Despite assurances that the president was experiencing “mild” symptoms of COVID-19 and that he was in “good spirits,” the White House said late Friday afternoon that Donald Trump had been transported to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he would stay for “the next few days.” The escalating situation wherein the leader of the free world was taken to a hospital—even though the White House effectively has its own, in addition to personal doctors just for the president—was made all the more chaotic in light of the fact that, as many have pointed out, it’s difficult to trust anything the administration says, particularly on the topic of the president’s health.
As Vox’s Matthew Yglesias noted earlier in the day, it didn’t make much sense, given that the president was supposedly only experiencing minor symptoms, that he was reportedly being treated with a dose of an experimental antibody cocktail developed by Regeneron. (According to the New York Times, “Trump’s medical staff reached out to the company for permission to use the drug.”) In a statement, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said, “Out of an abundance of caution, and at the recommendation of his physician and medical experts, the president will be working from the presidential offices at Walter Reed for the next few days.” She did not say what tests he would be undergoing, or why it would be necessary for him to stay at the military hospital for several days.
As Bloomberg reporter Jennifer Jacobs, who first broke the news of Hope Hicks testing positive for COVID-19, wrote on Twitter, “Trump has had a long distaste for hospitals, and a distrust of medical treatments. Some of his closest allies note Trump wouldn’t allow himself to be hospitalized unless he absolutely had to.”
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White House announces plan to just let virus infect everyone in the West Wing
On Friday afternoon, Donald Trump’s approach for the entirety of the pandemic, i.e. utter disdain for mask-wearing, social distancing, and taking the advice of experts in general, reached its inevitable conclusion when he was transported to Walter Reed hospital after testing positive for COVID-19 in the early hours of the morning. On top of the president’s escalating health situation, the virus has also infected a number of people with whom Typhoid Donny and others in the administration have come in contact over the last several days, including first lady Melania Trump, adviser Hope Hicks, three members of the White House press corp, a White House staffer, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, and Senator Mike Lee, who spent last weekend rubbing up against anyone in arm’s reach at an event in the Rose Garden to announce Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court. And while at this point mandating masks in the White House would be kind of a no-brainer, apparently the administration is planning to just let herd immunity take its course.
Yes, as of Friday afternoon, the Associated Press and the Wall Street Journal were both reporting that the administration still wasn’t requiring employees to wear masks, describing the use of the coverings as “a personal choice,” despite overwhelming evidence that they help stop the spread of the highly contagious disease. As if to really drive home the point that the administration remains hostile toward science and medical expertise, throughout the day numerous officials appeared on camera sans mask, including chief of staff Mark Meadows:
Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany:
And National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow, who later grumblingly put one on after being shamed by reporters but still complained that it was difficult to talk through, despite Joe Biden giving an entire speech while masked the same day:
As the president’s case has apparently worsened throughout the day, going from “mild symptoms,” to a fever, to being transported to Walter Reed for “a few days,” despite the fact that the White House basically contains a mini hospital in addition to personal doctors just for the president, you might think someone would suggest actually taking this seriously, if not for the sake of the people who won’t get the best care in the world, then at least to give the impression that anyone cares about the continuing function of the government, but apparently additional brain cells aren‘t a side effect of COVID-19.