The Critical Hour

Trump Administration Ending Support For 13 Drive-Thru Testing Sites, But More Tests Needed

On this episode of The Critical Hour Dr. Wilmer Leon is joined by Dr. Margaret Flower, physician and Co-editor of Popular Resistance.
Sputnik

At a Saturday campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, US President Donald Trump said, “When you do testing to that extent, you're going to find more people, you're going to find more cases. So I said to my people, slow the testing down, please." Then, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said at a Monday news briefing that "any suggestion that testing has been curtailed is not rooted in fact … It was a comment that he made in jest." Now, Trump "says that he was not kidding when he told rally-goers over the weekend that he asked staff to slow down coronavirus testing, undercutting senior members of his own administration who said the comment was made in jest," CNN reported Tuesday. Meanwhile, Politico reported Wednesday, "The federal government is ending its support for 13 drive-thru coronavirus testing sites on June 30, urging states to take over their operations — even as cases spike in several parts of the country." What are we to make of this?

"House Democrats are set to pass a policing reform proposal on Thursday named in honor of George Floyd, whose death in police custody has sparked nationwide calls to address police misconduct and racial injustice and prompted weeks of protests and civil unrest," CNN reported Thursday. The vote on the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act "comes a day after Democrats blocked a competing Republican bill in the Senate. The House bill is expected to pass largely along party lines, with Republicans opposing it," CNN noted. Is any of this really substantive, and will any of this really get to the root of the problem?

"Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a lawsuit Wednesday against ExxonMobil, Koch Industries, and the American Petroleum Institute for mounting a 30-year 'campaign of deception' related to the climate crisis," Common Dreams reported Wednesday. How significant is this?

"The ACLU on Wednesday urged policymakers to end law enforcement use of facial recognition technology and filed an administrative complaint with Detroit police on behalf of Robert Williams, a Black man who was wrongfully arrested in January after software owned by Michigan State Police misidentified him as a shoplifting suspect," Common Dreams reported Wednesday. What are to make of this?

GUESTS:

Dr. Margaret Flowers - Physician and co-editor of Popular Resistance.

Attorney John Burris - One of the top lawyers in California, if not the country. His firm handles police misconduct, including excessive force, deadly force, false arrest, illegal searches, racial profiling and jail abuse.

Trahern Crews - National co-chair for the Green Party USA. He lives in Minneapolis.

Dr. Clarence Lusane - Former chairman of the Political Science Department at Howard University. He’s an internationally recognized expert on comparative and international politics.

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