Feb 6, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Buttigieg responds to Biden's electability criticism

While on "The View" Thursday, former Mayor Pete Buttigieg fired back at Joe Biden for his remarks that it would be a risk for the Democratic Party to nominate Buttigieg, given his limited experience as a small-town mayor.

"Well if that argument is about electability and the ability to win, we just had the first election of the 2020 process. I think that's my answer."
— Pete Buttigieg on "The View"

The state of play: Buttigieg has earned the highest percentage of delegates in Iowa so far with 26.2%, followed by Sen. Bernie Sanders at 26.1%, Sen. Elizabeth Warren at 18.2% and Joe Biden at 15.8%.

  • The former vice president called the Iowa caucus a "gut punch" and attacked Sanders for his socialistic agenda and Buttigieg for his lack of experience.

Go deeper: Pete Buttigieg holds narrow lead in Iowa with 97% of precincts reporting

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Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 2 p.m. ET: 5,929,312 — Total deaths: 357,781 — Total recoveries — 2,385,926 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 2 p.m. ET: 1,709,996 — Total deaths: 101,002 — Total recoveries: 391,508 — Total tested: 15,192,481 — Map.
  3. States: New York to allow private businesses to deny entry to customers without masks.
  4. Public health: Louisiana Sen. Cassidy wants more frequent testing of nursing home workers.
  5. Congress: Pelosi slams McConnell on stimulus delay — Sen. Tim Kaine and wife test positive for coronavirus antibodies.
  6. Business: Louisiana senator says young people are key to reopening the economy —U.S. GDP drop revised lower to 5% in the first quarter.
  7. What should I do? When you can be around others after contracting the coronavirus — Traveling, asthma, dishes, disinfectants and being contagious — Masks, lending books and self-isolating — Exercise, laundry, what counts as soap — Pets, moving and personal health — Answers about the virus from Axios experts — What to know about social distancing — How to minimize your risk.
  8. Other resources: CDC on how to avoid the virus, what to do if you get it, the right mask to wear.

Subscribe to Mike Allen's Axios AM to follow our coronavirus coverage each morning from your inbox.

Updated 50 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Twitter fact-checks Chinese official's claims that coronavirus originated in U.S.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian. Photo: Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images

Twitter slapped a fact-check label on a pair of months-old tweets from a Chinese government spokesperson that falsely suggested that the coronavirus originated in the U.S. and was brought to Wuhan by the U.S. military, directing users to "get the facts about COVID-19."

Why it matters: The labels were added after criticism that Twitter had fact-checked tweets from President Trump about mail-in voting, but not other false claims from Chinese Communist Party officials and other U.S. adversaries.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow1 hour ago - Technology

Podcast: Trump vs. Twitter, round two

President Trump is escalating his response to Twitter’s fact check of his recent tweets about mail-in voting, issuing an executive order that's designed to begin limiting social media's liability protections. Dan digs in with Axios' Margaret Harding McGill.

Go deeper: Twitter vs. Trump... vs. Twitter

1 hour ago - Politics & Policy