Trump Infected — AND He Got the Virus

~SUMMARY~
The U.S. — with the greatest health expertise in the world — accounts for 4.2% of Earth’s population, 21% of world COVID-19 deaths. You do the math. The president literally is allowing Americans to die needlessly. His malfeasance has caused a conservatively estimated 105,922 deaths, 50% of the U.S. total. Donald is consistently, still, playing down the coronavirus and spreading dangerous disinformation to restart the economy early, solely for reelection, to avoid near-certain indictment. Even after he fell ill, he’s still refused to emphasize or even mention safety guidelines to the country, though he’s made several rah-rah, male bovine excreta videos. He tweeted, “Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life,” apparently forgetting about the 210,000-plus and their loved ones — whose lives clearly have been dominated by “it.” After leaving Walter Reed Hospital against medical advice, news footage showed the president on a White House balcony laboring for breath after ascending the South Portico steps. Before standing pompously for the cameras, over-extending a salute to departing Marine One, then entering the residence through large double doors, Donald ripped off his mask in a symbolic bras d’honneur to families of loved ones who have succumbed to coronavirus. 210,000-plus families. (scroll down for full article)

~RECENT HEADLINES~
“PANDEMIC: TRUMP TWEET-ANNOUNCES EARLY MORN. HE’S INFECTED; Melania, Hope Hicks, et al. Also Pos.; Trump Refused Test, Family Refused Masks at Sept. 30 Debate; Trump Attended Oct. 1 Fundraiser Despite Hicks’ Day-Before Diagnosis; all Likely Infected at Sept. 26 WH SCOTUS Reception” (10/2/2020)
“PANDEMIC: TRUMP FLOWN TO WALTER REED HOSP.; ILLNESS HAS PROGRESSED FAST” (10/2/2020)
“Biden Campaign Pulls all Neg. Ads During Trump’s Illness; Trump Maintains Neg. Ads” (10/3/2020)
“PANDEMIC: WH Lying, Evasive About Trump’s Illness; WH Doctor Tying Self in Knots” (10/3/2020)
“PANDEMIC: Trump Demands Photo-Op Joyride Around Hosp., Endangering SS Agents” (10/4/2020)
“PANDEMIC: Dozen WH Assocs., Senators Infected, Probably at Sept. 26 SCOTUS Reception” (10/4/2020)
“PANDEMIC: Trump Tweets, ‘Don’t be afraid of covid. Don’t let it dominate your life.’” (10/5/2020)
“Nat’l Sec. Experts Worried About Threats Due to WH Credibility Issues, Trump-Illness Lies” (10/5/2020)
“PANDEMIC: TRUMP LEAVES HOSP. AGAINST MED. ADVICE; Health Experts Aghast; Had Experimental Drug Treatments Usually Reserved for Sickest Pts.; While Highly Contagious, Pres. Takes off Mask in WH, Endangering all Staff; Shoots Video: ‘Don’t be afraid of [covid]. Don’t let it dominate you.’” (10/5/2020)
“ELECTION: CNN Poll: Joe Biden, 57%; Donald Trump, 41%” (10/6/2020)
“Rock Guitar Icon Eddie Van Halen Dead at 65 From Throat Cancer” (10/6/2020)
“Trump Tweet-Stops Stimulus Negotiations; Pelosi Questions His Steroidal Judgement” (10/6/2020)
“Gen. Michael Hayden, Fmr. Dir. CIA, NSA: ‘Biden is a good man. Donald Trump is not.’” (10/6/2020)
“PANDEMIC: White House Has Become COVID-19 Hot Spot, 34 Associates, Staff Infected and Rising; Washington, D.C., Hits Highest Single-Day Case Record Since June” (10/7/2020)
“PANDEMIC: Trump Recklessly Breaks Isolation, Goes to Oval Office, Endangers 100s” (10/7/2020)
“NE Journal of Medicine (all Editors Agree) Endorses a Pres. (Biden), 1st Time in 208-Yr. Hx.: ‘[Trump has] taken a crisis and turned it into a tragedy … magnitude of this failure is astonishing’” (10/7/2020)
“PANDEMIC: WH Still Won’t Report Pres.’ Last Neg. Test, Still Refusing Contact Tracing” (10/6/2020)
“PANDEMIC: Joint Chiefs of Staff Under Quarantine After Exposure; 2nd Chief Infected” (10/7/2020)
“Trump Tweet-Orders Resumption of Stimulus Talks After Bad Press, Tanked Markets” (10/7/2020)
“PANDEMIC: Trump Promotes Free ‘cure’ for all; Medical Experts Outraged at Deadly Lie” (10/7/2020)
“Vulnerable Republican Candidates Beginning to Distance Themselves From Trump” (10/7/2020)
“ELECTION: VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE BETWEEN VP MIKE PENCE, SEN. KAMALA HARRIS; Pence Refuses to Ensure Peaceful Transfer of Power; Harris Evades Court-Packing Question” (10/7/2020)
“PANDEMIC: 39 States Continue to See Case Numbers Rising” (10/8/2020)
“ELECTION: Trump Refuses to Do Next Week’s Virtual Town Hall Debate; Format Was Changed by Commission Because of Trump’s COVID-19 Diagnosis; Trump Demands In-Person Debate” (10/8/2020)
“PANDEMIC: WH Doctors Continue Lies, Obfuscation About Trump’s Diagnosis, Condition” (10/8/2020)
“ECONOMY: 22M Job Losses Since Feb.; Only Half Returned; Only Half GDP Has Recovered” (10/8/2020)
“PANDEMIC: U.S. Has 4.2% of World Population, 21% of World COVID-19 Deaths” (10/8/2020)
“PANDEMIC: U.S./World: 7.6M/36.2M Cases; 211.8K/1.1M Deaths; 8:51 a.m. ET” (10/8/2020)
“PANDEMIC: Conservatively Estimated Trump Malfeasance Deaths This Week: 2,441 (10/8/2020)

