In the next episode of "Axios on HBO," Axios co-founder Jim VandeHei speaks with Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) about where his and his colleagues' intense loyalty to President Trump comes from, and how it's enabled the transformation of the Republican Party.
Catch the full interview on Monday, Oct. 12 at 11:05 p.m. ET/PT on all HBO platforms, and you can always get more “Axios on HBO” in the Axios app.
Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
An outbreak of COVID-19 has struck the White House — including the president himself — just weeks before the 2020 election.
Why it matters: If the president can get infected, anyone can. And the scramble to figure out the scope of this outbreak is a high-profile, high-stakes microcosm of America's larger failures to contain the virus and to stand up a contact-tracing system that can respond to new cases before they have a chance to become outbreaks.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday that she believes it's "extremely important" that Joe Biden offer Sen. Bernie Sanders and other progressive leaders Cabinet positions if he's elected president.
The big picture: Ocasio-Cortez was pressed repeatedly on policy differences between her and the more moderate Biden, including her opposition to fracking and support for Medicare for All. She responded that it would be a "privilege" and a "luxury" to be able to lobby a Biden administration on progressive issues, insisting that the focus right now should be on winning the White House.
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows defended Vice President Pence's decision to continue traveling and campaigning despite his exposure to aides who have tested positive for COVID-19, saying Sunday that Pence is exempt from CDC guidelines because he is "essential personnel."
Why it matters: CDC guidelines call for people who have been exposed to the virus to quarantine for 14 days. Meadows said on CNN's "State of the Union" that Pence will wear a mask when he travels and argued that "he's not just campaigning," pointing to the Israel-Sudan normalization agreement announced by the White House last week.