'A flagrant lack of regard'
| 'A flagrant lack of regard'  Cub reporters are taught that the definition of a news story is not when a dog bites a man, but when a man bites a dog.
A bombshell that Donald Trump went ahead with public events, a campaign rally and a presidential debate last year after a positive Covid-19 test falls into the former category. In other words, given Trump's track record, it's hardly surprising.
The revelation about the positive test on September 26, 2020 -- earlier than previously disclosed -- came in a new book by his former chief of staff Mark Meadows, a copy of which was obtained by the Guardian. Meadows also wrote that after an initial positive result, Trump tested negative in an antigen test.
But the account is raising suspicion. The timeline around Trump's Covid case has never made much sense. He tweeted on October 2, 2020 that he had tested positive -- and was rushed to hospital by helicopter later the same day -- an unusually fast progression for the disease.
The ex-President has blasted the report as "fake news" but his former communications adviser Alyssa Farah Griffin told CNN that her ex-boss showed disregard for public health and for those around him in the West Wing -- an attitude that set the tone for the Republican Party's continuing prioritization of politics over science.
Top GOP office holders and conservative media pundits now attack President Joe Biden over the fact that more Americans have died from Covid-19 this year than under Trump in 2020. That's true — but the accusations often omit key context that 2021 saw the spread of the particularly virulent Delta variant. They also typically ignore the assault on public health measures like masking in schools, vaccine mandates for large companies and health care workers, and right-wing anti-vaccine propaganda. In a quest to block funding for business vaccine mandates, Republican senators have even flirted with a government shutdown.
Biden has not ended the pandemic. But his anti-science opponents are making it more difficult to do so, in a hardline political play, that may already have cost hundreds of thousands of lives.  'A flagrant lack of regard' "Full stop, this demonstrates a flagrant lack of regard for public health and for the well-being of others," Farah Griffin told CNN's Jake Tapper on Wednesday, in reference to Meadow's revelation. "At this time in the White House, I had staffers who were pregnant. I had one who is a multi-time cancer survivor. We had plenty of people in the West Wing who are over 65. We could have killed one of our colleagues and instead they decided to not tell anyone, putting every single one of us at risk," she added. The world and America Germany's unvaccinated are facing a nationwide lockdown.
The International Olympic Committee says tennis star Peng Shuai has "reconfirmed" that she is safe.
Back to the arts The President will be back in the house.
Joe Biden will restore another tradition put in the deep freeze during Trump's four-year term. He and First Lady Jill Biden will be in the President's box on Sunday night at the Kennedy Center Honors. The annual event, in the opera house at the arts complex in Washington, DC, features a gala performance and honors a group of luminaries from the stage, the big and small screen and music.
You might think that rubbing shoulders with the famous was exactly up Trump's street -- he spent decades after all doing that for the benefit of New York's tabloid newspapers. But his demagoguery as president was anathema to the lefties who tread the boards and stride the silver screen, so he could hardly be sure of a warm welcome. Plus there were political points to be had for a right-wing president snubbing the elites of the arts at their annual love-in.
After a pandemic-related postponement last year, the Bidens plan to be on hand Sunday night to honor this year's recipients, who include Bette Midler, Joni Mitchell, opera singer Justino Díaz, Motown producer Berry Gordy and Lorne Michaels, creator of NBC classic "Saturday Night Live."  Oprah Winfrey and Paul McCartney with then-First Lady Michelle Obama and then-President Barack Obama at the 33rd Annual Kennedy Honors in 2010.
 Then-President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush in the Blue Room of the White House with 2007 Kennedy Center honorees Leon Fleisher, Martin Scorsese, Diana Ross, Brian Wilson and Steve Martin.
Thanks for sticking with us through the week.
On Friday, Biden is expected to deliver remarks on the November jobs report. European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic hosts British Brexit Minister David Frost.
On Saturday, presidential elections take place in Gambia. Pope Francis visits Athens and Lesbos.
And on Sunday, a United Launch Alliance rocket will launch the US Space Force's "Space Test Program mission" from Cape Canaveral in Florida. View in browser | All CNN Newsletters
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