memeorandum: Andrew Cuomo may be the single most popular politician in America right now (Chris Cillizza/CNN)

1:35 PM ET, May 1, 2020

Top Items:

Statement by Vice President Joe Biden — April was Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Every year, at this time, we talk about awareness, prevention, and the importance of women feeling they can step forward, say something, and be heard. That belief — that women should be heard …

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post, POLITICUSUSA, Mother Jones, The Slot, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Week, CNN, Slate, Forbes, Vanity Fair, NPR, The Intellectualist, The Daily Dot, Deadline, Balloon Juice and Los Angeles Times, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Post:

Joe Biden denies he sexually assaulted a former Senate aide, calls on National Archives to release complaint if it exists — Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Friday denied that he sexually assaulted a former Senate aide, addressing the allegation publicly …

Discussion: Business Insider, NBC News, Politico, BuzzFeed News, Talking Points Memo, The Wrap, Althouse, IJR and The Federalist

Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:

Why won't Biden open up his records to scrutiny? — In his appearance Friday on MSNBC's “Morning Joe,” former vice president Joe Biden was adamant that the accusation of sexual assault made against him by former Senate aide Tara Reade is not true. — It was a straightforward and strong denial.

Discussion: The Atlantic

Robby Soave / Reason:

Joe Biden Denies Sexual Assault Accusation, Fails To Explain Why ‘Believe Victims’ Doesn't Apply to Tara Reade — Former Vice President Joe Biden explicitly denied the sexual assault accusation against him during an appearance on MSNBC Friday morning. Speaking publicly about the matter …

Discussion: Mediaite, Patterico's Pontifications and Townhall

Conrad Black / American Greatness: Joe Biden Is Cooked

Andrew Sullivan / New York Magazine:
By Biden's Own Standards, He Is Guilty As Charged

Discussion: Althouse

Katie Glueck / New York Times:
Biden Denies Tara Reade's Assault Allegation

Discussion: Townhall, CNN, Real Clear Politics, The Week and The Daily Caller

BuzzFeed News:
Tara Reade Knows She Has A Difficult Allegation. And She's Had A Difficult Time Getting A Hearing.

Discussion: Washington Post, Vox, FiveThirtyEight, The Intellectualist, The Slot, TheBlaze, Columbia Journalism Review, The Daily Caller, Sara A. Carter, HuffPost, Fox News, VICE, The Daily Beast, The Bread Line, Mediaite and The Hill

NBC News:
Biden denies sexual assault allegation, calls for release of any records

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and The Daily Caller

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

Pence staff threatens action against reporter who tweeted about visit to clinic without surgical mask — Vice President Pence's office has threatened to retaliate against a reporter who revealed that Pence's office had told journalists they would need masks for Pence's visit to the Mayo Clinic …

Discussion: HuffPost, Vanity Fair, The Slot, Mediaite, The American Independent, PRESS RUN, The Week, CounterPunch, New York Times, New York Post, Raw Story, Palmer Report, CNBC, Axios, Fox News and Daily Kos, more at Mediagazer »

Politico:

Wearing a mask is for smug liberals. Refusing to is for reckless Republicans. — In the '60s, protesters burned bras. In 2020, they might soon be burning masks. — Views on how to respond to the coronavirus pandemic have become increasingly polarized, yet another political issue …

Discussion: The Points Guy, The American Independent, CNN and Mediaite

Associated Press: New White House press secretary McEnany to hold 1st briefing

Greg Bluestein / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Internal GOP poll points to troubling signs for Georgia Republicans — An internal poll conducted for the Georgia House GOP Caucus points to troubling signs for Republican leaders: President Donald Trump is deadlocked with Joe Biden and voters aren't giving the White House …

Discussion: National Review, Washington Monthly, Erick Erickson's Confessions … and Deseret News

Ezra Klein / Vox: Congressional Democrats are governing from the minority

Melanie Zanona / Politico:
The Senate's coronavirus testing conundrum

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Vox and POLITICUSUSA

CNN:

Top HHS spokesman repeatedly directed sexually crude and sexist tweets at women — WARNING: This story contains graphic language. — (CNN)The top spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services repeatedly directed crude and sexist comments toward women in now-deleted tweets, a CNN KFile review finds.

Leyland Cecco / The Guardian:

Trudeau announces Canada is banning assault-style weapons — Move comes after murder of 22 people in worst mass shooting in Canada's history — Canada has banned assault-style weapons following the murder of 22 people in the worst mass shooting in the country's history, Justin Trudeau announced on Friday.

Discussion: The Intellectualist

Washington Post:

Justice Dept. scrutinizes White House-connected doctor linked to disputed coronavirus treatment — Federal prosecutors are examining the communications of a New York family doctor who appears frequently on Fox News and has been in touch with the White House to tout an anti-malarial as a treatment …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Axios, Politico, Law & Crime, The Intellectualist, POLITICUSUSA and Raw Story

Wall Street Journal:

Trump Makes Push for Seniors as Coronavirus Crisis Erodes Support — President trails Joe Biden in polls among older voters, who are paying close attention to his handling of the pandemic—and watching his press briefings — WASHINGTON—President Trump has opened a new charm offensive aimed …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA and Raw Story

Maggie Fox / CNN:

Expert report predicts up to two more years of pandemic misery — (CNN)The new coronavirus is likely to keep spreading for at least another 18 months to two years—until 60% to 70% of the population has been infected, a team of longstanding pandemic experts predicted in a report released Thursday.

