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On the roster: Bernie backs Biden - Trump says he alone controls re-opening - Dems keep up pressure for another bailout - Trump’s march cash haul huge - When nonna needs a cold one



BERNIE BACKS BIDEN

Fox News: “Sen. Bernie Sanders endorsed Joe Biden for president on Monday, less than a week after suspending his own campaign for the Democratic Party nomination. The Vermont senator made the announcement during a livestreamed virtual event with Biden. … ‘So today I am asking all Americans, I’m asking every Democrat and I’m asking every independent, I’m asking a lot of Republicans, to come together in this campaign to support your candidacy, which I endorse, to make certain that we defeat somebody who I believe, and I’m speaking just for myself now, is the most dangerous president in the modern history of this country,’ he emphasized. The announcement settles speculation on whether and when Sanders would formally back his former primary rival. He notably did not endorse when he suspended his campaign last week. In a curious moment during that announcement, Sanders even stressed the importance of continuing to win delegates for his own campaign so he'd be able to exert ‘influence’ on the party platform.”



Ocasio-Cortez calls Biden outreach ‘almost insulting’ - NYT: “The progressive wing of the Democratic Party fell flat in this year’s presidential primary, and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez knows it. Even before Senator Bernie Sanders dropped out of the race last week, making former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. the party’s presumptive nominee, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez was ruminating on the lessons the left must learn to be more successful moving forward. But in the short term, Democrats are desperate to defeat President Trump in November, and Mr. Biden is making some policy overtures to unite the party. … ‘They floated this olive branch to the progressive left of lowering the Medicare age to 60. And it’s almost insulting. I think Hillary [Clinton] was looking at policies that lowered it to 50. So we’re talking about a ‘progressive concession’ that is 10 years worse than what the nominee had in 2016.’”



Former Sanders spokeswoman calls Biden sexual assault allegation ‘credible’ - Fox News: “The former national press secretary for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' now-suspended presidential campaign called the sexual assault accusation against presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden ‘credible’ in a tweet over the weekend, as Biden's campaign continues to adamantly deny the claim. Briahna Joy Gray, who has been on a social media tear against Biden since Sanders suspended his presidential campaign last week, referred to the claim against Biden by a woman named Tara Reade as ‘[c]redible sexual assault allegations’ in a Sunday tweet highlighting a variety of issues the Sanders campaign largely avoided challenging Biden on during the Democratic primary. (She did not name Reade in the tweet, but hers is the only known assault allegation against Biden.) Among the other ‘[i]ssues Bernie (generously) never raised against Biden,’ according to Gray, are a ‘pattern of unwanted touching ... Burisma’ and ‘[l]ying abt civil rights record.’”



Swing state struggles make Biden’s path harder - NYT: “President Trump and Joe Biden begin the general election campaign locked in a highly competitive contest that remains fought along the lines of the 2016 presidential election, according to national and battleground state polls. If anyone holds the early edge, it is Mr. Biden. He leads by an average of six points in national live-interview polls of registered voters. But the election will be decided by voters in the battleground states, not registered voters nationwide, and there the story is not nearly so clear or rosy for Mr. Biden. At the moment, a reasonable estimate is that Mr. Biden is performing four or five points worse among likely voters in the critical states than he is among registered voters nationwide. As a result, he holds only a narrow and tenuous edge in the race for the Electoral College, if he holds one at all.”



THE RULEBOOK: THAT WON’T DO

“The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, selfappointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.” – James Madison, Federalist No. 47



TIME OUT: JUST WILD ABOUT HARRY

Easter Sunday marked the diamond jubilee of Harry Truman’s presidency. It was 75 years ago that a little-known Missouri politician who himself knew little about what was going inside the Roosevelt administration was thrust onto the world stage at one of the crucial moments in human history. Truman’s surprise presidency and surprising success at steering the country through the end of World War II and its aftermath was remarkable in many ways. One of the reasons Americans responded so well to their new commander in chief was that he, with humble roots and plainspoken ways, seemed to be living proof that this was the government Abraham Lincoln had described, “of the people, by the people, for the people,” had not perished from the earth. The folks at the Truman library and museum in Independence, Mo. have lots of special ways to explore and learn about Truman even if they can’t celebrate the way they wished. Click here to explore.



