Tag: Trump botched COVID-19 response

Trump’s COVID-19 case draws new attention to handling of pandemic

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President Trump has repeatedly downplayed the risks of the coronavirus and mocked his opponent, Joe Biden, for wearing a mask. Now, Trump himself has the virus and has been flown to Walter Reed Medical Center for treatment. 

Concerns are now mounting about the president’s health, though the White House said Friday he was hospitalized “out of an abundance of caution.”

Trump walked on his own power to and from the helicopter Marine One that took him to the hospital. The president, looking a bit pale, also tweeted a video from the White House in which he said he thought things were going well.  Continue reading.

After Republican COVID-19 positives, Senate to remain out until Oct. 19

McConnell previously said he expected senators to come back to Washington on Monday

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Saturday that he will seek permission for the Senate to remain out for two weeks instead of resuming work Monday, but hearings on Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett will continue as scheduled.

“On Monday, I intend to obtain a consent agreement for the Senate to meet in pro forma sessions for the next two weeks. Previously-scheduled floor activity will be rescheduled until after October 19th,” the Kentucky Republican said in a statement.

McConnell said Friday in Kentucky he expected senators to come back to Washington Oct. 5, despite uncertainty surrounding their exposure to COVID-19 in the wake of the positive diagnoses of President Donald Trump and Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee. Since then, two more GOP senators, North Carolina’s Thom Tillis and Wisconsin’s Ron Johnson, revealed positive tests for the virus. Continue reading.

Christie tests positive for COVID-19 after helping Trump with debate preparation

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Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) has tested positive for COVID-19, he announced Saturday, making him the latest official in President Trump‘s orbit to contract the virus.

“I just received word that I am positive for COVID-19. I want to thank all of my friends and colleagues who have reached out to ask how I was feeling in the last day or two,” Christie tweeted. “I will be receiving medical attention today and will keep the necessary folks apprised of my condition.”

Christie was at the White House last Saturday for Trump’s announcement that he was nominating Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. The ex-governor was spotted interacting closely with others in the Rose Garden without a mask. Continue reading.

Secret Service Agents Furious Over Trump’s Disregard For Their Health And Safety

The Secret Service isn’t saying how many of its agents have tested positive for COVID-19 or been forced to quarantine, but in private, agents are angry at Donald Trump’s contempt for their health and safety.

“He’s never cared about us,” one agent told a confidant who in turn told The Washington Post. “This administration doesn’t care about the Secret Service,” another said in an internal discussion group also reported by the Post. “It’s so obvious.”

“Former Secret Service agents said it was unheard of for agents to openly complain about their president but that some currently in the ranks had become convinced during the pandemic that Trump was willing to put his protectors in harm’s way,” the Post further reports. Continue reading.

Medical experts puzzled by Trump taking experimental drugs Remdesivir and Regeneron

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Medical experts are raising serious questions about President Donald Trump’s health as the White House scrambles to justify many of the speculative decisions being made.

During a panel discussion on MSNBC, multiple medical experts weighed in on Trump being treated with Remdesivir and Regeneron. Although its not uncommon for patients to be treated with Remdesivir, what is uncommon is the use of it for mild symptoms which the White House has claimed the president has. The use of Regeneron has also raised concerns due to the lack of evidence to prove its effectiveness.

Since the White House has remained opaque about the president’s condition, medical experts are not sure he is doing as well as officials claim he is. Dr. Vin Gupta, MSNBC Medical Contributor weighed in with his concerns about the choice of treatment. Continue reading.

Trump’s debate guests refused to wear masks, flouting rules

A little more than two days before she reported testing positive for the coronavirus, first lady Melania Trump — as well as the president’s sons, daughters and several guests — violated safety protocols at the first presidential debate by taking off their masks after being seated in a live studio audience in Cleveland.

Several in the president’s entourage continued without masks after an official from the Cleveland Clinic, which co-hosted the debate, offered them masks in case they didn’t have any, according to debate moderator Chris Wallace. “They waved them away,” Wallace said on Fox News on Friday morning.

It was a violation of rules that both campaigns agreed to, Frank Fahrenkopf, head of the Commission on Presidential Debates, said in an interview with The Washington Post. Continue reading.

74 and Overweight, Trump Faces Extra Risks From ‘a Very Sneaky Virus’

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The president has boasted of his health and is sure to receive the best possible care, but he carries a number of risk factors as he begins his battle with Covid-19.

WASHINGTON — President Trump, like many men in their 70s, has mild heart disease. He takes a statin drug to treat high cholesterol and aspirin to prevent heart attacks. And at 244 pounds in a health summary released in June, he has crossed the line into obesity.

All of that, experts say, puts him at greater risk for a serious bout of Covid-19. So far, White House officials say Mr. Trump’s symptoms are mild — a low-grade fever, fatigue, nasal congestion and a cough — but it is far too soon to tell how the disease will progress.

“He is 74, he’s hefty and he’s male, and those three things together put him in a higher-risk group for a severe infection,” said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University, adding: “Although he is being watched meticulously and may well do fine for a few days, he is not out of the woods, because people can crash after that period of time. This is a very sneaky virus.” Continue reading.

Invincibility punctured by infection: How the coronavirus spread in Trump’s White House

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The ceremony in the White House Rose Garden last Saturday was a triumphal flashback to the Before Times — before public health guidelines restricted mass gatherings, before people were urged to wear masks and socially distance.

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump welcomed more than 150 guests as the president formally introduced Judge Amy Coney Barrett, his nominee for the Supreme Court. A handful of Republican senators were there, including Mike Lee of Utah, who hugged and mingled with guests. So was Kellyanne Conway, the recently departed senior counselor to the president, as well as the Rev. John I. Jenkins, the president of the University of Notre Dame, who left his Indiana campus where a coronavirus outbreak had recently occurred to celebrate an alumna’s nomination.

Spirits were high. Finally, Trump was steering the national discussion away from the coronavirus pandemic — which had already killed more than 200,000 people in the United States and was still raging — to more favorable terrain, a possible conservative realignment of the Supreme Court. Continue reading.

The Memo: Trump grapples with credibility gap in crisis

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The Trump administration’s credibility problems are coming home to roost in the middle of a growing national crisis, now that President Trump has been hospitalized with COVID-19.

Washington and the wider world were aflame with gossip and conspiracy theories Friday as it became apparent that Trump’s condition was more serious than had first been acknowledged. He left the White House in Marine One, bound for Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, shortly after 6 p.m.

Attempts to steady the ship of state by the White House were not successful. Much of the blame for that lies in an apparent attempt to underplay the health challenges the president faces, and the administration’s longer record of misleading statements on a multitude of topics. Continue reading.

US adversaries could seize on Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis to spread disinformation

More fake stories could roil a tense and divided America weeks ahead of the Nov. 3 election.

The security implications of President Donald Trump’s contraction of the novel coronavirus are more likely to involve a stepped-up Russian disinformation campaign than any military event, several former top government officials said Friday.

While more fake stories on social media would almost certainly not lead to war, they could roil an already tense and divided America just a few weeks ahead of the Nov. 3 election.

The president and first lady Melania Trump, who also tested positive for the virus, were in quarantine and experiencing mild symptoms as of Friday, the White House said. Continue reading.