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The Republican National Committee has asked the federal government to provide personal protective gear for political conventions this summer, underscoring the challenges of staging the quadrennial events during a pandemic that has already caused the deaths of more than 78,000 Americans. RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in an interview that the gear was needed for both conventions because they are “national security” events and that she had recently begun talking to Trump administration officials about such a request. (Dawsey, Scherer and Linskey, 5/10)

Republicans are increasingly nervous they could lose control of the Senate this fall as a potent combination of a cratering economy, President Trump’s handling of the pandemic and rising enthusiasm among Democratic voters dims their electoral prospects. In recent weeks, GOP senators have been forced into a difficult political dance as polling shifts in favor of Democrats: touting their own response to the coronavirus outbreak without overtly distancing themselves from a president whose management of the crisis is under intense scrutiny but who still holds significant sway with Republican voters. (Kim and DeBonis, 5/10)

Former president Barack Obama ... appeared to slam the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic as an “absolute chaotic disaster,” offering the sort of blistering criticisms he has rarely aired in public. Obama said shortly before President Trump took office that he would only weigh in on his successor’s actions when he believes “our core values may be at stake.” (Knowles and Kornfield, 5/9)

Former President Barack Obama described President Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic as "chaotic" in a conference call with former members of his administration, a source said on Saturday. (Holland, 5/9)