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SCOREBOARD

TRUMP JOB PERFORMANCE

Average approval: 46 percent

Average disapproval: 49 percent

Net Score: -3 percent

Change from one week ago: ↓ 3.6 points

[Average includes: Fox News: 49% approve - 49% disapprove; Monmouth University: 46% approve - 49% disapprove; Quinnipiac University: 45% approve - 51% disapprove; CNBC: 46% approve - 43% disapprove; CNN: 44% approve - 53% disapprove.]



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TRUMP SAYS HE ALONE CONTROLS RE-OPENING

AP: “President Donald Trump asserted Monday that he is the ultimate decision-maker for determining how and when to relax the nation’s social distancing guidelines as he grows anxious to reopen the coronavirus-stricken country as soon as possible. Governors and local leaders, who have instituted mandatory restrictions that have the force of law, have expressed concern that Trump’s plan to restore normalcy will cost lives and extend the duration of the outbreak. Under the Constitution, public health and safety is primarily the domain of state and local officials and it was not clear what, if any, authorities Trump could use to overrule their decisions. ... Taking to Twitter on Monday, Trump said some are ‘saying that it is the Governors decision to open up the states, not that of the President of the United States & the Federal Government. Let it be fully understood that this is incorrect...it is the decision of the President, and for many good reasons.’”



Trump touts his effort to raise energy prices, promises more hikes - WSJ: “President Trump said a coalition of 23 nations that reached a deal on Sunday to address a mounting global oil glut is aiming to cut production by 20 million barrels of oil a day, more than twice the number originally revealed. The president, in Monday morning Twitter messages, said the initial announcement that the countries would cut 9.7 million barrels a day of oil from global markets didn’t reflect the true scope of the reductions. ‘Having been involved in the negotiations, to put it mildly, the number that OPEC+ is looking to cut is 20 Million Barrels a day, not the 10 Million that is generally being reported,’ the president wrote.”



Trump elevates cabinet, family members to economic task force - Fox News: “The president's tweet comes as the task force is forming at the White House. Sources told Fox News Monday that [the ‘Opening our Country’ task force, which Trump first teased last Friday and is set to be formally introduced Tuesday, will be chaired by White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. The task force, according to sources, will also include members of President Trump’s Cabinet, including: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Purdue, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette, Labor Secretary Gene Scalia, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, and acting director of the Office of Management and Budget Russ Vought. The task force is also expected to include acting chair of the Council of Economic Advisors Tom Philipson and White House advisers Larry Kudlow, Peter Navarro, Chris Liddell, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.”



Promised public-private partnerships haven’t panned out - WBUR: “One month ago today, President Trump declared a national emergency. In a Rose Garden address, flanked by leaders from giant retailers and medical testing companies, he promised a mobilization of public and private resources to attack the coronavirus. … And rather than a sweeping national campaign of screening, drive-through sample collection and lab testing, it found a smattering of small pilot projects and aborted efforts. In some cases, no action was taken at all. Target did not formally partner with the federal government, for example. And a lauded Google project turned out not to be led by Google at all, and then once launched was limited to a smattering of counties in California. The remarks in the Rose Garden highlighted the Trump administration's strategic approach: a preference for public-private partnerships. But as the White House defined what those private companies were going to do, in many cases it promised more than they could pull off.”



