The media were in a frenzy Wednesday over excerpts of Bob Woodward’s latest book in which President Trump stated that he downplayed the threat of the coronavirus because he didn’t want to create panic in the country. Joe Biden and other Democrats accused the president of deliberately lying to the American people.

While the media are treating this like a major revelation, it’s not new news. In March, CNN’s Jim Acosta criticized the president for downplaying the severity of the virus. President Trump said, “I want to keep the country calm. I don’t want panic in the country.”

That’s the exact same thing Trump said to Bob Woodward. Yet now as we approach the election, Woodward’s rushing out a new book and the media are trying to whip the public into a frenzy over something the president said publicly more than five months ago.

Meanwhile, there were plenty of Democrats, like Nancy Pelosi and Bill de Blasio, who were downplaying the severity of the virus. Watch this montage. And here’s Joe Biden on February 28 telling Americans not to panic. Did Joe Biden intentionally mislead us too?

Dr. Anthony Fauci — Saint Fauci to the left — defended President Trump Wednesday. Asked whether he felt Trump had not taken the coronavirus seriously or misled the public, Fauci replied:

No, I didn’t. I didn’t get any sense that he was distorting anything… I didn’t see any discrepancies between what he told us and what we told him, and what he came out publicly and said.

It’s curious that this latest left-wing smear hit just as new polling shows that Americans are increasingly optimistic about the COVID situation. For the first time since June, a majority of Americans believe the situation is either getting better or staying the same.

And maybe that’s why Democrats are panicking now. The left doesn’t want optimism. The left doesn’t want an economic recovery. Senate Democrats blocked another stimulus bill yesterday. The left wants you to stay panicked, hiding in your home and blaming President Trump.

What Leadership Looks Like

On December 8, 1941, a significant part of the U.S. Navy had been destroyed at Pearl Harbor and Hitler controlled Europe and North Africa. The American military was virtually nonexistent. Many military analysts had serious doubts about our ability to defeat Germany and Japan.

Nevertheless, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who famously told Americans “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” rallied the country. We lost many battles in the early days of the war, but we ultimately prevailed.

In response to the coronavirus, President Trump banned travel from China on January 31. As a reminder, the World Health Organization said on January 14 that there was no evidence that COVID-19 was contagious.

Trump marshaled the resources of the country and ordered the massive production of ventilators.

He launched Operation Warp Speed, which will produce a vaccine in record-breaking time.

He supported calls for a national shutdown to slow the spread of the virus.

In short, he did everything the medical experts asked him to do. And Dr. Fauci praised the administration’s initial efforts, calling the “all hands on deck” action “impressive,” adding, “I can’t imagine that under any circumstances that anybody could be doing more.”

Progressive Panic

Speaking on Fox News Wednesday night, President Trump hit back at his critics, saying, “I’m the leader of the country. I can’t be jumping up and down and scaring people.” While I am glad the president is staying calm, we know that the left panics easily.

Every hurricane that hits the country is presented as the worst ever. The left predicted mass famines that never materialized. How many times have we been told that global warming would destroy the earth by now? (Read these failed progressive predictions here.)

Remember the “peak oil” panic of 20 years ago? We’re producing more oil now than ever!

By the way, Joe Biden panicked Wednesday when he told us that COVID has killed 6,000 members of the military. The real number is seven. Not 7,000. Just seven.

We have a handful of questionable police shootings each year that occur out of millions of police/public encounters. The left panics every time and tells us that the whole law enforcement system is racist.

If that’s the kind of leadership the American people want, they can vote for left-wing candidates who will act like the sky is falling all the time and insist it’s all your fault. Or they can vote for conservatives who will take a far more realistic approach to governing.

Trump’s Judges

As we noted in yesterday’s report, President Trump has released an updated list of potential new Supreme Court justices. There are some very impressive names on the list, including: Senator Tom Cotton, Senator Ted Cruz, Senator Josh Hawley, and Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron.

As President Trump said in his remarks Wednesday, the nomination of Supreme Court justices is among the most consequential actions any president will take. While presidents serve for four or eight years, federal judges serve decades as a lasting legacy.

As one columnist noted, the late great Antonin Scalia was Ronald Reagan’s gateway to the 21st century. Scalia served on the Supreme Court for 27 years after Reagan left office. My good friend Clarence Thomas, appointed by George H.W. Bush, is currently the court’s longest-serving justice, with nearly 29 years on the high court.

So President Trump is being honest and upfront with the American people about the kinds of judges he will appoint. And he challenged Joe Biden to do the same.

By the way, Biden’s new theme now is “Buy American,” something that didn’t occur to him over the last 47 years as he was consistently cheerleading for communist China. (See next item.) He’s trying to morph into something he isn’t, but he can’t follow Trump’s lead on trade or judges.

When it comes to the Supreme Court, Biden can’t issue a list of potential justices because it would show just how much the left-wing controls him and the Democrat Party.

If Donald Trump wins this November, he will solidify the growing conservative influence on the courts. If Biden prevails, he will reverse that trend.

If this were the only difference between them — given the tremendous stakes for religious liberty, our Second Amendment rights, and the sanctity of life — it would be reason enough for every conservative to work, volunteer, and vote for the Trump/Pence team.

China’s Cheerleader

U.S. intelligence has reported that China is meddling in the election to support Joe Biden. It’s no secret why. Biden has been promoting China’s interests for decades, and you don’t have to take my word for it.

Take Joe’s word for it. In this New York Times opinion piece, Biden specifically “rejects” the view that China is a growing threat and urges more trade and investment to “bind us together.”

And you can also take the Chinese Communist Party’s word for it. A recent editorial in the China Global Television Network stated that “Biden’s multilateral worldview runs parallel to Beijing’s.”

Defending Our First Freedoms

The Department of Education has announced a new rule upholding President Trump’s executive order requiring colleges and universities to respect free speech and religious liberty.

“Students should not be forced to choose between their faith and their education,” Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said.

Colleges and universities that tolerate left-wing efforts to shout down speakers or that discriminate against faith-based student groups now run the risk of losing federal funds.

This is an important step toward countering the “cancel culture” and breaking the intolerant left’s grip (here and here) on our institutions of higher learning.