Welcome to Majority.FM's AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

Donald Trump retweeted, then deleted, a video of a clash between elderly protesters and senior citizen Trump fans at a retirement community, in which one of the Trump supporters clearly and loudly chants white power.

Meanwhile, Black Lives Matter protesters weathered a weekend of violent attacks, as a man shot into a crowd of demonstrators in Louisville, Kentucky, and a driver plowed through protesters outside of Tampa, Florida.

And lastly, tensions are boiling over at coronavirus testing sites in hard hit states like Arizona, Florida, and Texas, as panicked crowds jostle through long lines to get a test. Meanwhile, VP Pence is still pushing the lie that increased case numbers are just a result of increased testing, not an explosion in the virus.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Trump Tweets White Power Clip

Look, by this point we all know Donald Trump is a white nationalist. The evidence is overwhelming at this point. But in case it’s not, let’s present the latest data point!

This weekend, Trump retweeted a clash between geriatric protesters and elderly residents of The Villages, a 98 percent white enclave of Florida where 56 percent of the population is over the age of 65. Just so you know what we’re dealing with here.

In the video, a procession of tricked-out golf karts covered in Trump signs and flags rolls past several counter-protesters. The key moment of the video is when a protester yells “where’s your white hood” at a Trump kart, and the man inside shakes his fist and yells “white power, white power!”

Trump retweeted the video and added quote “Thank you to the great people of the Villages!” endquote. Just so you know where he stands!

The administration’s response to this scandal has been about as dumb as it gets, of course. Deputy Press Secretary Judd Deere said the President quote "did not hear the one statement made on the video,” endquote. That’s almost believable except for the fact that the white power part is literally 8 seconds in. We know Trump has a short attention span but come on.

And even if he didn’t hear it, the White House didn’t even bother to say “yeah, our bad,” or decry the statement itself. They’re pretty much cool with that!

What this ends up as is another explicit endorsement of white nationalism for Trump’s white nationalist supporters to run with, and another idiotic, not-so-plausible deniability excuse for the press office’s talking heads to run with. Where are we at the end of it? With a white nationalist in the White House, still

Protesters Weather Attacks

Protesters demonstrating against police brutality weathered a striking weekend of violence, as various elements of the country’s racist core started to rear their heads against them.

In Louisville, a gunman opened fire on a peaceful protest, killing a photographer and injuring one other. In a strange turn, the gunman, Steven Lopez, had also previously participated in protests, and the shooting appears to have been over a dispute he had with another participant. Bystanders shot back at him, wounding him in the leg, and he was arrested at the hospital later that evening.

In Tampa, meanwhile, a driver plowed through protesters in Hyde Park, carrying one who landed on his hood for several feet. When he eventually stopped, police arrested the protester and not the driver, setting up an extended, tense protest at the nearby jail. Things defused when it turned out that the protester had been taken to the hospital, not the jail.

That wasn’t the only vehicle incident this weekend: a video that surfaced on social media late Sunday night appears to show a Detroit Police Department vehicle driving aggressively through protesters, bowling them over in the street, reportedly causing a handful of injuries.

In New York City meanwhile, the NYPD resumed their violence against protesters, pepper spraying and charging a crowd of protesters in Washington Square Park who were protesting and celebrating Pride weekend. Nice of them to commemorate Stonewall with more police brutality!

And in perhaps the strangest example of violent posturing, two homeowners in the St. Louis area showed up on the front driveway of their megamansion to brandish guns at protesters walking by, repeatedly pointing the weapons at protesters in the street and yelling at the crowd. Luckily, they didn’t squeeze any rounds off, but judging by the instantly historic photos of the event, it was a pretty near miss.

Coronavirus Overwhelms Testing Centers

Last up for tonight: the coronavirus outbreak. The New York Times reports that testing sites in several states are being overwhelmed by a large number of scared patients, as the worldwide death toll tops 500,000.

In Texas, Florida and Arizona, the Times reports that some patients have been turned away from testing sites that simply can’t keep up with the demand. Those who make it in have to deal with pushing, yelling, and massive overcrowding, which certainly isn’t going to make things any better.

That’s not to say that you shouldn’t get tested: if you think you’ve been exposed to the disease, testing is the way to protect everyone around you. But check in with local networks to see what the wait times are like.

Nationwide, Coronavirus cases have gone up 65 percent in the past two weeks. The virus is surging all over the country, and it may be even worse than our data suggests. The CDC released a report last week that warned that infections could be ten times worse than we think in many regions.

Keep in mind that the Administration’s big lie on this is that the increase in cases is only due to an increase in testing -- that there isn’t actually a massive surge, it’s just that we’re testing more. This would only make sense if the rate of positive tests was holding steady, but guess what, it’s not: in Texas, for instance, the rate of positive tests has gone up from 4 percent to 13 percent in the past month.

By now, you all know the drill: wear a mask. Stay at home if you can, and keep your distance from others if you can’t. And if it’s at all possible, get the test.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

The number of forest fires in Russia’s vast Siberian region has increased fivefold, according to Russia’s aerial forest fire management authority. It’s almost certainly a sure sign of climate change, considering much of the region has faced record-hot temperatures that have neared 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

A quick check in with the Senate shows that Mitch McConnell is still hammering the judiciary with more and more conservative judges, getting his 200th confirmed by the Republican-held Senate last week. That’s a pretty grim reminder that even if we get Trump out in November and or take back the Senate, there’s just so much work left to do to pull the country left.

CNN’s Van Jones fully sold out to the Trump administration, according to an explosive report by the Daily Beast. The CNN political commenter allegedly chatted with Jared Kushner about the administration’s new, lackluster police reform order, and then went right on CNN and praised it, without disclosing that he helped set it in motion. The NAACP, meanwhile, said Trump’s order showed that he had quote “no intention of advancing these critical reforms.” Endquote. Apparently Van disagrees.

John Hickenlooper, now running for Senate in Colorado after a limp attempt at the Presidency, is facing calls from Indigenous activists to drop out of the primary, after photos surfaced of him wearing a native headdress at a racist event called the One Shot Antelope Hunt. He faces a more progressive opponent Andrew Romanoff in Colorado’s election on Tuesday.

That’s all for the majority report’s AM quickie today. Stay tuned for the full show with Sam later this afternoon.

June 29, 2020 - AM Quickie

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Jack Crosbie

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn