| The Briefing Today's Covid-19 briefing from the White House, which included again key members of the task force as well as President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, focused heavily on developments in the areas of vaccines and therapies, as well as the production of protective gear for medical professionals.
The president spoke at length about chloroquine and remdesivir as antiviral treatment for those who have the virus, which is distinct from a vaccine that could take up to a year for approval. "So those are two that are out now, essentially approved for prescribed use, and I think it's going to be very exciting," he said. "I think it could be a game changer, and maybe not, maybe not, but I think it could be."
The vice president said that "tens of millions" of the N95 ventilator masks manufactured by 3M will be available immediately, having cleared a regulatory hurdle last night when the rules were changed as part of the effort against the virus.
But it wasn't just the facts, of course. The president joked a few times about the idea of social distancing getting some of the press out of the room. And there was more back and forth about referring to Covid-19 as the "Chinese virus." And of course the OAN exchange featured in our Media Loser section.
CNN's Brian Stelter said the president's focus on the media is a problem that his inner circle should "intervene" to correct.
Tempers flare
Former FEMA Chief Craig Fugate ripped out his earpiece and walked off during an interview with Katy Tur on MSNBC on Thursday. “I don’t have time to listen to bullshit, people,” Fugate muttered as he stormed off.
He later apologized, saying "This is too critical of a time to let emotions get in the way."
Stop it! The phenomenon of young people ignoring warnings in favor of partying on spring break has continued to spark backlash. Today, Florida Senator Rick Scott and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis both laid into the party-goers over their careless disregard for the health of others.
Bernie Sanders
It was reported early on Wednesday that the Sanders campaign was going to "assess" their path forward. It was erroneously reported by Axios that he was dropping out, which caused a Twitter deluge and eventually some curt responses from campaign figures.
Then Sanders was asked about it some more, and he was quite a bit more than curt in his reply.
Tulsi Gabbard is out Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) suspended her presidential campaign on Thursday and endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden for the Democratic presidential nominee. “After Tuesday’s election, it’s clear that Democratic Primary voters have chosen Vice President Joe Biden to be the person who will take on President Trump in the general election,” she said in the video she released on social media. National Review's Dan McLaughlin noted afterward that, with Gabbard gone, "Donald Trump, who would be the oldest person ever elected president, is now the youngest person running for president."
Interesting
Home testing start-up Everlywell announced they will launch the first at-home Covid-19 testing kit this Monday.
"We're announcing that an at-home collection kit with telehealth diagnosis for COVID-19 will be available to consumers starting Monday, March 23. The initial supply of 30,000 tests amounts to a significant increase in total COVID-19 tests that have been processed in the U.S. as of March 18, 2020," the company said in a press release.
Read more about it here. 6.5.0 | 
