Outgoing Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) took to the Senate floor Wednesday to decry President Trump's authoritarian tendencies.

Flake specifically referenced a February tweet from Trump, in which the president declared that the "FAKE NEWS media" is "the enemy of the American people." "It is a testament to the condition of our democracy that our president uses words infamously spoken by Joseph Stalin to describe his enemies," Flake said.

The Washington Post points out that Stalin used a phrase similar to Trump's tweet to justify the execution of his enemies. The words were denounced three years after Stalin's death by then-Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.

Flake, a frequent Trump critic, was especially bothered by the way Trump "inspired dictators and authoritarians with his own language," noting how Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro have all invoked the phrase "fake news" to justify or lie about their actions.

Although Flake's speech aired on various news networks, The Washington Post's Erica Werner pointed out that the only audience on the Senate floor was Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and a smattering of reporters. Kelly O'Meara Morales

On Tuesday, Texas reported 10,028 new coronavirus cases — the first time the state has recorded more than 10,000 new cases in a single day. Texas also reported 60 new coronavirus deaths, a daily record.

Looking at data released by the Texas Department of State Health Services, The Texas Tribune has determined there are 210,585 coronavirus cases in Texas, with the death toll at 2,715. There are now 9,286 Texans hospitalized for the coronavirus, 2,753 more than a week ago.

Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has said he is taking a close look at the state's positivity rate, which is the percentage of positive cases to tests conducted. In May, Abbott said he would consider a rate over 10 percent a "warning flag," while health experts have said the goal is to keep the rate under six percent. On Monday, the rate was 13.5 percent.

Businesses began reopening in Texas in May, and the number of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations began to increase steadily. Last week, Abbott made mask wearing mandatory everywhere except in counties with fewer than 20 cases. During an interview with CNN over the weekend, Austin Mayor Steve Adler warned that if "we don't change this trajectory, then I am within two weeks of having our hospitals overrun." Catherine Garcia

A growing number of Republicans don't want to party with their party this year.

As of Tuesday, four GOP senators have said they won't be attending the Republican National Convention next month. Their announcements come as COVID-19 cases continue to spike in Florida and North Carolina, but not all of those senators are attributing their decisions to the virus.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the oldest member of the Senate, told the Des Moines Register on Tuesday he wouldn't attend the convention for the first time in his Senate career. "And I'm not going to go because of the virus situation," he said. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she never goes to conventions when she's up for re-election, and thus would be skipping this year. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) is also reportedly planning to skip, per CBS News' Caitlin Huey-Burns.

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) only passively acknowledged the virus when saying he wouldn't attend. "He believes the delegate spots should be reserved for those who have not had that privilege before," said a statement from Alexander's team. The GOP decided to limit the number of delegates who will come to cast their votes in Charlotte, North Carolina, to 336, down from the usual number of 2,500. Meanwhile President Trump wants his keynote address, which will happen in Jacksonville, Florida, to bring together an audience of 10,000. Kathryn Krawczyk

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's critics think his decision to unveil a draft of a long-awaited report on human rights in person later this month despite the coronavirus pandemic reveals the project's true purpose, Politico reports.

Pompeo previously established a panel called the Commission on Unalienable Rights to re-evaluate how the United States approaches human rights. There has been skepticism of the project since the beginning — some observers have worried the report would prioritize religious freedom while undermining LGBTQ and reproductive rights, for example. Those fears appear to have been enhanced by the fact Pompeo isn't letting the coronavirus stop him from presenting the document and giving a speech at an event in Philadelphia on July 16; per Politico, critics believe the decision to go ahead with the event highlights the political nature of the work.

"I think it sort of reveals Pompeo's true intentions — that this is not about public policy," said Rori Kramer, director of U.S. advocacy for the American Jewish World Service. "It's about his political pet project."

Kramer and others also reportedly find it odd Pompeo is holding the event based on the draft of the report two weeks before a final version is issued, suggesting he isn't interested in the intervening public comment period. The State Department did not respond to Politico's request for comment on Tuesday. Read more at Politico. Tim O'Donnell

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg held a meeting with the organizers of an ad boycott against the company on Tuesday, and it sounds like it didn't go especially well.

Facebook executives including Zuckerberg spoke with groups who organized the Stop Hate for Profit campaign, which has called for companies to pause ads on Facebook and demand it change the way it deals with hate speech on the platform. But after the meeting, one of the organizations, Free Press, released a statement expressing disappointment.

"#StopHateForProfit didn't hear anything today to convince us that Zuckerberg and his colleagues are taking action," Free Press Co-CEO Jessica J. González said. "Instead of committing to a timeline to root out hate and disinformation on Facebook, the company's leaders delivered the same old talking points to try to placate us without meeting our demands."

Color of Change head Rashad Robinson also said Facebook seemed to be "expecting an A for attendance" by holding the meeting when "attending alone is not enough," The New York Times reports. And NAACP President Derrick Johnson told the Times that "we thought that they'd at least have a response" to the campaign's list of demands, but "there was just no response."

Zuckerberg previously met with civil rights leaders to defend his position on not removing posts by President Trump that Twitter flagged for glorifying violence; the leaders subsequently released a statement blasting him for his "incomprehensible explanations." Zuckerberg reportedly told employees recently that "we're not gonna change our policies" because of the ad boycott and "my guess is that all these advertisers will be back on the platform soon enough." Brendan Morrow

The Trump administration formally began the process of withdrawing the U.S. from the World Health Organization on Tuesday, notifying the United Nations and Congress of the withdrawal.

President Trump has criticized the WHO throughout the COVID-19 pandemic for not adequately warning the world about the virus, and said earlier this year he would halt funding to the WHO. The withdrawal comes even as case counts in the U.S. continue to skyrocket and other countries have largely controlled their virus spread.

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called the move "chaotic and incoherent," and even Republican senators had tried to talk Trump out of the decision. Kathryn Krawczyk

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) ruled out voting for President Trump in 2016. But this time, as she faces re-election and straddles appealing to both Trump supporters and the moderates she needs to hold on to her seat, Collins isn't making it clear where she stands.

Collins' deciding vote to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court and his subsequent votes against abortion rights sent progressives scrambling to unseat Collins this election cycle. Collins' Democratic opponent, Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon, just announced she pulled in a huge $9 million in the second fundraising quarter of the year, and The Cook Political Report ranks their race a tossup. It all left Collins admittedly concerned about the election, she told The New York Times as she campaigned over the weekend.

But despite threats from Trump to stay in line with his messaging or risk losing this fall, Collins promised she won't attack former Vice President Joe Biden. "I do not campaign against my colleagues in the Senate," Collins said, apparently including former senators. She said she knows Biden "very well" from his days in the Senate as well. "My inclination is just to stay out of the presidential and focus on my own race," Collins added. Read more about Collins' re-election strategy at The New York Times. The Week Staff