It took a stock market crash — and a Fox News star's intervention — to finally snap President Trump's delusional and possibly disastrous fixation with treating the coronavirus like just another winter flu.
Why it matters: Because the government was so slow to distribute tests, Trump officials don't know how far the virus has spread in the U.S.
The coronavirus could make it harder for some U.S. voters to cast ballots this year, but that threat can be a catalyst for election changes that have previously met partisan resistance, elections law expert Trevor Potter said in an interview with "Axios on HBO."
Why it matters: Congress and state and local elections officials are looking for ways to protect voters in remaining primaries and even the general election.
Rep. James Clyburn has a list of African American women who are qualified to be vice president, and he told "Axios on HBO" in an interview that there's a "much deeper bench than people realize."
The big picture: Clyburn is widely credited with saving Biden's campaign following his endorsement in the South Carolina Democratic primaries.
Rep. James Clyburn, the top-ranking African American in American politics, told "Axios on HBO" that President Trump is a racist who hired white supremacists, warning America “could very well go the way of Germany in the 1930s.”
Why it matters: Clyburn is a force in Democratic politics widely credited for resurrecting Joe Biden’s campaign with his South Carolina primary endorsement. He warned in great detail of what he sees as troubling parallels between America today and Nazi Germany.
Madeleine Westerhout, who spent 2½ years as President Trump's Oval Office gatekeeper, will release a frank memoir on Aug. 11 about one mistake that cost her one of the world's most fascinating jobs.
Details: Westerhout, former Director of Oval Office Operations, plans a searing description of a "momentary lapse in judgment that occurred because of too much wine at a dinner."
In an interview with "Axios on HBO," DNC chair Tom Perez said he "doesn't know what faith" supporters of President Trump are worshipping when they go to church after going to Trump rallies.
Driving the news: "I think the challenge that I see among a lot of people that go to Donald Trump rallies, and then they will go to church on Sunday, and I'm not ... I don't know what faith they are worshipping," Perez said in an interview recorded last week on a swing through Florida.
Viewers tuning in to tonight’s Democratic debate will meet a new Joe Biden — one who’s adopted two new progressive policies from Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders and who’s eager to pull their supporters away from the movement they’ve built into his own coalition.
Why it matters: This could very well be the last primary debate of the 2020 cycle, and Biden knows he has to start the work of winning over Sanders’ supporters before Sanders drops out.
President Trump tweeted Sunday that he is "strongly considering" a full pardon for his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who has had his sentencing postponed repeatedly over the last two years.
Why it matters: Flynn was the first Trump associate to be convicted or plead guilty in the Mueller investigation. The Justice Department recently appointed an outside prosecutor to review Flynn's case, a move that has triggered suspicions of political interference.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin denied on ABC's "This Week" Sunday that President Trump has gotten things "wrong" about his own coronavirus proposals, despite the administration having to walk back several of the policies Trump outlined in his Oval Office address on Wednesday.
Why it matters: The president's credibility is being called into question during a global health crisis that is likely to worsen.
Vice President Mike Pence,often caricatured as the White House Yes Man, is doing many of the things critics wish President Trump would do.
The big picture: He's a daily, consistent presence on the airwaves. He provides useful info rather than random digressions. He leanson health and medical experts — both at public events and behind the scenes when he's chairing the White House Coronavirus Task Force.
Peer-to-peer (P2P) texting is experiencing a massive uptick in political campaigns throughout the country now that in-person campaign activities and forms of voter outreach are being suspended to protect public health, P2P experts and campaigns tell Axios.
Why it matters: Campaign tactics like rallies, town halls, phone banking and canvassing are becoming harder to do as officials urge people to quarantine themselves and stay at home due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden was endorsed by the National Education Association Saturday night.
Why it matters: The endorsement by the largest labor union in the United States comes the night before the former vice president's Democratic presidential debate with Sen. Bernie Sanders in CNN's Washington studio, which will take place with no live audience as a preventative measure against the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Why it matters: Georgia is the second state to postpone primaries over the outbreak as officials scramble to contain the virus, which had infected more than 2,700 Americans by Saturday evening. On Friday, Louisiana moved its Democratic presidential primary from April 4 to June 20, citing concerns over the global pandemic.
