Tuesday, June 2, 2020

Global – 6,100,000/371,000; USA – 1,800,000/105,000 Riots continue in several cities. Washington, DC particularly bad. There was violence earlier yesterday, but then it was a peaceful demonstration. The POTUS ordered the police to clear the way through Lafayette Park so that he could do a photo op with a bible at St. John’s Church across the street. The police came in and scattered the mostly peaceful crowd and injured several with rubber bullets and clubs. Things getting very bad. Task Force in Sit Room meeting regarding usual stuff – testing, supply chain,etc. Meeting with POTUS in Oval Office re: vaccines. As usual, POTUS was very warm and friendly with me. When he walked into the Oval with us waiting, I was standing next to the door and he said “I love you, Tony. I feel like giving you a big hug”. And throughout the meeting where Moncef described our vaccine activities to him, he kept referring to me. After it was over, he called me close to the desk and asked how I was doing and said “How are you; you are looking real good”. Ran into Alyssa Farah outside the White House. Real strange. She said that she really liked my performance on CNN with Town Hall and also with Jim Sciutto. She asked how my other hits went. I told her that I did not have any other hits and that all my requests for clearance over the past week have been turned down. She acted very surprised and said she would look into this. Again, she claimed that there was confusion and lack of coordination with VP’s Comms staff and theirs. Something funny here. I am meeting with Michael Caputo tomorrow AM in my house for breakfast. PRESS: Wall Street Journal – Tech Health Interview (ZOOM); Podcast with JAMA – Howard Bauchner