Trump news: President rails at ‘Venezuela on steroids’ Democrats as coronavirus cases climb and unrest continues in Portland
Donald Trump lashed out at his Democratic rivals in Washington by branding them “Stone Cold Left – Venezuela on steroids!” after the House of Representatives voted in favour of the No Ban Act, moving to repeal his travel ban on visitors from several Muslim-majority countries.
The president has meanwhile described the coronavirus as a “downer” and a “dampner” on his poll numbers as the US came close to its record single-day rise in cases on Friday, seeing 73,400 new infections and 1,100 deaths from the virus.
“We were doing a great job. We were sailing. George Washington would’ve had a hard time beating us,” the president said during an interview with Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports at the White House. “And then when the China virus came in. It’s a dampener, it’s a downer.”
The number of daily deaths passed 1,000 in the US for the fourth consecutive day. In another sign of how persistent the virus's grip on the country is, Florida overtook New York – once the world epicentre of the pandemic – for confirmed cases.
Meanwhile, there were continued clashes in Portland, Oregon between demonstrators for racial justice and federal officers controversially deployed by Mr Trump. The federal agents deployed flash-bangs and tear gas to disperse demonstrators, at one point swarming a man holding a US flag and a leaf blower.
The president, who is spending the weekend at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey tweeted a tribute to his old friend Regis Philbin, the veteran TV broadcaster who has died aged 88.
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