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COVID-19 Deaths

2/06/2020 — U.S.: 1  |  World: 620
3/05/2020 — U.S.: 12  |  World: 3,293
4/02/2020 — U.S.: 5,137  |  World: 48,284
5/07/2020 — U.S.: 73,431  |  World: 264,189
6/04/2020 — U.S.: 107,175  |  World: 386,464
7/02/2020 — U.S.: 128,062  |  World: 516,726
8/06/2020 — U.S.: 158,268  |  World: 708,278
9/03/2020 — U.S.: 185,752  |  World: 863,577
10/01/2020 — U.S.: 206,963  |  World: 1,014,958
10/08/2020 — U.S.: 211,844  |  World: 1,056,768

(COVID-19 Dashboard by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University; approximately 8 a.m. each day)

Pandemic

The United States — with the greatest health care research and medical expertise in the world — accounts for 4.2% of Earth’s population, 21% of world COVID-19 deaths. You do the math.

The president literally is allowing Americans to die needlessly. His malfeasance has caused a conservatively estimated 105,922 deaths, 50% of the U.S. total.*

*(Redlener, Irwin, MD, Columbia University National Center for Disaster Preparedness director; MSNBC’s Deadline: White House; 10/1/2020.) (Gupta, Vin, MD, MPA, MSc, University of Washington Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation professor, global health policy expert; “Dr. Vin Gupta: 70% of Lives Could Have Been Saved if Trump Acted on COVID-19 Earlier”; MSNBC.com; 9/23/2020.) (Glanz, James & Robertson, Campbell; “Lockdown Delays Cost at Least 36,000 Lives, [Columbia University] Data Show”; The New York Times; 5/20/2020.) (as conservatively extrapolated from COVID-19 Dashboard by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University; 10/8/2020.)

And MAGA Republicans, please don’t bellyache about the source media. These experts (from Columbia University, University of Washington, and Johns Hopkins University) — who are beyond reproach — have appeared in conservative media outlets with the same data.

Donald is consistently, still, playing down the coronavirus and spreading dangerous disinformation to restart the economy early, solely for reelection, to avoid near-certain indictment.

Ultimately, by completely ignoring precautions for political purposes, Donald (and nearly three dozen associates, senators, and White House aides) caught the virus. He endangered donors, members of Congress, and numerous staffers by exposing them — via a fundraiser, a debate, a Gold Star families meet-and-greet (which he blames for his infection), and routine business meetings and contacts — after he likely knew he was infected, which almost certainly occurred at the Sept. 26 superspreader White House reception for his Supreme Court nominee or earlier.

During his hospitalization, Oct. 2-5, a highly contagious Trump forced Secret Service agents to accompany him in an air-tight SUV on a photo-op joyride for supporters, endangering myriad hospital and government staff for political theater. A veteran of the Service expressed outrage saying the president does not care about agents.




“Don’t Be Afraid”

Even after he fell ill, he’s still refused to emphasize or even mention recommended safety guidelines to the country, though he made several rah-rah videos while at Walter Reed. He tweeted, “Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life,” apparently forgetting about the 210,000-plus and their loved ones — whose lives clearly have been dominated by “it.” He ghoulishly continued the art of the downplay.

After three days of several experimental drug cocktails — usually reserved for the sickest of COVID-19 patients — he left the hospital against medical advice, mystifying the medical establishment. Mr. Trump did a photo/video-op outside the White House after stepping off Marine One, immediately shedding his mask. As a contagious superspreader, he proceeded to endanger everyone in the People’s House, a workplace for hundreds of staff. It was perhaps the most irresponsible, dangerous, selfish action of a U.S. president in history.

