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Trump vs. Pritzker. Gov. Pritzker’s and President Trump’s daily coronavirus news briefings have become a running conflict, as detailed by Politico’s Shia Kapos.
■ Chicago magazine’s Edward McClelland: “Nobody expected J.B. Pritzker to be a strong governor.” But …
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‘The worst president in U.S. history.’ Conservative columnist Max Boot in The Washington Post: Trump is “a miserable failure, because the coronavirus is the most foreseeable catastrophe in U.S. history.”
■ The Associated Press: The Trump administration “wasted” months before bracing for the worst.
■ … a dispute over which Axios describes as the “biggest fight yet” inside Trump’s coronavirus task force.
■ An administration insider on Trump’s persistent failure to provide straight talk on the virus: The president is “killing his own supporters.” (Cartoon: Keith J. Taylor.)
■ The intelligence community inspector general fired by Trump late Friday night is encouraging others to “bravely speak up” about dishonest government (PDF download).
■ The Guardian: “Accelerationist” Nazi groups in the U.S. are seeking ways to sow violence
Are you immune? The Tribune reports a serology test that detects antibodies to COVID-19 could answer that question quickly and at home—like a pregnancy test.
■ McDonald’s is donating a million high-quality N95 respirator masks to frontline health care workers in Chicago and Illinois.
■ The Arm and a Leg podcast explains how tech-oriented do-it-yourselfers came together to speed protective gear to a struggling hospital.
■ The AP: With the worst still to come, three-quarters of the nation’s hospitals are already treating COVID-19 cases …
■ … death tolls from which stand to soar this week in the U.S. and Britain …
■ … whose Trumplike prime minister, Boris Johnson, is in the hospital after testing positive for COVID-19.
■ The New York Times: Official counts are understating just how deadly the coronavirus has been in the U.S.
■ COVID-19 may provide the best reason yet to quit smoking and vaping.
Behind those funny Lightfoot videos. Crain’s talks to the marketing veteran taking a salary of just $1 to serve as Chicago’s chief marketing officer.
■ The Sun-Times: Chicago failed to fill jobs spotlighted by pandemic drills last year.
■ WBEZ: 70% of Chicago’s COVID-19 deaths are black.
Chicago after man. Radio reporter Vic Vaughn’s video captures a desolate downtown Chicago.
■ Brookfield Zoo has furloughed about a third of its staff.
■ A tiger at New York’s Bronx Zoo has tested positive for COVID-19.
‘Where have you gone, Joe Biden?’ The Sun-Times’ Laura Washington ponders that question.
■ Biden says Democrats should consider making the convention scheduled for Milwaukee in August “virtual.”
■ The Washington Post’s Stephen Stromberg assesses disputed plans to push ahead with Wisconsin’s primary vote tomorrow: “Republicans are testing whether taking a hard line on voting rules during the coronavirus crisis might give them an even more pronounced—and even less legitimate—electoral advantage.”
Zoom safely. Amid rising concern about video conferencing’s security holes, Wired offers tips for keeping sessions private and secure.
■ DC Comics is offering free virtual backdrops for your next Zoom session.
Movies’ death? The Trib’s Michael Phillips weighs the prospect that Americans are done goin’ to the show.
■ The AMC Theatres chain—the nation’s largest—may be down for the count.
■ Economists to the Times: The U.S. economy is nowhere close to reopening.
■ But, in early trading today, the stock market reflected glimmers of hope.
Thanks, Mike Braden and Pam Spiegel for proofreading and Chris Koenig for inspiration.