NEWS WRAP

Navajo Nation eclipses NY infection rate

• Navajo Nation infection rate surpasses NY and NJ
  Extending through Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, the Navajo Nation is home to over 173,000 Native Americans. As of 18 May, it has had 4,071 coronavirus cases and 142 deaths, which puts the disease at a 2.3 per cent infection rate compared to New York’s 1.8 per cent infection rate. READ MORE HERE
   

• US and Australia dealt mixed messages from China
  President Xi Jinping recently pledged US$3.1 billion to fight the global pandemic and backed an international review into the outbreak, all while issuing economic threats to Australia and edging towards a new front in the trade war with the United States. Ashley Townshend, Director of Foreign Policy and Defence at the United States Studies Centre, says China seeks the mantle of international leadership, “but at the same time it will work to discredit and quash countries that upset that narrative". READ MORE HERE
   

• All 50 states move to ease coronavirus restrictions
  States have begun the process of reopening more than two months after the coronavirus pandemic forced the United States into lockdown. Reopening looks very different from state-to-state as governors work to grapple with the varying impacts the virus has had on their states. READ MORE HERE
   

• Biden vows to never fire government watchdogs
  Joe Biden has hit out at President Trump with a promise to never fire any inspectors general if he wins the presidency. During his time in office President Trump has ousted four agency watchdogs in recent months. The presumptive Democratic nominee said he would support efforts to restrict the executive branch’s powers to unilaterally remove inspectors general. “It’s part of a troubling pattern since this whole COVID crisis began,” Biden said. READ MORE HERE

ANALYSIS

So, what exactly is OBAMAGATE?

President Trump’s cryptic, one-word “OBAMAGATE!” tweets are stirring up controversy and confusion. To many of his supporters, the word needs no explanation. It is emotive enough to stir people up, but fuzzy enough to allow them to fill in the details. For everyone else, it is like a code they need to crack. It isn’t going to suddenly flip anyone to his side, but it has succeeded – again – in allowing President Trump to shape the narrative and regain some control of headlines.

While not specifically laid out, OBAMAGATE! refers to another so-called “witch hunt” conducted as the Obama Administration prepared to transfer powers to the Trump Administration. When Michael Flynn was named as the new National Security Advisor, the outgoing Obama Administration was concerned. It had hired Flynn as the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and fired him two years later. Flynn publicly criticised President Obama’s Iran deal and ISIS strategy, which may have been part of his appeal to the incoming Trump Administration. But under President Trump, Flynn served shortest tenure for any National Security Advisor, just 24 days. The Trump Administration fired him following revelations about his conversations with the Russian Ambassador to the United States during the transition period. Flynn later pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about the conversations during the Mueller probe.

OBAMAGATE! centres around how this intelligence was gathered, whether it was relevant to the Mueller investigation and why it led to action so quickly. Was there wiretapping? Was Flynn unreasonably targeted? Was President Obama acting on the same paranoia that drove President Nixon? While there have been some calls for an official investigation, the OBAMAGATE! tweets seem geared to get the Trump campaign’s classic hits like “witch hunt” and “fake news” back in the headlines, currently dominated by COVID-19, China and the economic crisis.

Senior Lecturer in American Politics and Foreign Policy David Smith told SBS, "When Trump talks about conspiracies, it's all about suggestion, innuendo, an atmosphere of paranoia [and] what all of this does is creates an atmosphere of victimhood … This is what his entire presidency has been all about - saying that even though he's the most powerful man in the world, he's being victimised by this establishment which his supporters sometimes call the deep state."

The way in which OBAMAGATE! speculation has spread indicates President Trump's efforts to shift the conversation have worked to some extent. As a degree of pandemic news fatigue sets in, the president may have chosen the right moment to try and regain control of the narrative. But the longevity of this ploy and whether it will win any votes is unclear. Without an 'October surprise', it seems likely that the pandemic and related economic calamity will still be top-of-mind for voters going to the ballot box this November.

COVID-19: BY THE NUMBERS

Nursing home deaths: US 28,100 | Australia 16

A devastating 35 per cent of all COVID-19 deaths in the United States have been residents or staff of nursing homes compared to 16 per cent in Australia with only 2 outside NSW. Nursing homes are known hotbeds for infection, with 60 per cent of nursing homes in the United States having had at least one citation for a failure in infection control since 2017. This, combined with a lack of staff and resources has proved to be a fatal combination for this vulnerable community.

To track the latest trends and numbers, visit our COVID-19 tracker HERE.

VIRTUAL EVENT

US foreign policy, Iran and the United States after the 2020 election​

Amid a global pandemic severely afflicting both public health and the global economy, US tensions with Iran have not abated. Would the Trump administration’s maximum pressure campaign on Iran cease during a Biden administration? What can compel Iran to come back to the negotiating table? Can Iran be compelled to abandon any nuclear ambitions?

For the latest instalment in our Election Watch series, please join us for a webinar discussion featuring Ambassador Wendy Sherman, the lead negotiator of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action between the P5+1, known as the Iran Deal, in a conversation with USSC Non-Resident Senior Fellow Bruce Wolpe and USSC CEO Professor Simon Jackman.

WHEN:
Thursday 21, May 2020, 10am AEST

COST: 
Free, but registration is essential

OTHER EVENTS

ADVANCE.ORG | Global Digital Town Hall: Building Resiliency and Seizing Opportunities in Advance Manufacturing

WHEN:
Wednesday 27 May, 8am AEST

COST: 
Free, but registration is essential. More information and register here.

VIDEO

How bad is coronavirus in prisons?

Jay-Z and Meek Mill’s criminal justice organisation REFORM Alliance is sending 10 million surgical masks and PPE to US prisons and jails.

But how bad is coronavirus in US prisons? Watch to find out more.

THE WEEK IN TWEETS

#PresidentialPunches