Photo Credit: businessinsider.com
On October 2nd, President Trump tweeted that he and the first lady Melania Trump had tested positive for Covid-19. Since then, his carelessness and irresponsibility in handling his health and the health of those around him has led to the White House being labeled a “Super Spreader” of the virus.
Shortly after the tweet that sent thousands of Americans into a panic, the president’s Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, reported that Trump was experiencing very mild symptoms and will continue to do his job as he was loaded with an experimental antibody cocktail to aid in his recovery. He was taken to the Walter Reed Medical Center, where he was given around the clock care while Meadows and Trump’s medical team were reporting contradicting news about his condition to the press outside of the center.
While the administration attempted to show Americans that they were being fully transparent about the president’s condition, the reports were changing every minute depending on who the press asked. His medical team claimed that he was doing great, but moments later, Mark Meadows stated that the symptoms that Trump was experiencing were very concerning. Nevertheless, he left the hospital three short days later after reports of dozens of positive results at the whitehouse flooded the news. Almost every white house official that was infected was in close quarters with Trump as he prepared for the debate, leading doctors and scientists to believe that he had the virus in his system before he attended the presidential debate. According to livescience.com, “Trump attended around 15 events in various states, from the 2020 presidential debate to fundraisers and rallies over the past several days, and for at least some of that time, the virus was likely multiplying in his body. Seeing as how he rarely wears a mask in public and continues to attend events that don’t follow social distancing guidelines, he likely spread the virus to others.” Hope Hicks, Trump’s senior advisor, reported a positive result the day before him, and although he knew that he was exposed to the virus, he attended a fundraiser in New Jersey where he refused a Covid-19 test.The team that drove the still contagious Trump back to the White House after his hospital stay will remain in quarantine for 14 days. The president clearly has no regard for those around him, as he continues to spread the virus that is active in his body without a care. He believed that it was no more than the Flu when he first heard of it, and it seems that his contraction of it still fails to alert him to the seriousness of the situation.
He returned to the White House while still infected, and removed his mask for a photo-op just minutes after he landed home. He then took to Twitter to announce that we should not let Covid-19 dominate our lives and to not be afraid of it, regardless of the fact that the normal American would not get nearly the same care as he received when he tested positive. His handling of his own case of the Virus and his tweet that followed shows that he is attempting to downplay it as he has been doing since early this year. While the cases of Coronavirus continue to grow daily, Trump has plans to continue his normal events despite not having met the quarantine criteria of 14 days minimum.
The President’s response to his own Covid-19 diagnosis has put many close to him in danger, as well as several attendees from his events who have recently tested positive. Although he knew that he was exposed to the virus prior to his positive results, he continued to go about his routine with no care for the individuals that he was exposing. He remained in the hospital for less than three full days, and followed up with tweets that encouraged us not to be afraid of the possibly deadly virus that has shutdown the country. As a leader, his words have a large impact on his following, and it may lead many individuals to take off their masks and discontinue their social distancing if they know that a 74 year old obese man seemingly recovered in less than a week.
