MSNBC: Steve Rattner: Red states use Obamacare more; health care cuts hit red states hardest
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Fox Business: Newt Gingrich: This country is sliding into a pro-Chinese, communist dictatorship
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich defines the ‘real distinction’ in Erika Kirk’s remarks at Charlie’s memorial and warns which country is ‘sliding’ into a dictatorship on ‘Kudlow.’
Inquisitr: Donald Trump Struggles With Basic Math, Sparks Memes Over ‘500% Price Cut’ Claim
Trump’s math on drug prices is giving America a collective migraine.
Although President Donald Trump has consistently made dramatic claims, his most recent promise to cut the cost of prescription drugs drastically left many confused and chuckling aloud. Trump repeated his well-known talking point (that he is lowering drug prices) during his speech at the American Cornerstone Institute’s Founder’s Dinner at George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate.
The catch? His math skills were, well, let’s say, fit for a comedy sketch.
He bragged, “United States, you’re gonna see the biggest cuts in drug prices (…) we’re gonna literally be cutting prices by 500 percent, 600 percent,” before citing the bizarre example of prescription drugs costing $88 in London and $130 in the United States.
If you were wondering, the government (or pharmaceutical companies) would have to pay you to take medicine if prices were reduced by more than 100%! So, according to Trump, Americans will be leaving CVS with free insulin, inhalers, and a bonus check.
Associated Press fact-checkers quickly reminded everyone that Trump’s claims were false.
They mentioned that although his administration took steps to reduce costs, no one has ever seen the “1,200 to 1,500 percent” drops he constantly boasts about. Anything over 100% is not only erroneous but mathematically impossible, per the AP.
In a move to maintain some truth in the messaging, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said that it is still “committed to carrying out President Trump’s directive to lower prescription drug prices.” However, the numbers that Donald Trump was randomly flinging around had already gone viral, provoking social media memes and booing.
Mary Trump, Donald Trump’s outspoken niece, added fuel to the fire by mocking him in a video that went viral. She laughed at her uncle’s inflated claims, calling him an “incompetent moron” who was incapable of performing “basic arithmetic.”
“From what I understand about doing basic arithmetic, this would mean that at a discount of 1500%, the asthma inhaler I now pay $700 for every other month will (…) be free,” she said. “The pharmaceutical company that makes that inhaler will have to pay me $1493000 every time I get a refill.” She sarcastically broke down the calculations and concluded that “Everybody except Donald” seems to understand that cutting expenses by 1500% is mathematically impossible.
The trolling was swift and intense. People joked that Americans would soon become millionaires from filling their prescriptions if Trump’s calculations were correct. Others noted that he has been making these overblown claims for months; in August, for example, he used the exact phrase, “1,200, 1,300, 1,500 percent.”
Donald Trump’s claim that he is not only influencing drug prices but also changing economics has become something of a joke. Trump’s war on Big Pharma may have been an election promise that won over us, but his numbers affect his reputation.
Fox Business: Texas Democrat files impeachment articles targeting Pam Bondi, Kash Patel [Video]
Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Fla., discusses the seriousness of articles of impeachment filed against Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel on ‘Mornings with Maria.’
Washington Post: RFK Jr. says anyone who wants a covid shot can get one. Not these Americans.
Pharmacies and doctors are struggling to adjust to a new regulatory environment for updated coronavirus vaccines that are no longer broadly recommended.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told senators last week that anyone can get a new coronavirus vaccine. But many Americans are finding the opposite.
Confusion is rippling through the health care system as pharmacies and doctors try to adjust to providing a vaccine that is no longer broadly recommended. Americans’ experiences vary widely, from easily booking appointments to having to cross state lines to access the shots, according to more than 3,200 submissions to The Washington Post’s request for readers to share their experiences.
Chain pharmacy locations in some parts of the country have yet to stock the shots or are turning away patients seeking the updated vaccines manufactured to protect people from the worst effects of new strains of the coronavirus. In some states, they require prescriptions, a step that has largely not been required since vaccines became widely available in early 2021.
Even more confusing: Pharmacies are reaching different conclusions about whether they’re allowed to administer coronavirus vaccines, even in the same state. And some states, including New York and Massachusetts, have scrambled in recent days to rewrite their rules to make it easier to get shots.
Many patients puzzle about whether they qualify to get the shot at all, or if they remain free as in years past.
Officials in the Trump administration have insisted that the new coronavirus vaccines remain available to those who want them and have blasted those who have suggested otherwise. Some Republican leaders are casting doubt on the safety of the shots, while some Democratic governors are rushing to preserve access — underscoring the nation’s deepening political divide over vaccines.
In Washington, D.C., Vernon Stewart, a 59-year-old retired parking enforcement officer, spent Wednesday riding his bike to see a doctor to get a prescription for the vaccine and to find a pharmacy where he could get it, only to be told the shot was not available. At one CVS, Stewart was seated in the chair with his sleeve rolled up when a nurse emerged to tell him his Medicaid insurance plan didn’t cover it.
On Friday morning, he hopped on the Metro train to Temple Hills, in Maryland — a state where CVS is not requiring prescriptions. He didn’t have to show his insurance card and paid nothing for the shot. He left with a bandage on his arm and a free bag of popcorn.
“It shouldn’t have to be this hard,” Stewart said Friday. “It was such a hassle. But I found a way.”
Doctors have the option to provide coronavirus vaccines “off label” to lower risk groups without approval from the Food and Drug Administration. Amid the fierce debates about coronavirus vaccines and low uptake of the latest versions, plenty of Americans want them.
Some, like Stewart, simply want to protect their health, despite not being considered at high risk. Many care for elderly or immunocompromised people and don’t want to get them sick. Some want to be immunized before traveling abroad or to reduce their risk of long covid.
Research has shown that annual coronavirus vaccinations reduce hospitalization and death, especially in people with weaker immune systems because of their age and underlying conditions. Health officials in the Trump administration argue that a universal recommendation is no longer warranted, because clinical trials have not demonstrated the vaccines are effective at reducing infection or transmission in younger and otherwise healthy people who are at low risk of hospitalization. Past research into updated coronavirus vaccines suggests they confer short-term partial protection against infections and can reduce transmission by reducing viral loads and symptoms.
Under Kennedy, the FDA in August narrowed approval of updated coronavirus shots to those 65 and older and people with underlying conditions that elevate their risk of severe disease. Typically, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory committee meets soon after such an announcement — often a few days later — to recommend which Americans should get coronavirus vaccines. The recommendations, which previously applied to everyone ages 6 months and older, compel insurers to pay for the vaccines.
But this year, the CDC panel was thrown into turmoil when Kennedy fired its members and replaced them with his own picks, most of whom have been critical of coronavirus vaccines. The panel is now scheduled to meet Sept. 18-19.
The vast majority of Americans receive coronavirus shots at pharmacies. More than a dozen states limit the vaccines that pharmacists can give without a doctor’s prescription to only those recommended by the CDC advisory panel, according to the American Pharmacists Association, complicating efforts even for those who are seniors or have preexisting conditions as approved by the FDA.
Five Democratic-led states — Colorado, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York and Pennsylvania — have recently issued orders to pharmacies to provide coronavirus vaccines without a prescription.
At CVS, the nation’s largest pharmacy chain, prescriptions are still required for coronavirus vaccines in Louisiana, Maine, New Mexico (where the order has yet to take effect), Utah and West Virginia. Patients in higher-risk groups can receive them through CVS Minute Clinics to bypass prescription requirements in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia and D.C.
The nation’s other two largest pharmacy chains — Walgreens and Walmart — have not provided a list of states where prescriptions are required to get the vaccine.
In a combative appearance before the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday, Kennedy bristled when Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-New Hampshire) accused the Trump administration of taking steps that deny people vaccines.
“Everybody can get the vaccine. You’re just making things up,” Kennedy said. “You’re making things up to scare people, and it’s a lie.”
In Virginia, Elaine Cox said she and her husband asked their doctor for a prescription before leaving Saturday for a vacation in Italy. The office declined because it hadn’t received CDC guidance. Cox, 68, suffers from chronic lung disease, and her nephew died of the viral infection in 2022.
“I was crying this afternoon about this,” she said on Thursday. “My family takes [covid] very seriously.”
Pharmacy employees have given conflicting instructions about how to get coronavirus vaccines, patients report.
In San Antonio, 78-year-old Brant Mittler was told at a CVS Minute Clinic that he needed a prescription on Monday, even though the pharmacy includes Texas among its no-prescription states. The next day, a pharmacist at the same clinic told him it wasn’t needed.
In states where CVS does not require prescriptions, coronavirus vaccine appointments aren’t available for younger, healthier people outside the recommended categories. But the list of qualifying medical conditions, including physical inactivity, being overweight or a history of smoking, is so long that nearly anyone who wants a shot should be able to get one, said Amy Thibault, a CVS spokeswoman.
“If you’re five pounds overweight, you qualify,” she said. “If you’ve smoked a cigarette once, you qualify.”
Some people seeking prescriptions from their doctors face pushback.
In Louisville, Stephen Pedigo said his primary care doctor recommended against receiving the vaccine, arguing that covid is mild and that the vaccine has “a lot of complications,” including heart problems, according to a screenshot of their messages.
The most recent CDC guidance says coronavirus vaccination is “especially important” if you are 65 or older and notes vaccines underwent the most intensive safety analysis in U.S. history.
Pedigo, who is 66 and has undergone a heart valve replacement, insisted, and the office gave him the prescription. He received the shot at a CVS on Friday. “I trust the vaccines are safe,” Pedigo said.
Doctors offices also have reported challenges helping patients get vaccinated.
In Raleigh, North Carolina, pediatrician Mary-Cassie Shaw said her office has preordered from Moderna hundreds of shots, at $200 a dose, but worries that insurers won’t provide reimbursement.
Families for the past month have been asking for coronavirus shots to go along with flu vaccines, she said.
One 12-year-old immunocompromised girl went to CVS but needed a prescription from Shaw — who was asked by the pharmacist to rewrite the prescription to include certain diagnosis codes indicating why the patient needed the vaccine.
“I have to do the legwork to come up with the codes that might qualify them,” Shaw said. “It’s a huge barrier. It’s ridiculous.”
Vaccination rates for the latest coronavirus shots have been low, particularly for people not considered at high risk, according to CDC estimates. For adults, uptake of the 2024-2025 vaccine ranged from 11 percent for younger adults to nearly 44 percent for those 65 and older. Roughly 13 percent of children between 6 months and 17 years received the shot.
The most effective way to increase vaccine uptake is to make it easier for people to get the shots, said Noel Brewer, professor of public health at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health. In states such as North Carolina, the added step of getting prescriptions will prompt many people to not bother, he said.
“They might even just hear about other people having a hassle and decide to go back another time and never get back to it,” said Brewer, who studies patient behavior in regard to vaccines.
Last week, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington announced plans to form a “health alliance” to coordinate vaccine recommendations based on advice from national medical organizations rather than the federal government, because, they said, federal actions have raised concerns “about the politicization of science,” according to a joint statement.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) announced Thursday that her state would be the first to require insurance companies to cover vaccines recommended by the state’s Department of Public Health, even if the CDC does not. Washington state government officials on Friday recommended coronavirus vaccines for people ages 6 months and older.
At 59, Brewer doesn’t fall into the category of people for whom the FDA recommended updated coronavirus vaccines. Instead, Brewer said, he will wait until the fall, when he might travel to a blue state.
Slingshot News: ‘Was That Part Of The Deal?’: Sen. Dick Durbin Torches GOP Colleagues Over Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ In Scathing Remarks
‘Was That Part Of The Deal?‘: Sen. Dick Durbin Torches GOP Colleagues Over Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ In Scathing Remarks
On the Senate floor several days ago, Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) addressed Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) and his lies about Donald Trump’s “one big beautiful bill.” Durbin discussed the real impacts of Trump’s bill (now law) on American families.
MSNBC: ‘Answer the question you coward!’: Anti-Trump protests hit cities and town halls
‘Answer the question you coward!’: Anti-Trump protests hit cities and town halls
Host Of “The Bulwark Podcast” Tim Miller, MSNBC Senior Political Analyst Matt Dowd, and Princeton University Professor Eddie Glaude join Stephanie Ruhle – in for Nicolle Wallace to discuss the growing dissatisfaction with Donald Trump’s agenda and what Democrats can do with the heightened engagement from voters.
Raw Story: These two factors — and no others — will lead to Trump’s defeat | Opinion
Despite the inarguably awful actions this administration has taken during its first eight months in office, Donald Trump remains largely impervious in the polls — low to be sure but hardly politically threatening, right in his zone. This despite taking some of the most unpopular and undemocratic actions in generations.
Yes, for a brief period, during his first week or two in office, he peaked above a 50 percent approval rating. But since then he has gracefully found the glideslope to his comfort zone, anywhere from 42-46 percent aggregate approval, 50-53 percent disapproval.
Even given the number of unpopular decisions that he has made — DOGE cuts to essential services, masked mauraders kidnapping the innocent, hiding the Epstein files, tariffs, health care cuts — the dynamic remains the same. There is almost nothing the man can do to fall into dangerous, sub-38 percent approval.