Trump echoes supporters’ complaints about Fauci - Fox News: “President Trump sparked speculation about his relationship with the country's top disease expert Sunday night after he retweeted a post that called for the doctor's job. Trump used statements Dr. Anthony Fauci made in February as evidence that a recent New York Times report that said he was slow to act on the coronavirus outbreak was ‘fake news.’ Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was asked about the report on CNN and admitted that earlier action could have saved more lives. The Times' report said Trump played down the seriousness of the virus throughout January. DeAnna Lorraine, a former Republican congressional candidate, called out Fauci in her own tweet and said he told people in late February that ‘there was nothing to worry about and it posed no threat to the US public at large. Time to #FireFauci.’ Trump seized on Lorraine’s tweet as evidence of ‘fake news,’ from the Times.”



DEMS KEEP UP PRESSURE FOR ANOTHER BAILOUT

Fox News: “House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer doubled down on their calls for an ‘interim emergency’ coronavirus relief package on Monday, renewing their efforts to get more than $500 billion in additional funding for Americans, businesses and hospitals amid the pandemic. In a joint statement on Monday, Pelosi, D-Calif., and Schumer, D-N.Y., outlined their ‘urgent priorities’ for this interim package, which would cover small businesses, families and working Americans. ‘Small businesses, hospitals, frontline workers and state and local governments across the country are struggling to keep up with this national crisis. They need more help from the federal government and they need it fast – our nurses, doctors and health care workers need it as much as anyone else,’ they said, while saying ‘it’s clear’ that the more than $2 trillion allocated as part of the already-passed CARES Act stimulus ‘will not be enough to cover the tremendous need.’”



Pergram: How Congress may proceed in the 'After Coronavirus' era - Fox News: “Let’s face it: Nearly every piece of legislation which emerges from Capitol Hill over the next year will deal with coronavirus in some form. Top congressional leaders have been toiling behind the scenes to craft a phase ‘3.5’ measure. Senate Democrats blocked a GOP proposal to bolster small business assistance by a staggering $250 billion late last week. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., then choked a proposal by Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, both Maryland Democrats, to send some of the money to hospitals and make sure underserved communities had access to capital amid the crisis. Democrats argued the impasse naturally helped jump-start the fourth phase of talks. … It’s not really clear when Congress will tackle the ‘3.5’ bill or the fourth bill. But the measures and proposals will soon start to line up like the planes at O’Hare Airport... back when there was such a thing as the planes lining up at O’Hare.”



TRUMP’S MARCH CASH HAUL HUGE

AP: “President Donald Trump’s record-setting fundraising pace slowed slightly amid the coronavirus outbreak but remained strong as he maintains a massive cash advantage over Democrats. The Trump reelection campaign and the Republican National Committee raised more than $212 million in the first quarter of 2020, according to figures first obtained by The Associated Press, bringing their total to more than $677 million since 2017. Their haul for March, even as the nation’s economy began grinding to a halt to slow the pandemic, was more than $63 million. That represented a slowing from the more than $86 million raised in February but nonetheless was Trump’s second-best month ever… Democrats have yet to release their March hauls, but at the end of February, Biden’s campaign and the DNC held just roughly $20 million combined, accounting for debt held by the national party.”



Virginia eases absentee voting restrictions - WJLA: “Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced Sunday that he has signed new legislation that expands access to voting in the Commonwealth. The new bill repeals Virginia's voter identification law, makes Election Day a state holiday, and expands access to early voting, according to a release from the office of Gov. Northam. Early voting will be allowed 45 days before an election without a stated excuse. The Commonwealth currently requires voters who want to vote absentee provide the state with a reason from an approved list, why they are unable to vote on Election Day. Voters will no longer be required to show a photo ID before they vote. Election Day will now be a state holiday and will guarantee each individual has the opportunity and time to vote.”



PLAY-BY-PLAY

Churches may use federal funds to pay pastors’ salaries - NPR



Collapse in highway taxes, tolls casts shadow over road projects - AP



SupCo to hold remote oral arguments in select cases via phone - Fox News



Senate pauses on judicial nomination streak - Politico



Collins gets boost from fellow Georgia House member - National Journal



AUDIBLE: A REGULAR WARREN HARDING

“I believe the worst is over if we continue to be smart. I believe we can start on the path to normalcy.” – New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, quoted by the NYT.



