Today’s edition of quick hits:
* It was just last night when Donald Trump told Americans, “We’re rounding the corner,” and “It’s going away,” but it’s not: “The United States set a daily record for coronavirus cases on Thursday as the number soared past 77,000, topping the previous high set in July, NBC News confirmed on Friday.”
* Remember when we were told this should be blamed on social-justice protestors? “Federal prosecutors charged a far-right extremist in connection with a shooting at a Minneapolis police station during protests sparked by George Floyd’s killing, authorities said Friday.”
* Middle East: “The east African country of Sudan on Friday became the third predominantly Muslim country to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel, in a deal brokered by President Donald Trump less than two weeks before the election.”
* Economic aid talks: “Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin delivered a downbeat assessment Friday about his economic stimulus talks with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, saying the speaker had ‘dug in’ and ‘significant differences’ remain.”
* This is going to affect a lot of people: “President Trump this week fired his biggest broadside yet against the federal bureaucracy by issuing an executive order that would remove job security from an estimated tens of thousands of civil servants and dramatically remake the government.”
* Scary: “A teenager who was arrested in North Carolina on child pornography charges this year had a van full of guns and drove within 4 miles of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s home with a checklist to ‘execute’ him, authorities alleged.”
* There was some interesting procedural drama on this today: “The stage is set for a Sunday afternoon Senate vote to limit debate on President Donald Trump’s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.”
* One meeting per week seems oddly low: “Despite an increase in the number of coronavirus cases across the country — including a record-setting 77,000 cases Thursday — Dr. Anthony Fauci told MSNBC that the coronavirus task force now meets only weekly.” * This story gets more and more interesting all the time: “A second whistleblower has been fired from the Texas attorney general’s office after reporting his boss, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, to law enforcement for crimes including bribery and abuse of office, according to a former senior official with the agency who had knowledge about the firing but did not want to be named for fear of legal repercussions.” * If nothing else, this was memorable: “President Donald Trump on Thursday gestured at possibly taking some responsibility for a failed response to the COVID-19 pandemic, before quickly retreating into a familiar blame game with China. ‘I take full responsibility,’ Trump said, before quickly adding: ‘It’s not my fault it came here. It’s China’s fault.’” Have a safe weekend.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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