Biden news - Trump blames Cuomo for ‘witch hunt’ after Scotus tax ruling as US hits 500,000 Covid deaths

Dr Anthony Fauci, who oversaw the US’s coronavirus response across two presidents, says the country has had the worst response in the world.

“We’ve done worse than most any other country,” Fauci told ABC on Monday, as the nation closed in on its grim milestone. “And we’re a highly-developed rich country.”

The US death toll is expected to cross 500,000 Monday night, almost 90,000 of which occurred after Joe Biden took the presidency on 20 January.

“People were thinking we were being hyperbolic,” He said of his early predictions. “And now here we are with a half a million deaths.”

The grim milestone of 500,000 deaths from Covid-19 has been passed, according to the count from John Hopkins University.

Joe Biden will hold a memorial to the deceased tonight, with flags to be lowered at half-mast for the next five days.

The United States’ death toll is more than double the nearest country, with Brazil having 246,000 deaths and Mexico recording 180,000.

Dr Anthony Fauci called the US’s response to the pandemic worst than most any other country. Of the 500,071 deaths reported Monday, 86,000 – or 17 per cent – occurred in the past month since Biden became president.

The milestone of 500,000 deaths from the coronavirus – the highest death toll anywhere in the world - obscures the pain of the families they leave behind, now facing a life without their grandparents, fathers, husband, mothers, wives, children, and friends.

As many desperately yearn for a return to normal, they are left with an incalculable loss, writes The Independent’s Danielle Zoellner.

“When Sabrina Cosmo received a call from her father, Vito Cosmo Jr, on 26 March, he was being admitted into the hospital for a cough and breathing difficulties At the time, she had no idea that conversation would be one of the last she would have with him... In the months since Vito Cosmo’s death, hundreds of thousands more have died.”

Joe Biden has issued an official proclamation to remember the 500,000 Americans who have died from Covid-19, saying the country must “remember them so we can begin to heal, to unite, and find purpose as one Nation to defeat this pandemic”.

Read the full proclamation below:

A Proclamation on Remembering the 500,000 Americans Lost to COVID-19

As of this week during the dark winter of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 500,000 Americans have now died from the virus. That is more Americans who have died in a single year of this pandemic than in World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War combined. On this solemn occasion, we reflect on their loss and on their loved ones left behind. We, as a Nation, must remember them so we can begin to heal, to unite, and find purpose as one Nation to defeat this pandemic.

In their memory, the First Lady and I will be joined by the Vice President and the Second Gentleman for a moment of silence at the White House this evening. I ask all Americans to join us as we remember the more than 500,000 of our fellow Americans lost to COVID-19 and to observe a moment of silence at sunset. I also hereby order, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and on all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset February 26, 2021. I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same period at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-second day of February, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.

JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

The mother of Brian Sicknick says her son died from a fatal stroke and not a blow to the head from a fire extinguisher.

In an interview with the DailyMail.com, Gladys Sicknick says the family understands he wasn’t struck in the head, but that they were in the dark as to what may have caused a stroke.

“He wasn’t hit on the head no. We think he had a stroke, but we don’t know anything for sure,” she told the outlet. “We’d love to know what happened.”

While the story of Sicknick being struck by a fire extinguisher, first reported by The New York Times, was used in the articles of impeachment against Donald Trump, there is no official source confirming the claims.

On the same day as the Times’ reported that Sicknick was rushed to hospital after the attack, his brother told ProPublica that the two spoke after the riots: “He texted me last night and said, ‘I got pepper-sprayed twice,’ and he was in good shape.”

His father, Charles, told Reuters the same day his son “he had a blood clot on his brain and had a stroke…operating was not an option.”

While the official police statement is that Sicknick “passed away due to injuries sustained while on duty”, no official cause of death has been released by the medical examiner.

The New York Times, the source of the anonymous fire extinguisher claim, has since added this update to its original story: “New information has emerged regarding the death of the Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick that questions the initial cause of his death provided by officials close to the Capitol Police.”

The president is expected to mark the grim milestone shortly.

Follow live with The Independent.

“Today we mark a truly grim, heart-breaking milestone, 500,071 dead,” Biden says.

“They’re people we knew, they’re people we feel like we knew.”

“The people we lost were extraordinary, they span generations, born in America, immigrated to America, but just like that so many of them took their final breath alone in America,” Biden says.

“As a nation, we cannot accept such a cruel fate. While we’ve been fighting this pandemic for so long, we have to resist becoming numb to the sorry. We have to resist viewing each life as a statistic, or a blurb, or on the news.”

Following the deaths of more than 500,000 Americans from the coronavirus pandemic, President Joe Biden has appealed to a nation grieving from unimaginable losses with a plea to resist apathy.

“We have to resist becoming numb to the sorrow,” he said from the White House.

He urged Americans to avoid “viewing each life as a statistic, or a blur, or ‘on the news.’”

“We must do so to honour the dead, but equally important, care for the living,” he said.

The president stood with First Lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff to observe a moment of silence to recognise the nation’s death toll.

Alex Woodward has more on Biden’s remarks.

The Trump Organisation will have $7m less flowing into its coffers this year now that an iconic retailer has stopped renting space at a Trump-owned building.

Tiffany's announced it would not be renewing its lease with the Trump Organisation, and will be moving its store back to its historical location on Fifth Avenue.

In 2018, the iconic jewelry store agreed to sublease the 74,000-square-foot space on 6 E 57th St. while renovations were done at its Fifth Avenue headquarters.

Both Tiffany's headquarters and the temporary retail space sit at the foot of Trump Tower. The store will move back to its original headquarters in mid-2022, leaving the Trump Organisation left with a five-story retail space to fill.

Graig Graziosi reports.