violation of social distancing guidelines – the same hotline that people flooded with obscene messages shortly after its announcement.
&#8220;If you start to form groups of people and then two, three, five and then it becomes six, it becomes 10, it becomes 15 — that violates what we’re saying about social distancing and that puts lives in danger,&#8221; de Blasio said.
Mayor de Blasio&#8217;s tough talk on social distancing comes days after a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/14/nyregion/coronavirus-de-blasio-mitchell-katz.html">New York Times</a> report detailed his resistance to taking action at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic after Dr. Mitchell Katz, the head of New York City’s public hospital system, advised him that shutting down events would only hurt the economy while failing to stop the spread of COVID-19:
<blockquote>The mayor did not order major closures, including of schools and restaurants, until almost a week after the email — a delay that epidemiologists say allowed the virus to spread. …
The mayor last week shocked the Health Department by taking away its authority to oversee contact tracing, giving the job to Health and Hospitals, the agency overseen by Dr. Katz. It is a monumental task: The city must build and run an army of some 2,500 people to track and trace the close contacts of every infected person.
The mayor’s decision to shift the responsibility to the public hospital system illustrated how Mr. de Blasio’s faith in Dr. Katz’s leadership abilities took precedence over the experience and knowledge of his public health officials, who have clashed with the mayor over a variety of issues.</blockquote>
Similar &#8220;social distancing violations&#8221; are being reported in other states. Last week, after the Wisconsin state Supreme Court struck down Democratic Gov. Tony Evers&#8217; lockdown order, people were seen flooding the bars in the hours thereafter.
“Live video showed guests standing and sitting close to one another around the bar while dancing, drinking and singing to music. The establishment wrote that it was serving at least two dozen people within an hour of reopening,” reported Fox News.
Chad Ardnt, owner of the Iron Hog Saloon, says he decided to reopen the establishment because he has been unable to pay his nine employees for weeks now. While Ardnt says he has improved cleaning protocols, video taken by <a href="https://www.wisn.com/article/tavern-league-of-wisconsin-to-bars-open-immediately/32468830" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">WISN</a> showed customers not wearing face masks, which, of course, is particularly hard to do when eating and drinking.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Bill de Blasio Distributes Face Masks

De Blasio Threatens NYC Bars Reopening: ‘If We Have To Shut Places Down, We Will’

Bill de Blasio

Nearly 3 million Americans filed for new unemployment benefits last week, pushing the number of people who have lost their jobs amid the coronavirus pandemic to more than 36.5 million, the Labor Department reported on Thursday.
A total of 2.981 million individuals filed initial jobless claims last week, a number which equates, roughly, to the total number of coronavirus-related layoffs. While the number was higher than economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting &#8212; at 2.7 million &#8212; the  new number represents the eighth time in a row that claims have  fallen from the previous week. Jobless claims peaked at 6.9 million in the final week of March.
The Dow quickly dropped 300 points in futures trading upon hearing the news.
Some 22.8 million Americans are currently drawing unemployment benefits, the Labor Department said.
The total number of jobs lost, now at 36.5 million, is by far the biggest loss in U.S. history. In April, some 20.5 million jobs were lost, which brought the employment rate to 14.7%, both numbers the highest since World War II.
The devastating job loss represents a 180-degree turn in fortunes for American workers. Back in September 2018, the number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits fell to just 201,000, a number not seen since shortly after man first walked on the moon. For the week ending September 15, such claims dropped by 3,000 to the lowest level since November 12, 1969. The monthly average dropped to 205,750, the lowest since December 1969, the Labor Department reported.
The unemployment rate had dropped from nearly 10% in 2010 under President Obama all the way down to 3.4% under President Trump.
Still, there was some optimism expressed after the new numbers were released.
“The numbers &#8230; are still alarming of course but with more reopenings occurring in the coming months they should continue to recede. Continuing claims though will remain high as the pace of rehirings will be gradual and coincident with the pace and degree of the reopenings,” Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group, told <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/14/weekly-jobless-claims.html">CNBC</a>.
The latest numbers are still off from the Great Depression, when unemployment reached nearly 25%. But the rate didn&#8217;t drop into single digits for a decade, until 1941, after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and the U.S. entered World War II.
The numbers could actually be far worse.
&#8220;The Economic Policy Institute earlier this week estimated that the current claims level probably undercounts by as much as 12 million those who are eligible for benefits but not getting them due to the inability to file or other roadblocks,&#8221; CNBC reported last month.
Earlier this month, the Commerce Department announced the U.S. economy shrank at a 4.8% annual rate in the first quarter as the coronavirus pandemic prompted states to shut down businesses.
After the longest economic expansion in history under Trump, the gross domestic product (GDP) posted a quarterly drop for the first time in six years, the Commerce Department said. The GDP measures the total output of goods and services in the economy.
The 4.8% drop was the highest since the economy shrank at an 8.4% annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2008, during the Great Recession.
&#8220;Forecasters say the drop in the January-March quarter will be only a precursor of a far grimmer GDP report to come on the current April-June period, with business shutdowns and layoffs striking with devastating force. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that GDP will plunge this quarter at a 40% annual rate,&#8221; The <a href="https://apnews.com/5d2e8a4b3cd9e031c2e09ef6193d3e0f">Associated Press</a> reported.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">member</a>.

Puzzle

Jobless Claims Top 36.5 Million Amid Virus Crisis As Another 3 Million File For Unemployment

lockdown

The following is satirical.
Democrat Senators have announced their new plan to reopen the economy never so that no one will die until everyone is dead and the economy will come back after it ceases to exist, which will be Trump’s fault.
The 40-quintillion dollar plan will make it impossible for anyone to go to work so that no one will pay taxes and those taxes no one pays will be used to send relief to people who are out of work so that they will be able to pay taxes which will be used to give them money.
Democrats feel the plan will help the campaign of Joe Biden by making Biden’s gibbering non sequiturs seem rational in comparison to the plan. Once elected, Biden will be placed in the Oval Office, where he’ll be watered twice a day so that the birds can nest in his branches.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi came out from behind her palace walls, stepped over the homeless people lining the sidewalks of her district, strode proudly through the rubble of what was once San Francisco and held a press conference among the proud and thriving corpses of her constituents, telling a cult of worshipful reporters:
“Only a snarling right wing doo-doo head would want to go back to work or have a life when people are actually dying in this country of viruses and old age and traffic accidents. Each one of those lives is too infinitely precious for us to be able to make money and eat meals when they are being ruthlessly destroyed by Donald Trump who I pray for every day.”
Pelosi then proposed a 70 vermillion-dollar aid package to fall from the sky like silver rain and said anyone who opposed it must not care about poor people.
More satire from Andrew Klavan: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/journalists-defend-zombie-like-attempt-to-kill-and-devour-president-satire">Journalists Defend Zombie-like Attempt To Kill And Devour President</a>

Nancy Pelosi

Democrats Propose 70 Vermillion Dollars Worth Of Gibbering Non Sequiturs [Satire]

Satire

An incident caught on video has resulted in three misdemeanor battery citations against a Fresno City Council member after he got violent with a group of self-described independent journalists pushing back on the city&#8217;s extended &#8220;shelter-in-place&#8221; order.
&#8220;Fresno City Council President Miguel Arias was issued three citations for misdemeanor battery Tuesday evening after a group with strong ties to shelter-in-place protests showed up on his doorstep,&#8221; the <a href="https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article242690596.html">Fresno Bee</a> reports. &#8220;Members of the group pursued a citizens arrest after videotaping Arias apparently pushing at least one of them. No one was injured, said Fresno police Lt. Anthony DeWall.&#8221;
The incident took place at the council member&#8217;s apartment building at around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, where a group of men and women appeared at the apartment to confront him about the damage done to people&#8217;s lives by the city&#8217;s &#8220;shutdown&#8221; orders, which Arias supports and which Fresno Mayor Lee Brand recently <a href="https://www.fresnobee.com/news/coronavirus/article242434251.html">extended</a> to May 31, prompting hundreds of Fresno residents to protest in front of City Hall last week.
As video posted on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/james.hoak.5/videos/3396021393775909/" target="_self" rel="Follow noopener noreferrer">Facebook</a> shows, a handful of men and women carrying cameras and microphones congregated outside Arias’s apartment. The group is &#8220;led by Ben Bergquam, who runs a media Facebook page called Frontline America and organized last week’s Freedom Rally protesting the shelter order,&#8221; the Fresno Bee notes.
Video shows Arias violently shoving Bergquam and at least one other member of the group, an African-American man. Below are two videos posted by Facebook user James Hoak:
<iframe style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fjames.hoak.5%2Fvideos%2F3396058627105519%2F&amp;show_text=0&amp;width=267" width="267" height="476" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
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&#8220;Lt. DeWall said the group of men identified themselves as independent media,&#8221; The Fresno Bee reports. &#8220;Both Arias and members of the group called police, and officers arrived about 20 minutes later. There were three alleged victims. Arias was not handcuffed. A court date for Arias will be scheduled in 90 days, which is standard, DeWall said.&#8221;
“This is over the top,” Arias told the outlet afterward. “This is not the way you engage in civil discourse.”
Arias also accused Bergquam and the other protesters of &#8220;threatening the safety&#8221; of his family, saying his two young children were also in the apartment. &#8220;They went from making a political statement to physically threatening the safety of my own family, and that was not going to be tolerated,&#8221; he said, alleging that Bergquam has publicly threatened him in the past.
As highlighted by the Fresno Bee, Bergquam&#8217;s group posted a follow-up video about Arias getting violent with the group and denouncing claims that they were trying to break into his house, calling Arias a &#8220;liar&#8221; and predicting his position on the council is &#8220;done&#8221;:
<iframe title="Ben Bergquam attacked by Fresno City Councilman." width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ASSIxCP32cU?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Protesters also appeared at Mayor Brand&#8217;s home on Tuesday. Brand says that he had a discussion with the group and they left peacefully.
Along with the Freedom Rally protest, a local restaurant, The Waffle Shop, reopened in defiance of the city&#8217;s mandate, resulting in one of the customers being handcuffed by police, though eventually released.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.  
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Economy