But there is are two elements on the horizon, one that likely shouldn’t play a huge role but does, another that always does.
First: there are exploding questions about his health.
Is there any there “there?” Seems so. Looks matter, especially within cults of personality. Trump’s age — 79 now — matters in the polls.
Much of Trump’s mystique among MAGA revolves around his seeming indestructibility, whether concerning his wealth, litigation against him (meagre attempts at criminal accountability, throwing out the award in a major New York civil case), or just his simple, unpleasant aggression.
The dynamic can even seep over to political independents, who see Trump as at least “doing something” and doing it well for himself. It must be working, some think. This is his real superpower.
So indications that Trump’s health may be teetering pose a major threat to the perception of invincibility. It’s important. If he ever loses the “cape,” it is all but impossible to get it back.
Both hands now show severe bruising. Fattened ankles have led — finally — to the admission that he does have some cardiovascular disease, whether just venous insufficiency or something more. There is the swinging gait that comes and goes. And there does seem to be a greater propensity to simply meander from topic to topic, on an ever-looser tether to linear thought.
He also just looks old: see pictures from the Oval Office meeting last Friday. Trump may never have looked worse.
The thing about cults is that the leader is absolutely invulnerable, the hold on people impermeable, right up until they are not. Once a leak springs, it is impossible to hold water back.
Yes, it is utterly infuriating that there has been so little pushback against troops in cities, threats to former allies, cutting Medicaid, the racism, the “cruelty as the point,” and even the Epstein files, which will now never amount to anything, a “Democratic hoax,” unless several victims come forward with direct knowledge of Trump’s actions, and they don’t seem to be in a hurry.
But it doesn’t appear that any of the above can puncture Trump. Anyone in doubt needs to revisit the polls that refuse to move or simply spend a half-hour on X. Nothing has changed, except Trump’s acceleration in his push to fascism.
In a post-truth America, where Trump can claim 70 percent approval rating with a straight face, dismiss a mediocre jobs report with a termination and declaration the numbers are fixed, make baseless claims to being the “hottest country in the world,” claim crime as a national emergency and only himself as the savior, Trump’s opponents are left searching for a leveling truth.
Enter the appearance of diminishing health.
Whatever is going on with his hands, it cannot be hidden. Whatever it is about his ankles, it cannot easily be cured. The doddering goes way back, but it means more now after all the attacks on Joe Biden.
It’s a fact that Trump is getting older and appears to be getting worse. The best his followers can do is write it off to simply aging. Precisely. It leaves them uneasy, seeing Trump vulnerable for perhaps the first time — that being time itself.
And then there’s the other wild card — the economy.
Inflation is just getting going. But in the same way it is impossible to hide a black spot on the back of a hand or slurred words going nowhere, no makeup can cover a bag of potato chips over $5, beef approaching $20 a pound for a decent cut and getting higher, along with other goods rising and rent to pay — all without any commensurate increase in pay.
Put the two undeniables together, Trump’s health and his sickening economy, and there are two paths to sinking Trump to polling levels that will leave him and the GOP extremely vulnerable in 2026.
The country is largely unmoved by troops invading cities, masked men kidnapping working undocumented migrants (and some Americans) off the streets, stolen legislative seats, threats to the vote.
All of it screams fascism, but all of it has too many people simply yawning.
Anyone doubting that Trump acutely feels the vulnerability need only look at his responses to his major problems: hiding the hand, firing people over numbers, the constant and humiliating talk about the country being “hot.” And yet too many simply don’t care. His supporters rely on him for entertainment and have their own lives to worry about. The marauding menace in Washington D.C. does little more than appear on screens as an owning of the libs, which is what he was hired for.
Nothing touches the man … except for indications that he’s weaker, going downhill, unable to fight like he once did. That and chips, for $5.50.
It’s the little things, things that don’t have to make sense.
Trump won’t get younger. Energy prices show no sign of going down. Chips and bread seem destined to jump. He promised to reverse such trends but he threw gas on the fire with tariffs. It isn’t turning around.
Cults are invulnerable until they’re not. The things that make them teeter don’t have to make any sense. Watch these developments. They just might work, which might be enough.
Keep an eye out for black and blue hands, puffy eyes and swollen ankles. And prices on chips and sirloin.
Two small pins, sharp enough to pop the balloon. He knows it.
https://www.rawstory.com/raw-investigates/trump-age-2673924798
Root: These Leaders Are Calling For Americans to Rebel Against Trump Administration
From an Army general to congressmen, these powerful voices are urging folks to rebel against the Trump administration.
