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Trump Uses Coronavirus Press Conference to Confirm He’s an Actual Sociopath source: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/03/donald-trump-peter-alexander-coronavirus-press-conference Over the past three years, many terms have been thrown around to describe Donald Trump. Phrases like “huge moron,” “colossal jerk,” “massive prick,” and, our personal favorite, “malignant tumor.” Obviously many have agreed that the 45th president of the United States is both a terrible person and an idiot incapable of tweeting a coherent sentence, let alone running the country. Still, some have worried it would be taking things too far to diagnose the man as a full-blown sociopath. Are we being too cavalier with the designation, they’ve likely fretted. Shouldn’t we wait until the Mar-a-Lago groundskeepers find a few dozen heads in the basement, they’ve probably wondered. On Friday, however, Trump confirmed for all the world to see that he indeed has no conscience. During a press conference at the White House, NBC reporter Peter Alexander asked Trump, “What do you say to the Americans who are scared, though? Nearly 200 dead, 14,000 who are sick, millions, as you’ve witnessed, who are scared right now. What do you say to Americans who are watching you right now who are scared?” In reality this was a softball question that anyone with a semblance of a soul would be able to answer, responding with something like, “That’s an understandable feeling. I would tell them we’re in this together and we’re doing everything we can, as fast as we can.” But Trump literally only thinks about himself, so instead he told Alexander: “I say that you’re a terrible reporter. That’s what I say. I think it’s a very nasty question, and I think it’s a very bad signal that you’re putting out to the American people. The American people are looking for answers and they’re looking for hope, and you’re doing sensationalism and the same with NBC and con-cast. I don’t call it Comcast, I call it ‘con-cast.’ Let me just tell you something. That’s really bad reporting, and you ought to get back to reporting instead of sensationalism.” Seemingly responding to criticism that he’d irresponsibly hyped the drug chloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19, despite the fact that it hasn’t yet been approved by the FDA for the virus, Trump snarled, “Let’s see if it works. It might and it might not. I happen to feel good about it, but who knows. I’ve been right a lot.” As many have noted, employees at NBC, where Alexander works, lost a colleague to the virus today, but obviously it shouldn’t take such an event for the president to muster up or even fake some empathy for people who are terrified about a fast-moving pandemic. Later, given the opportunity to prove to the American people that he’s not a total monster, Trump declined: As did his merry band of sycophants, who would apparently rather kiss the ring than calm the nation during an unprecedented, petrifying time: COVID-19 testing in Darien? The Darien? Of the Fairfield, Connecticut Dariens? No, thank you! Darien, Connecticut, is one of the wealthiest cities in the United States, with a median household income of $208,000 across a population of about 21,000. There are multiple yacht clubs there, and massive mansions worth millions of dollars. The town announced this week that Murphy Medical Associates would offer drive-through coronavirus testing in a parking lot at Darien’s town hall. While you didn’t need to be a resident of Darien to get tested there, you did need to be directed there by a doctor after an online screening process. If a doctor didn’t direct you to go there to get tested, they would not test you. Those restrictions weren’t enough for the residents. Earlier today the Darien Times reported that the drive-through testing had been canceled because neighbors complained that the testing was too close to their homes. As Reason magazine notes, the testing would not have been a danger to any of these residents. Also, testing has to happen somewhere and apparently the people complaining were fine with it happening in the neighboring towns of Bridgeport, New London, New Haven, and Greenwich. Later on Friday, however, something of a compromise was apparently struck, and the town has agreed to allow testing to take place one day a week at the local high school starting Monday. But keep it snappy! Trump’s week is actually going pretty well, thanks Not only did he get to berate a reporter for asking a perfectly reasonable question, but his elusive tax returns shall remain elusive for a while longer: As the federal government prepares to bail out a number of industries affected by coronavirus, like casinos and cruise lines, some people have suggested that it would be nice for Americans to know which bailouts the president stands to benefit from on a personal financial basis. Apparently that information will have to wait, though. Eric Trump reminds Californians that when this is over, if they haven’t died, they should come on down to his family’s for-profit golf club Elsewhere! Mike Bloomberg Is Giving Up on His Anti-Trump Super PAC (Hive) Stacey Abrams Is Joe Biden’s Strongest Running-Mate Prospect, Poll Finds (Intelligencer) IRS extends tax filing deadline to July 15 as coronavirus spreads, Mnuchin says (CNBC) Trump Says He Will Use Defense-Act Powers to Boost Coronavirus Medical Supplies (WSJ) More than 4,000 National Guardsmen deployed in 31 states (Washington Post) “Sell-Everything” Strategy Is Causing Massive Credit Turmoil (Bloomberg) Grappling With Losses, Hedge Funds Seek New Ways to Make Money (NYT) The Next Coronavirus Financial Crisis: Record Piles of Risky Corporate Debt (WSJ) U.K. government to pay 80% of wages for those not working in coronavirus crisis (Guardian) 3M doubles output of N95 respirator masks amid coronavirus outbreak (NYP) Trump almost tweeted that Tom Hanks had died from coronavirus (Business Insider) Toilet paper calculator tells you how long your stash will last (NYP)