Gun Sales In May Hit Record — Again

New Jobless Numbers Released, Lowest Since Crisis But Total Still Getting Worse

Democrat NC Governor Rejects GOP Convention Demand; Trump: You Just Lost Your State ‘Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars,’ Jobs

U.S. GDP Shrank By 5% In The First Quarter Of 2020 But Continuing Unemployment Claims Are Now Declining

U.S. Unemployment Filings Soar Above 40 Million Amid Virus Panic

‘I Know The President’s Psychology’: Limbaugh Explains Why Trump Went Along With Lockdown

Laura Ingraham: Democratic Governors ‘Endangering Their State’s Futures’ In Attempt To Take Out Trump

Democrats Are Actively Rooting For Economic Collapse

Democrats ‘Dreading’ Election Scenario Predicted By Obama’s Top Economist: ‘Best’ U.S. ‘Economic Data’ In History About To Happen

Trump: 2nd Covid Wave ‘A Very Distinct Possibility,’ But ‘We’re Not Going To Close The Country’

Mnuchin: ‘Strong Likelihood We Will Need Another Bill’; Pushes Back On CBO Unemployment Estimates

New York’s Small Businesses Issue Last ‘Desperate Cry’ To Save Their Livelihoods

SICHEL: How Much Damage Are The Lockdowns Causing?

State Police In Democratic State: We Will Not Arrest, Jail Any Individual For Violating Lockdown Orders

Top White House Official Says Stay-At-Home Measures Could Kill More People ‘Indirectly’ Than Coronavirus

WATCH: ‘Open NY‘ Rallyers Unload On ‘Hack’ Reporter; Trump Responds

De Blasio Threatens NYC Bars Reopening: ‘If We Have To Shut Places Down, We Will’

Jobless Claims Top 36.5 Million Amid Virus Crisis As Another 3 Million File For Unemployment

Democrats Propose 70 Vermillion Dollars Worth Of Gibbering Non Sequiturs [Satire]

WATCH: Fresno Official Gets Violent With Stay-At-Home Protesters; Gets Cited For Battery

Menu

Economy

Gun Sales In May Hit Record — Again

New Jobless Numbers Released, Lowest Since Crisis But Total Still Getting Worse

Democrat NC Governor Rejects GOP Convention Demand; Trump: You Just Lost Your State ‘Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars,’ Jobs

U.S. GDP Shrank By 5% In The First Quarter Of 2020 But Continuing Unemployment Claims Are Now Declining

U.S. Unemployment Filings Soar Above 40 Million Amid Virus Panic

‘I Know The President’s Psychology’: Limbaugh Explains Why Trump Went Along With Lockdown

Laura Ingraham: Democratic Governors ‘Endangering Their State’s Futures’ In Attempt To Take Out Trump

Democrats Are Actively Rooting For Economic Collapse

Democrats ‘Dreading’ Election Scenario Predicted By Obama’s Top Economist: ‘Best’ U.S. ‘Economic Data’ In History About To Happen

Trump: 2nd Covid Wave ‘A Very Distinct Possibility,’ But ‘We’re Not Going To Close The Country’

Mnuchin: ‘Strong Likelihood We Will Need Another Bill’; Pushes Back On CBO Unemployment Estimates

New York’s Small Businesses Issue Last ‘Desperate Cry’ To Save Their Livelihoods

SICHEL: How Much Damage Are The Lockdowns Causing?

State Police In Democratic State: We Will Not Arrest, Jail Any Individual For Violating Lockdown Orders

Top White House Official Says Stay-At-Home Measures Could Kill More People ‘Indirectly’ Than Coronavirus

WATCH: ‘Open NY‘ Rallyers Unload On ‘Hack’ Reporter; Trump Responds

De Blasio Threatens NYC Bars Reopening: ‘If We Have To Shut Places Down, We Will’

Jobless Claims Top 36.5 Million Amid Virus Crisis As Another 3 Million File For Unemployment

Democrats Propose 70 Vermillion Dollars Worth Of Gibbering Non Sequiturs [Satire]

WATCH: Fresno Official Gets Violent With Stay-At-Home Protesters; Gets Cited For Battery

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