<em>The Atlantic Daily</em>: Pitying America

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America is faltering. The coronavirus outbreak and the death of George Floyd proved to be revelatory events, exposing its rotted and racist systems.

What do the country’s recent stumbles look like from abroad? Two reporters in our London bureau offer some perspective:

The world is watching America’s humiliation.

Tom McTague, who spoke to more than a dozen European officials and policy experts for this piece, writes: “As citizens of the world the United States created, we are accustomed to listening to those who loathe America, admire America, and fear America (sometimes all at the same time). But feeling pity for America? That one is new, even if the schadenfreude is painfully myopic.”

Being a Washington correspondent wasn’t considered particularly risky. That’s no longer true.

“For foreign media, who have been among those assaulted, targeted with rubber bullets and tear gas, and arrested, the government’s response to the protests—upwards of 400 media-freedoms violations have been reported since the demonstrations began—is shifting perceptions of what it means to be a journalist in America,” Yasmeen Serhan reports.

One question, answered: Can the coronavirus be spread via air-conditioning systems in places such as hotels?