From where you stand, it may look like you’re just watching unimaginable stuff go down, and nobody’s stepping in to stop it. In only eight months of his second term, President Donald Trump has managed to undermine the Constitution, disrupt the economy, send military troops to cities without congressional approval and divide the country over immigration, civil rights and more. It seems like there’s nothing regular Americans can do to stop him as he continues to complete the missions of his 2024 campaign, but many political leaders are offering suggestions to fight back in ways never seen before.
From local state officials to journalists and influential internet personalities, these powerful voices are urging folks to rebel against the Trump administration, and here’s exactly how they say it needs to be done.
- DA Larry Krasner
- Former Congressman Beto O’Rourke
- Congressman Jerry Nadler
- Roland Martin
- Former Vice President Al Gore
- Director Marshall Herskovitz
- Former U.S. AG Eric Holder
- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
- NYT Columnist Charles M. Blow
- Congresswoman Lois Frankel
- Greed v. Young Americans
- Local Resistance Movements
- FEMA Fights Back
- Peaceful March Against Trump
- Army General Mark Milley
- Journalist Toure
- Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom
https://www.theroot.com/these-leaders-are-calling-for-americans-to-rebel-agains-2000058801
DNYUZ: Republican Storms Out of Back Door After Being Laughed at During Town Hall
At one point, a woman asks, “Why are people not getting due process? Why are immigrants not getting due process?” Moore’s answer went down like a lead balloon. “So, due process for a citizen and a non-citizen are different things.” He was drowned out by loud jeers and cries of “false!”
What a f*ck*ng retard! We are all — citizens and non-citizens alike — equal under the law.
A Republican congressman left a heated town hall via the back door after he was relentlessly laughed at and heckled while trying to defend President Trump.
Rep. Barry Moore was hammered with tough queries—and more than a few heckles—during a raucous town hall in Daphne, Alabama.
The tense showdown was captured in a 40-minute video from the advocacy group Indivisible Baldwin County. It shows Moore squirming under relentless questioning about Medicaid cuts, the closure of rural hospitals, Trump-era tariffs, immigration crackdowns, abortion bans, and even the deployment of the National Guard in Washington, D.C..
Moore’s attempts to respond were drowned out with laughter and interruptions. At one point, the audience openly mocked his evasive answers.
By the end of the night, the Republican lawmaker had had enough, cutting things short and slipping away through an exit rather than facing his increasingly hostile crowd.
At one point, a woman asks, “Why are people not getting due process? Why are immigrants not getting due process?” Moore’s answer went down like a lead balloon. “So, due process for a citizen and a non-citizen are different things.” He was drowned out by loud jeers and cries of “false!”
Moore continued speaking into his mic, but he couldn’t be heard over the crowd’s reaction. Failing to restore calm, he turned to an aide who took the mic from him before he headed for the exit to chants of “shame!”
The question about due process provedto be the tipping point, but Moore had been grilled all night in Baldwin County, an area where proved toDonald Trump won 78.4 percent of the vote in the 2024 presidential election.
Asked what he viewed as Donald Trump’s “most meaningful” accomplishment, Moore cited border security. The audience responded with laughter, loud jeers, and chants of “Next question.” He was also accused of “lying” after asserting that Medicaid cuts in Trump’s megabill would apply only to undocumented immigrants.
Moore did not offer closing remarks or say good night as he exited the event in Daphne, a suburb of Mobile.
In an interview on Thursday on The Dale Jackson Show, a conservative Alabama podcast and radio program, Moore denied slipping out the back. “We left like any other event,” he said. “I think we tried to engage and answer questions, but unfortunately, it got hijacked.”
Moore added that he was “so calm” throughout the event and insisted he “doesn’t mind facing the heat head on.” He attributed the disruptions to “some of the same bad actors,” who he said he had seen at other appearances.
The Alabama congressman, first elected in 2020, is now running for Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s seat as Tuberville campaigns for governor.
Since Donald Trump re-entered the White House in January, numerous Republican lawmakers have faced intense backlash during in-person town halls. Rep. Warren Davidson was booed over Trump-sponsored policies in Ohio, and, amid sweeping DOGE cuts in February, Rep. Rich McCormick in Georgia was heckled for justifying Elon Musk’s work.
Rep. Mark Alford was the latest GOP lawmaker to host a contentious live event during the August recess. On Monday, voters at a town hall meeting in Missouri demanded that the Republican congressman denounce President Donald Trump’s “lies”—and told him to get his head “out of Trump’s a— .”
Moore did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
