Conservative Columnist Max Boot Says Trump’s Turning Into ‘Baghdad Bob’ Over Coronavirus

Conservative columnist Max Boot called out President Donald Trump on Monday for delivering misinformation instead of the calm and steady leadership needed as the nation faces the twin crises of the coronavirus outbreak and sinking stocks.  

“Panic is spreading even faster than the coronavirus because there is no leader to reassure a jittery public,” Boot wrote in The Washington Post,

Boot noted that Trump already lacked credibility before the crisis. Now, Trump “has stayed true to incredible form.” Last month when speaking about the outbreak, Trump claimed to have “shut it down” and predicted “close to zero” cases in the U.S. within a couple of days. And just last week, Trump claimed: “We closed it down; we stopped it.”

Boot even compared Trump to Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, the ex-Iraqi information minister better known as “Baghdad Bob” for his consistent denials about the grim reality of the situation during the U.S.-led invasion in the early ’oughts: 

“This is a time that calls for the candor and reassurance of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s ‘fireside chats.’ Instead, we have a president who is emulating ‘Baghdad Bob’ — the Iraqi minister of information who was claiming complete victory even as Saddam Hussein’s regime was collapsing in 2003.”

Read his full column here.

Elon Musk Supports Twitter CEO

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has publicly come out in support of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey after recent reports of activist investor firm Elliott Management Corp. seeking his removal from the role.

Paul Singer, the founder of hedge fund Elliott, is said to have already taken a near 5 percent stake in Twitter for more than $1 billion and nominated four directors to the Twitter Board. Companies like Elliott are known to make investments in large companies and push for governance and strategy changes.

Elliott has been pressing for a full time CEO at Twitter, rather than having Dorsey splitting his attention between the role of heading Twitter and as CEO of mobile-payments startup Square Inc. Dorsey is also reportedly moving temporarily to Africa.

Backing Dorsey as CEO of Twitter, Musk wrote in a tweet, “Just want say that I support @Jack as Twitter CEO. He has a good,” adding a heart emoji.

Along with Musk, Twitter employees and a vocal group on the micro-blogging site have also been voicing their support for Dorsey with the hashtag #webackjack.

Last month, Twitter reported a profit for the fourth quarter, which missed analysts’ estimates. However, it recorded a year-over-year growth in monetizable daily active usage (mDAU) of 21 percent, with quarterly revenue in excess of $1 billion, with particular strength in US advertising.

Cairn Energy Reports Profit In FY19 – Quick Facts

Cairn Energy Plc (CNE.L) reported profit before tax from continuing operations of $119.5 million for the year ended 31 December 2019 compared to a loss of $1.2 billion, prior year. Profit per share from continuing operations in cents was 20.27 compared to a loss of 193.30. Operating profit was $154.9 million compared to a loss of $129.0, previous year.

Fiscal year revenue from continuing operations increased to $533.4 million from $410.3 million. Revenue from the sale of oil and gas was $504.2 million compared to $395.7 million. Net oil production averaged approximately 23,000 bopd, compared to 17,500 bopd, prior year.

S.African court clears Ramaphosa of misleading parliament, money-laundering

JOHANNESBURG, March 10 (Reuters) – South Africa’s High Court on Tuesday cleared President Cyril Ramaphosa of lying to parliament about the source of donations to his 2017 campaign to lead the ruling party, setting aside a potentially damaging report by an anti-graft watchdog.

Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane alleged in July that Ramaphosa had deliberately misled parliament about the 500,000 rand ($32,500) donation for his campaign to succeed Jacob Zuma as head of the ruling African National Congress (ANC). (Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

TP ICAP FY19 Pretax Profit Rises; Group Revenue Up 4% – Quick Facts

TP ICAP plc (IAPLF.PK,IAPLY.PK,IAP.L) reported profit before tax of 93 million pounds for the year ended 31 December 2019 compared to 62 million pounds, prior year. Earnings per share was 11.9 pence compared to 5.7 pence. Underlying operating profit was 279 million pounds, up 1% from prior year. Underlying earnings per share was 33.5 pence compared to 33.9 pence.

Fiscal year 2019 Group revenue was 1.83 billion pounds, up 4% on a reported basis, and up 1% at constant currency.

The Board declared an interim dividend of 5.6 pence per share paid on 8 November 2019 and is recommending a final dividend of 11.25 pence per share to be paid on 19 May 2020.

EARNINGS SUMMARY: Details of eMagin Corp. Q4 Earnings Report

Below are the earnings highlights for eMagin Corp. (EMAN):

-Earnings: -$0.21 million in Q4 vs. -$2.46 million in the same period last year.
-Analysts projected -$0.01 per share
-Revenue: $7.33 million in Q4 vs. $5.44 million in the same period last year.

Nobel Economist Nails Why Right-Wingers’ Coronavirus Tactics Are Scarily Familiar

Paul Krugman on Monday compared how right-wingers responded to the 2008 financial crash to how they are now reacting to the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

And the Nobel Prize-winning economist found some chilling similarities.

“In 2020 we’re relearning the lessons of 2008 — namely, that America’s right-wingers can’t handle the truth,” Krugman wrote in his latest column for The New York Times, recalling how many people on the right initially ignored and denied the signs that pointed to a looming economic crisis.

Explained Krugman: 

The point is that Trump’s luridly delusional response to the coronavirus and his conspiracy theorizing about Democrats and the news media aren’t really that different from the way the right dealt with the financial crisis a dozen years ago. True, last time the crazy talk wasn’t coming directly from the president of the United States. But that’s not the important distinction between then and now. No, what’s different now is that denial and the resulting delay are likely to have deadly consequences.

Krugman also argued on Twitter why he believes that “if you set out to design the worst possible leader for a crisis, it would be Trump.”

Read Krugman’s full editorial here and his tweets below: