It's Brian Lehrer, and this is my daily politics podcast from WNYC Studios. It's Wednesday, June 24th.

In a certain way, coronavirus summer is starting out as the opposite of coronavirus spring.

In the spring, the U.S. ban travel from Europe because the outbreak on that continent was so severe. Now, the EU is considering a travel

ban from the United States. They'll decide in a few days. In the spring, most of this country

had a 14-day quarantine order for anybody arriving from New York.

Now, Governor Cuomo says New York may require that of people coming from elsewhere.

In the spring, the Republican Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, pushed for a quick reopening and said

shutting down again would be a last resort. Yesterday, Governor Abbott said this.

Because the spread is so rampant right now, there's never a reason for you to have to leave

your home unless you do need to go out. The safest place for you is at your home.

How about that? Texas Governor Greg Abbott yesterday on KBTX TV telling people to

just stay home as hospitalization rates increase in Texas, he said, and the number of new cases

hit a record high 5,000 in one day. In New York State now, it's around 500. But there are also things that have not

changed with the seasons. One is that the virus continues to take its heaviest toll and disproportionately

so on people of color. We'll talk about that in this segment. Another is the mocking tone of

President Trump. Here's the bad part. When you do testing to that

extent, you're going to find more people. You're going to find more cases. So I said to my people,

slow the testing down, please. So you've heard that clip from Trump's non-socialally distant,

mostly unmasked rally in Tulsa on Saturday.

Maybe you heard this from his press secretary, Kaylee McEnany, the next day.

It was a comment that he made in jest.

It's a comment that he made in passing, specifically with regard to the media coverage

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