A prominent healthcare advocacy group is calling for the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, to step down from his post after he downplayed Covid risks by saying: “I’m not scared of a germ. I used to snort cocaine off of toilet seats.”

Kennedy, who was appointed secretary of the federal health and human services (HHS) department despite his avowed anti-vaccine activism, made that remark on the 12 February episode of Theo Von’s podcast This Past Weekend.

Donald Trump’s second presidency has been defined by lawless, fascist actions at home and imperial ambitions and performative militarism abroad. He has threatened scores of countries while depicting Canada and Greenland as part of the U.S. His obsession with Greenland has caused severe strains between Europe and the United States and even prompted several European nations to send troops to one of the world’s largest islands, which has a population of less than 60,000. For an insight on how the people of Greenland feel about Trump’s takeover attempts, Truthout spoke to Malu Rosing, a Greenlandic activist and Arctic advisor.

The first time I noticed it was last month, when he asked for a hug.

And not just any hug. “I could use a HUGE MAGA hug!” he wrote. “I love you. Do you STILL love me?” The love note was adorned with little hearts—and a request that I send him some money.

I didn’t respond.

Last Sunday, Stephen Miller, the chief wingman to the newly minted neo-imperialist Donald Trump, wrote an extraordinary post on X. For its brazen rewriting of history, it is worth reading in full: