For eight months, Donald Trump publicly downplayed the effects of the coronavirus. He called the virus a “democratic hoax” and dismissed it as nothing more than the flu. He continued to host huge MAGA rallies, some indoors even as health officials warn against doing so.
He politicized mask wearing, science and mocked his democratic rival Joe Biden for wearing a mask and for hosting smaller socially distanced campaign events. Now Donald Trump’s chickens have come home to roost.
Late Thursday night he announced via Twitter that both him and his wife, Melania Trump have tested positive for coronavirus.
Donald Trump and this White House is about to experience what millions of families across the country have been experiencing for the past eight months. The constant fear and anxiety about a new disease and it’s impact on the health of the individual in the long term. That anxiety and fear is 10 fold in Donald Trump’s case since he’s older and overweight and therefore at a higher risk of developing complications from the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
They are about to experience first hand that this virus is real and that Donald Trump might be a superspreader that could have possibly infected some top level officials in the United States government thus making this a national security issue.
They will have to contact everyone Trump came in contact with this week and advise them to quarantine. I don’t have much faith in this administration to do this effectively. According to reports, Joe Biden learned of Trump’s diagnosis though media reports, not from the White House or anyone associated with the Trump campaign.
Trump’s diagnosis also places his handling of the coronavirus at the center of the 2020 elections. It was his recklessness and disregard for science and his own CDC guidelines that led to him being exposed to the virus and others in his entourage potentially contracting the virus, not to mention putting the thousands of people who showed up for his campaign rallies at risk.
Even with this positive test, it appears that his administration is still not taking this seriously. CNN reporter Jim Acosta spotted senior White House adviser John McEntee this morning at the White House without a mask. Chief of staff Mark Meadows and Dr Scott Atlas, a member of the White House coronavirus task force was also not wearing a mask.
The Trumps diagnosis also raises questions about the White House testing strategy. For months Donald Trump and his allies claim that Trump and others around him are tested regularly. If that is the case, why are we just finding about the Trumps positive test now after the results of Hope Hicks’ positive test was leaked to the media?. Did they scale back testing to pacify Donald Trump who has been claiming for weeks that the virus is under control and we’ve rounded the corner?
Going forward, are they finally going to let science prevail?. Will be be hearing more from Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx and less from Dr. Scott Atlas?.
We’ll have to wait and see, but if Trump comes out of this and it’s business as usual then he’s a bigger fool than I thought.
