White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Friday condemned the decision to delay legislative elections in Hong Kong, one day after President Trump asked if the U.S. should postpone its own November election.

"We condemn the Hong Kong government’s decision to postpone for one year its legislative council elections and to disqualify opposition candidates," McEnany said at a press briefing, reading from a prepared statement. "This action undermines the democratic processes and freedoms that have underpinned Hong Kong's prosperity, and this is only the most recent in a growing list of broken promises by Beijing, which promised autonomy and freedom to the Hong Kong people until 2047 in the Sino-British joint declaration."

The Hong Kong government announced Friday that it would postpone elections scheduled for September due to the coronavirus pandemic, The New York Times reported, citing risks to public health and strains on campaigns and voters caused by social distancing requirements and travel restrictions


Pro-democracy groups viewed the decision as an attempt to thwart opposition candidates challenging thouse supported by Beijing. Anti-establishment protests have roiled Hong Kong for more than a year, and have faced increasingly harsh crackdowns from the Chinese mainland.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/509975-white-house-condemns-hong-kong-election-delay-after-trump-floated

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) on Wednesday suggested that he contracted coronavirus because he wore a mask more frequently in recent days.

“I can’t help but think that if I hadn’t been wearing a mask so much in the last 10 days or so, I really wonder if I would have gotten it,” Gohmert said in an interview with The American Independent.

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The lawmaker was set to travel with President Donald Trump to Texas Wednesday, but his positive result was caught in the pre-screening process. Gohmert said last month that he would not wear a mask around the Capitol because he was being regularly tested for the virus.

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Gohmert, who was in attendance at Tuesday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing with Attorney General William Barr, is the seventh representative to contract the virus. He was spotted without a mask on Tuesday speaking with Barr within an arm’s length prior to the hearing. Barr will be tested today for coronavirus following Gohmert’s positive result.

Following his positive test result, Gohmert didn’t immediately isolate and self-quarantine, as health experts advise. He reportedly returned to his office, saying he wanted to inform his staffers of the test result in person rather than having them learn from news reports. Several staffers were already in the process of leaving by the time he arrived.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/gop-rep-louie-gohmert-who-refused-to-wear-a-mask-now-has-coronavirus?

A Houston doctor who praises hydroxychloroquine and says that face masks aren’t necessary to stop transmission of the highly contagious coronavirus has become a star on the right-wing internet, garnering tens of millions of views on Facebook on Monday alone. Donald Trump Jr. declared the video of Stella Immanuel a “must watch,” while Donald Trump himself retweeted the video.

Before Trump and his supporters embrace Immanuel’s medical expertise, though, they should consider other medical claims Immanuel has made—including those about alien DNA and the physical effects of having sex with witches and demons in your dreams.

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She alleges alien DNA is currently used in medical treatments, and that scientists are cooking up a vaccine to prevent people from being religious. And, despite appearing in Washington, D.C. to lobby Congress on Monday, she has said that the government is run in part not by humans but by “reptilians” and other aliens.

Immanuel gave her viral speech on the steps of the Supreme Court at the “White Coat Summit,” a gathering of a handful of doctors who call themselves America’s Frontline Doctors and dispute the medical consensus on the novel coronavirus. The event was organized by the right-wing group Tea Party Patriots, which is backed by wealthy Republican donors.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/stella-immanuel-trumps-new-covid-doctor-believes-in-alien-dna-demon-sperm-and-hydroxychloroquine?