Discussion: Bloomberg, IJR, New York Post and No More Mister Nice Blog

Washington Post:

Nearly seven weeks into the shutdown, here's why so many are still getting sick — The District, Maryland and Virginia have been shut down for weeks, their economies in tatters. Large swaths of the population venture out only rarely, wrapped in masks and gloves.

PRRI:

President Trump's Favorability Ratings Recede from March's Peak — New data from PRRI shows that President Donald Trump's favorability rating has dropped seven points over the last four weeks. Today, just over four in ten (43%) Americans hold mostly or very favorable views of Trump …

Discussion: Raw Story

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

History According to Trump: The President and the 1917 Pandemic That Wasn't — The U.S. leader, famously illiterate about history, eagerly promotes his place in it. — As the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted his Presidency, Donald Trump has often complained about the terrible hand that history has dealt him.

Discussion: Vox

Chris Cillizza / CNN:

Andrew Cuomo may be the single most popular politician in America right now — Washington (CNN)Thrust into the national spotlight by his state's status as the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States, New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo has rapidly become one of …

Discussion: Raw Story

Michael Stratford / Politico:

DeVos sued for seizing student loan borrowers' wages during pandemic — Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is continuing to garnish the wages of federal student loan borrowers who fall behind on payments even though Congress suspended the practice in the economic rescue package, according to a new lawsuit.

Discussion: Associated Press, Raw Story, The Intellectualist and The Hill

Morgan Chalfant / The Hill:

Trump says he has seen evidence linking coronavirus to Wuhan lab — President Trump said Thursday that he has seen evidence linking the novel coronavirus to a lab in Wuhan, China, without providing further details. — “Yes, I have,” Trump told reporters at the White House when asked directly whether …

Discussion: ODNI Newsroom, TheBlaze, Fox News and HuffPost

Rosa Cartagena / Washingtonian:

Twitter Account “Room Rater” Judges TV Journalists' Home Decor. We Asked a Few About Their Scores. — Started by a DC-area provocateur, @RateMySkypeRoom has earned tons of attention—and some hurt feelings. — The coronavirus shutdown has forced news commentators to broadcast from their homes …

Rachel Lerman / Washington Post:

Trump touted Google as a solution to coronavirus testing. A month later, Verily has barely made a dent. — Verily, part of the same parent company as Google, has conducted tests in just a handful of cities. — President Trump's announcement in March that Google was developing a tool …

Peter Baker / New York Times:

Amid a Rising Death Toll, Trump Leaves the Grieving to Others — President Trump has led no national mourning for the more than 63,000 Americans who have died from the coronavirus, emphasizing confidence about the future rather than dwelling on the present.

Cristiano Lima / Politico:

House panel demands that Bezos testify on whether Amazon misled Congress — The House Judiciary Committee demanded Thursday that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos testify on whether the company misled Congress about the data tactics it deploys against rivals, setting up a major potential fight with the company.

Discussion: Vox, Associated Press, Financial Times, Gizmodo and The Hill, more at Techmeme »

Igor Derysh / Salon:

Florida stops releasing medical examiners' coronavirus death counts after they report higher total — Florida also excludes travelers and seasonal residents who died in the state, though medical examiners include them — Florida health officials have stopped publishing real …

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo

Seung Min Kim / Washington Post:

Romney calls for hazard pay for workers on the front line of the pandemic — Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) is proposing a plan to better compensate health-care workers, grocery store employees and other essential personnel working through the coronavirus pandemic as the issue of hazard pay becomes …

Washington Post:

Public companies received $1 billion in stimulus funds meant for small businesses — Nearly 300 public companies have reported receiving loans. Some have returned them. — Publicly traded companies have received more than $1 billion in funds meant for small businesses …

David Caplan / 1010 WINS:

Has Gov. Cuomo found love during the pandemic? He tells WINS anchor, 'I'm eligible' — NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Gov. Andrew Cuomo continues to take in stride being one of the state's — if not country's — most sought-after bachelors. — During an interview Thursday with 1010 WINS' Susan Richard …

Discussion: New York Daily News, HuffPost and The Daily Caller

Alex Horton / Washington Post:

What VA isn't saying about hydroxychloroquine — and everything else related to coronavirus — The Department of Veterans Affairs has sidestepped questions about its response to the coronavirus, veteran service organizations and congressional committees have said, even as the number of deaths …

Margot Roosevelt / Los Angeles Times:

Coronavirus ignites workers' anger and spurs labor activism — In Los Angeles, Glendale and Long Beach, thousands of laid-off janitors and hotel workers besieged elected officials with petitions seeking future job guarantees. — Nurses took to the streets in San Francisco, Santa Monica …

YouTube:

Leadership During Crisis: A Conversation with Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan … Maryland Governor Larry Hogan joins Washington Post Live to discuss his state's fight against covid-19, how he is approaching Maryland's lockdown exit strategy, and his pivotal role as the chair of the National Governors Association.