FROM THE BLEACHERS

“I just re-subscribed to the Halftime Report after giving up your email for Lent. I can’t wait to see if I missed anything. Hope you both had a nice Easter.” – Victoria Doyle, Salem, Ore.



[Ed. note: Welcome back! And we are very pleased to hear that you consider us an indulgence.]



“Your essay proclaiming hail to the CANIS ELEPHANTUS AMERICANUS spoke incisively of the circumstances into which we have been thrust. Thank you. Please consider running for office—because most elected officials today lack such clarity of thought and communication. Your analysis and insight almost daily refresh my faith in rational thought, a skill in shorter supply among government officials than masks or gloves in the current COVID-19 battle. Americans really do possess what it takes to defeat this enemy. We have thrown tremendous resources at it. Now more than ever, we must also throw ourselves into the effort to defeat it. And then to defeat the other viruses that keep us from our potential.” – Brad Holm, Phoenix



[Ed. note: Sweet fancy Moses! Please do not wish such a thing on me, Mr. Holm! Not only am I not interested, I’d be ill-suited to the work. What I can do here, on television, on podcasts -- anywhere I can get a platform -- is to summon people toward a politics of accomplishment, not destruction. I think running for office would give me a smaller, rather than larger opportunity to do so.]



“It is amazing to read the portrait of Governor Whitmer in Politico. After reading your clip of it [Friday], I went and read the entire article. The phrase in your clip ‘Meanwhile, with Whitmer's handling of the outbreak garnering praise...’ makes me realize that the folks at Politico live a far different reality than we do in Michigan. In my judgement, Governor Whitmer has assured herself of being a one term governor, and not because she will be leaving for a promotion to Vice-president. She will be fortunate to avoid a recall election. The reality for Michiganders is that she has mis-handled the crisis hugely. She has refused any common sense exceptions to the stay at home order. Michigan is the only state under shutdown orders which does not allow for outdoor workers (construction, landscaping, fertilizer) to return to work. She refuses to follow the Homeland Security guidelines in this matter, while complaining loudly that the federal government does not have a unified policy. If one wants Trump to win in November, you should hope that Mr. Biden picks Mrs. Whitmer to be his running mate.” – David Kregel, Grandville, Mich.



[Ed. note: We will put you down as not a fan, Mr. Kregel! No one knows yet how the public will view her performance in hindsight, but one thing is for sure: there will be lots of naming of names and making of lists in the weeks and months to come. Vice presidential speculation is just the kind of irresistible but pointless hot-stove league kind of speculation that political reporters love.]



Share your color commentary: Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM and please make sure to include your name and hometown.



WHEN NONNA NEEDS A COLD ONE

Fox News: “A 93-year-old Pennsylvania woman has tickled the hearts of millions while stuck indoors amid the coronavirus lockdown after she was photographed making a plea for help in replenishing one all-important provision: booze. Olive Veronesi is staying inside her home in Seminole, near Pittsburgh, to help ‘flatten the curve’ on the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the globe. In her other hand was a can of Coors Light. ‘It’s something to relax, ya know. I think it's nice, something for a young lady,’ Veronesi joked to local station KDKA-TV as she pointed at herself. … The station noted they have it on ‘good authority’ that Veronesi won't have to wait long to get her wish for more beer.”



AND NOW A WORD FROM CHARLES…

“You get [to Nationals Park] and the twilight’s gleaming, the popcorn’s popping, the kids’re romping and everyone’s happy.” – Charles Krauthammer (1950-2018) writing in the Washington Post on April 23, 2010.



Chris Stirewalt is the politics editor for Fox News. Brianna McClelland contributed to this report. Want FOX News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign up here.