Once inside, remaining maskless, he recorded another male bovine excreta video, again, shockingly-but-not-surprisingly playing down the pandemic and praising his own crisis leadership, telling us all: “Don’t let it dominate you. Don’t be afraid of it. You’re gonna beat it. … Get out there.” 210,000-plus.

News footage that evening showed the president on a White House balcony — rather than projecting an image of strength — laboring for breath after ascending the South Portico steps. Before standing pompously for the cameras, over-extending a salute to the departing military helicopter, then entering the residence through large double doors, Donald ripped off his mask in a symbolic bras d’honneur to families of loved ones who have succumbed to coronavirus.

Remaining in character, President Trump has not offered any thoughts, prayers, or acknowledgement to those families during his illness.

From the Beginning

Early on, Mr. Trump called the pandemic a “Democrat hoax” while knowing it was real and deadly. In recent months, he’s claimed COVID-19 prevention guidelines (masks, social distancing) are a Democratic plot to abolish church attendance. He continues to mock Joe Biden and others for wearing masks. He’s now tacitly pushing a dangerous, fraudulent “herd immunity” policy (the deadly, failed Sweden approach), i.e., allowing healthy people to contract the disease. And he’s ordered the CDC to recommend less testing.

[FUN FACT]: So-called herd immunity would require a 60-70% infection rate across the country before attaining efficacy, that is, having the virus die out sometime in 2022. By conservative estimates, this would result in 3-6 million American lives lost.

Mr. Trump blatantly has refused to role-model and encourage safety guidelines for the American people since the pandemic’s inception. White House officials claim they can’t control every aspect of human behavior and that they’re “on the side of freedom.” But the administration knows full-well that the potential (MAGA) recalcitrants and apathetics, probably half the country, would follow the president’s lead. And they have: they’ve adopted the stance that safety guidelines are a political statement against their president, whom they therefore support by ignoring and fighting medical science.

From the beginning, Donald has refused to nationalize health guidelines, testing, treatment supply production, and the supply chain. He’s demanding all school districts be open without limitations at the height of a pandemic, without any guidance, threatening their funding if they don’t. He’s risking the lives of thousands of children and educators across the country for political gain. And he’s crushed CDC and FDA independence and bastardized their public guidelines. Trump has sabotaged virus containment efforts by squandering lead time, issuing false assurances and solutions, ridiculing near-universal medical recommendations, suppressing data, and discrediting his own top infectious disease experts.

Mr. Trump received early dire warnings from epidemiological experts around the country and many corners of his own government, including the CDC and top aides. He’s been exposed — on tape — as having known in February that the coronavirus would be staggeringly deadly. But he chose to take grossly inadequate actions to protect the country because he feared too much acknowledgement, let alone, life-saving precautions, would harm the economy and hurt his reelection chances. He ignored warnings while having the advantage of foresight from seeing the pandemic play out in China and Europe, having been warned that its lethal assault on the U.S. was inevitable, that it would occur within weeks or months.

Too Little, too Little

Yes, the president did institute a porous (40,000 Chinese still were allowed to enter the U.S.) travel ban in late January. Contrary to his claims of bold action, however, he had little opposition — virtually all his advisers and most others agreed with the move — and simply was catching up to what the rest of the world was doing: at least 38 other countries had made the same decision. Since then, the few times President Trump has given lip service to pandemic health precautions, he’s immediately obfuscated or contradicted them through disinformation or belittlement, consistently playing down any danger.

This all does not take into account the trillions of dollars in additional stimulus required to fend off another Great Depression because many months after the disease took hold in America, President Trump still hasn’t taken the leadership responsibility necessary to control the pandemic’s spread.

And just for kicks, the president and his Republican Senate enablers are working vigorously, tirelessly to kill the Affordable Care Act, effectively eliminating health care insurance for tens of millions of Americans — at the height of a pandemic.

The coronavirus, economic carnage, and psychological damage from both will run rampant until Donald Trump is turned out of office.

“Don’t let it dominate you. Don’t be afraid of it. You’re gonna beat it. … Get out there.”

But don’t take my word for it. On Wednesday, The New England Journal of Medicine, for the first time in its 208-year history, called for the current administration to be removed from power. And this sentiment among its nearly three dozen editors is unanimous:

“[The Trump administration has] taken a crisis and turned it into a tragedy. … [The] magnitude of this failure is astonishing. … This crisis has produced a test of leadership. With no good options to combat a novel pathogen, countries were forced to make hard choices about how to respond. Here in the United States, our leaders have failed that test. … [The president has] failed at almost every step. We had ample warning.”

210,000-plus families. ■

Trump Corruption Chronicles — We Must Never Forget