Crooked Media - What A Day:  Oyez! Oyez! Bidet!

President Trump announced that his administration will continue to press the Supreme Court to repeal the Affordable Care Act, in the middle of a pandemic that will make millions more Americans reliant on its coverage. Perhaps someone should tell him that having health insurance is “popular”: 
 

• Trump said today that the White House coronavirus task force will “continue on indefinitely,” contradicting his own comments on Tuesday. He told reporters that he changed his mind about winding it down because he “had no idea how popular the task force is until actually yesterday,” which is to say, he reversed himself for the only reason he does anything—his own personal interests. Trump’s tweets suggested that the task force could see a change in members and a shift in focus, which poses an interesting thought experiment: How many doctors can you replace with Jared Kushner’s friends before the ship of Theseus is no longer the same ship, and is actually a Sigma Chi frat house? 
   
• A New York Times investigation of Kushner’s shadow task force details the full incompetence of his team of volunteers. In one damning episode, a doctor with longtime manufacturing contacts, who had a lead on millions of masks from established suppliers, reached out to FEMA to offer his help. His information wound up in the hands of Kushner’s private-equity brigade, which ignored it in favor of leads from political allies like Charlie Kirk and a former Apprentice contestant. It was also (of course) these doofuses who passed along an unvetted tip from Yaron Oren-Pines, a Silicon Valley engineer who ultimately won a $69 million contract from New York for more than 1,000 ventilators, none of which were delivered. Anywho, Kushner is now in charge of getting us a vaccine by the end of the year, if anyone’s trying to offload a few million vials of Capri Sun. 
   
• Today Trump argued with a nurse in the Oval Office who observed that the supply of protective equipment across the country has been “sporadic,” claiming that it has instead been “tremendous.” Trump has repeatedly denied the reality of ongoing shortages, but administration officials have expressed alarm internally. On May 1, the day Trump bragged that “we’ve solved every problem,” officials from FEMA and HHS warned on a conference call that states still didn’t have enough masks and gowns, and worried that governors reopening their states could create severe ventilator shortages within weeks. 

Trump’s denial could soon reach a new level of ghoulishness.
 

• He has reportedly complained to some aides that he thinks the death count is unfairly high, and may start publicly questioning the veracity of the death toll as it surpasses his predictions, and starts to hurt him politically. All evidence indicates that the reported death toll, which currently stands at over 71,000, represents a significant undercount. 
   
• We’re also learning more about a staggering racial discrepancy in those numbers. A new study found that predominantly black counties account for 52 percent of diagnoses and 58 percent of coronavirus deaths nationally, and because minority communities have been tested at lower rates, those counts may be an underestimate. Nearly three dozen lawmakers have signed onto a letter asking the Justice Department to investigate potential civil rights violations in how executive branches at all levels of government have responded.
   

In responding to a health crisis that we’ll be dealing with for months or years, Trump continues to make moment-by-moment decisions based on what he thinks will help him politically, and flatly denying the mounting evidence showing that, for some reason, his approach isn’t solving the problem.   

On today's In this week’s Keep It: Home Edition, Ira, Louis, and Aida discuss the 1955 Best Actress winners, Ryan Murphy’s Hollywood revisionist history, Mindy Kaling’s new series Never Have I Ever, Pulitzer Prize winners we’re excited for, The Daily Beast’s Michelle Obama clickbait, and more. Plus, André Holland joins to discuss theatre, Paris, and working with Damien Chazelle’s on The Eddy. Take a listen → 

New research explores how dramatically the economic collapse has deepened food insecurity, with nearly one in five children not getting enough to eat. That rate is three times higher than in 2008, at the height of the Great Recession. Part of the problem may be disruptions to school meal programs, with some families unable to reach distribution sites, and multiple kids competing for limited food at home. Republicans in Congress have thus far blocked efforts to increase food stamp benefits by 15 percent for the duration of the crisis, and the limited, short-term increase that Congress enacted left out the poorest food stamp recipients. If you’re able, please chip in to help the families who need it most → 

• A Georgia district attorney has recommended that a grand jury investigate the fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25 year-old black man who was chased down while out jogging by two white men. A newly surfaced cellphone video that captured the shooting has intensified calls for an investigation, from Joe Biden among many others.
   
• A federal judge has ruled that New York’s primary will go forward in June as planned after Andrew Yang and several of his would-be delegates filed a lawsuit to stop the state’s board of elections from canceling the presidential contest. 
   
• Trump is once again insisting on painting the border wall black, which will add at least $500 million in costs, which, also once again, Congress has repeatedly refused to spend. An incredible time to give this another shot, though, as we certainly don’t have anything better to do with $500 million right now.
   
• The Justice Department has opened an investigation of Blue Flame Medical, a firm created by Republican operatives who started selling COVID-19 supplies but failed to deliver them.
   
• Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) received stock and other awards worth over $9 million from her old employer, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, when she left to become a senator.
   
• Ruth Bader Ginsburg was hospitalized for treatment of a gallbladder condition on Tuesday, but she is fine (which is more than we can say for our collective blood pressure) and participated in oral arguments today. The court heard arguments in two combined cases over whether Trump can let employers deny birth control coverage for religious reasons. 
   
• The creator of Black Mirror says the world is too bleak to make a sixth season right now, and that he’s trying to write some lighter stuff. So maybe get ready for season one of (sorry about this) Gray Mirror? (Don’t unsubscribe.)

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos issued final rules governing how schools and colleges must address sexual misconduct allegations, which strengthen protections for those who have been accused. The new rules narrow the definition of sexual harassment, limit the complaints that schools are obliged to investigate, and require schools to cross-examine victims and accused perpetrators in a live hearing to challenge their credibility. Schools will only be in violation of Title IX if they’re determined to be “deliberately indifferent” to accusations of sexual assault, and won’t be responsible for responding to assaults that occur off campus or while students are studying abroad. Fatima Goss Graves, president of the National Women’s Law Center, has vowed to fight the new rules in court.

Introducing Betterment Checking, a hassle-free, no-fee checking account and tap-to-pay Visa debit card. With ATM fees reimbursed worldwide and no monthly, overdraft, or other checking fees, you don't have to worry about losing money as you bank. Your cash is also FDIC-insured up to $250K so you can spend with confidence, knowing that your money is secure. Change the way you think about checking and sign up for an account today.

A Mount Sinai Hospital study found evidence that blood thinners could help save some seriously ill COVID-19 patients who develop a blood clot complication.

Antibodies from llamas could prove useful in developing a COVID-19 treatment, which means it is your job as an informed citizen to look at this picture of a llama named Winter. 

California will provide workers' compensation benefits to all essential workers who test positive for coronavirus.

Faith in Action, an immigrant-advocacy group, has launched a fund to help immigrant workers who aren't eligible for federal coronavirus relief.