Trump's Irresponsible And Dangerous Joy Ride

 

Health experts are condemning the drive- by staged by patient zero (in more ways than one) Donald "COVID Donnie" Trump yesterday around the Walter Reed complex in Bethesda, MD.  The quarantine- breaking drive- by was ostensibly for the narcissist- in- chief to show he was upright and to bask in the glow of his cultists displaying their fealty, but of course it sent all the wrong messages to everyone else and endangered the lives of those with him (so, basically an extension of his bungling COVID-19 response so far?).

Here are a few comments from some of those experts:

“This is insanity,” Dr. James P. Phillips, an attending physician at Walter Reed who is a critic of Trump and his handling of the pandemic. “Every single person in the vehicle during that completely unnecessary presidential ‘drive-by’ just now has to be quarantined for 14 days. They might get sick. They may die.”

“For political theater,” the doctor added. “Commanded by Trump to put their lives at risk for theater.”

 

#TrumpCovid19 Is there no end to Trump’s ignorance and reckless endangerment of everybody that comes near him? He’s responsible for daily supers-spreader events and forcing dedicated secret service agents to ride with him today on a joy ride in DC is madness.

— Irwin Redlener, MD (@IrwinRedlenerMD) October 5, 2020

 

What the heck? @POTUS #Trump left Walter Reed in a tightly-packed SUV, waved at crowds, and then apparently returned to the hospital. Other than exposing his Secret Service detail to #COVID19 viruses, what purpose did this serve? https://t.co/Y7Ir9OG7dB

— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) October 4, 2020

 

If @realDonaldTrump were my patient, in unstable condition + contagious illness, & he suddenly left the hospital to go for a car ride that endangers himself & others:

I'd call security to restrain him then perform a psychiatric evaluation to examine his decision-making capacity.

— Leana Wen, M.D. (@DrLeanaWen) October 4, 2020

 

BREAKING: Moments after stating “I learned a lot about COVID”, the President takes a joyride in an enclosed space with presumably #COVID19 negative people, all while on experimental medications.pic.twitter.com/q3uc3YYLrg

— Craig Spencer MD MPH (@Craig_A_Spencer) October 4, 2020

 

More reactions from other observers here.