Jake Tapper, chief Washington correspondent for CNN, said it best after the first presidential debate. The emotional political rollercoaster of this past week was “a hot mess, inside a dumpster fire, inside a train wreck.”
From the first presidential debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden to Trump, first lady Melania Trump and a slew of top-Republican officials contracting COVID-19, this week has been one of the craziest news cycles the American people have ever lived through.
And that’s saying something, with this administration.
Because it’s been a lot (and I mean A LOT) of information to take in all at once, I thought it might be helpful to break everything down through a time-line of key current events and affairs that have happened within these monumental past ten days.
So sit back, try not to get too stressed, and I hope this, somewhat, helps our heads from spinning!
Saturday, Sept. 26: Trump Officially Nominates Amy Coney Barrett To Fill Justice Ginsburg’s Supreme Court Seat
The White House Rose Garden is where this story begins.
Trump and more than 150 guests (including eight attendees who, as of now, have tested positive for COVID-19) packed into the Rose Garden, with masks few and far between, to introduce Trump’s appointee to Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Supreme Court seat, Amy Coney Barrett.
Guests reportedly, “mingled, hugged and kissed on the cheek, most without wearing masks. An indoor reception followed the outdoor ceremony.” A week later, many are speculating that this event, with virtually no social distancing guidelines or mask requirements, spearheaded the spread of the virus among top Republican officials.
The nomination of Barrett has already led to an ugly political battle between Democrats and Republicans, with Democrats urging Republicans to delay the vote of Barrett until after the election. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, however, has no plans of delaying this appointment. In fact, he guarantees it.
During the 2016 election, Lindsey Graham, Republican Senator of South Carolina, urged Democrats to delay their appointment of a new justice until after the election:
“I want you to use my words against me. If there’s a Republcan president in 2016 and a vacancy occurs in the last year of the first term, you can say Lindsey Graham said, ‘Let’s let the next president, whoever it might be, make that nomination.’”
Yet, four years later, Graham has gone back on his word, and the battle to appoint Barrett continues, despite the current circumstances.
Sunday, Sept. 27: The New York Times Releases Trump Tax Returns
The New York Times then released an explosive exclusive: “Long-Concealed Records Show Trump’s Chronic Losses and Years of Tax Avoidance.” This comes off the heels of four years of several public officials calling on Trump to release his tax records to the American people.
The article found that Trump only paid $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017, and prior to that, paid “no income taxes at all in 10 of the previous 15 years — largely because he reported losing much more money than he made.”
The story dominated the news cycle for a solid 48 hours, and yet, it would not be the craziest story the American people would hear that week.
Tuesday, Sept. 29: “A hot mess, inside a dumpster fire, inside a trainwreck” of a Debate, Plus Biden’s Tax Returns
Shortly before the debate started, Biden released his tax returns as well. They revealed a picture quite different from Trump’s. Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, PhD, reported earning $944,737 in taxable income, and paid a 31 percent tax rate of $299,346 in federal income taxes.
While this was, “a strategic move” on part of the Biden campaign, it did not stop the debate from being what many are calling “the worst debate in presidential history.”
Some of the chaotic, “s*** show” highlights:
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Trump refused to condemn white supremacists and right-wing miltia groups and specifically telling a Neo-Nazi Group to “stand back and stand by.”
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Trump steamrolled both Biden and Chris Wallace, the moderator.
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Biden telling Trump, “you’re the worst president America has ever had.”
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Personal attacks by Trump against Biden on his education, his son’s drug problem and more.
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Biden frustratingly sighing, “will you shut up, man.”
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Trump blamed a “lack of forest maintenance” for the wildfires in California, rather than climate change.
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Trump touted “bringing back football” as an accomplishment when 200,000 Americans have died because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Biden broke fundraising records, raising over $31.5 million in slightly over 24 hours after Tuesday’s tumultuous debate. $10 million of that amount was donated during and shortly after the debate ended.
It is important to note that although the debate hall the debate took place in required all attendees to wear masks per the Cleveland Clinic, especially because the debate took place indoors, the Trump family refused to wear masks throughout the duration of the debate.
Jill Biden, and many from the Democratic side of the debate hall, reportedly looked over at the Trump family in disbelief. Yet, the Trumps continued to do what they always do: disregard mandates and basic guidelines because they do not believe rules apply to them.
Wednesday, Sept. 30: Hope Hicks Appears Symptomatic and White House Officials Are Informed of Hick’s Condition
On Wednesday, Trump flew to Minnesota for one of his infamous rallies, in which his supporters rarely wear masks as they crowd together, and a fundraiser. Throughout his event, he reportedly threw hats to his supporters, only two days before testing positive for the virus.
Hope Hicks, former White House director of strategic communications (a position created by Trump), and later communications director, started to feel symptoms of the virus.
Hicks reportedly tried to isolate herself on Air Force One, despite being in direct contact with Trump prior.
Thursday, Oct. 1: The Melania Tapes, Harassment Allegations Against Kimberly Guilfoyle, Trump’s Indoor Fundraiser, and Hick’s Official Announcement of a Positive Diagnosis
Thursday is when things started to kick up into high gear.
One story that people are forgetting about, is Donald Trump Jr.’s girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, (the star of several viral TikToks from her role at the Republican National Convention) is accused of incredibly disturbing sexual harassment allegations. Fox News reportedly paid a $4 million settlement, for the serious and toxic sexual harassment allegations to Guilfoyle’s former assistant, as well as her hair and makeup teams.
Then, hours before Trump’s official diagnosis would hit CNN and Fox, tapes released by a former senior advisor to the First Lady were released, in which the first lady complains about Christmas decorations and displays an utter disregard for the children detained at the U.S./Mexican border.
Melania Trump said, “I’m working my a** off with the Christmas stuff that, you know, who gives a f*** about Christmas stuff and decorations but I need to do it, right? And then I do it, and I say I’m working on Christmas and planning for Christmas. And they say, ‘What about the children that are separated?’ Give me a f***ing break.”
Trump then traveled to an indoor fundraiser in New Jersey, despite White House officials knowing of his potential exposure to the virus, potentially putting hundreds, if not thousands, of his supporters lives at risk.
Lastly, the news that Hicks tested positive for COVID-19 was officially announced, dominating the news cycle. Trump quickly announced that he would begin quarantining as he awaited the results of his COVID test. Hicks was one of the attendees at the debate on Tuesday, potentially putting several other attendees in the room at risk.
Trump defended her by saying, “she’s a very warm person, when soldiers and law enforcement come up to her … she does not want to reject their entreaties.”
Friday, Oct. 2 (AKA, the day s*** hit the fan): Trump and Melania Test Positive For COVID-19 Along With a Slew of Top Republican Officials
At around 1 a.m. on Oct. 2, Trump tweeted the news that he and Melania had tested positive for COVID-19. Trump became the latest world leader to test positive for the coronavirus.
The White House reported that both Melania and Trump were only experiencing “mild symptoms.” The President began to receive experimental doses of a drug cocktail called “Regeneron.”
At around 6 p.m., Trump was transported by Marine One to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. However, he later released a video thanking supporters and leaders for their well-wishes.
Saturday, Oct. 3: Physician Updates, Who’s Negative and who’s positive?
The President’s physician, Dr. Sean Conley, briefed the press by saying he was “extremely happy” with the progress Trump was making despite his mild symptoms. Later, a White House official contradicted this statement by telling reporters that, “the president’s vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care. We’re still not on a clear path to recovery.”
So who’s negative and who’s positive? (As of this publication)
Who Has Tested Positive:
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Former senior advisor to the president, Kellyanne Conway
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Senator of Utah Mike Lee
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Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina
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Reverend John Jenkins AKA President of Notre Dame
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Former New Jersey Governor,Chris Christie
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Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien
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Chairwoman of the Republican National Committee Ronna McDaniel
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Nicholas Luna, assistant to the president
Who Has Tested Negative:
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Senator and Vice Presidential hopeful Kamala Harris
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Doug Emhoff (Kamala Harris’ husband)
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The Second Lady Karen Pence
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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
While this is a lot of information, I hope that this breakdown has somewhat helped you process everything that’s going on! There’s less than a month until election day, and who knows what will happen next.