Trump Is Reportedly Stepping Up Measures In Private To Protect Himself From COVID, All While Publicly Trying To Move On From Pandemic

He's freaking out about his own safety while not giving a damn about the safety of the American people.


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Nearly 128,000 Americans are dead and more than 2.5 million are infected by the coronavirus, with new record case numbers occurring daily in several states, yet Donald Trump is ignoring the crisis while insisting upon extra protection for himself.

Trump’s Tulsa rally was not only a giant failure because fewer than 6,200 people showed up inside a 19,000 seat stadium. Oklahoma hoped Trump would not hold a rally at all due to the rising number of coronavirus cases in the state. In the end, several of Trump’s own campaign staffers and members of the Secret Service tested positive or had to be quarantined.

And so, even as Trump continues to downplay the pandemic as if our country has moved past it, Trump himself is terrified of contracting it and has demanded extensive measures be put in place to protect him.

According to a CNN report:

When he travels to locations where the virus is surging, every venue the President enters is inspected for potential areas of contagion by advance security and medical teams, according to people familiar with the arrangements. Bathrooms designated for the President’s use are scrubbed and sanitized before he arrives. Staff maintain a close accounting of who will come into contact with the President to ensure they receive tests.”

Despite these measures, none of them include Trump wearing a mask or practicing proper social distancing as he continues to push for rallies across the nation to air his grievances and gin up his base, most of whom just happen to reside in states such as Florida, Texas, and Arizona where the coronavirus has also exploded.

“Aides say the steps are necessary to allow the President — by all definitions an essential worker — to continue leading the country amid the pandemic,” CNN reported.

A lot of Trump’s fear mostly has to do with image concerns. After all, if he contracts the virus he would be exposed to even more ridicule.

[P]eople familiar with the matter say the precautions also stem from Trump’s own insistence that he not contract the disease and his heightened awareness of how a sick President would affect both the country’s view of him and his ability to command a response to the pandemic. After Trump told aides at the beginning of the outbreak he must avoid getting sick at all costs, efforts to prevent him from contracting the virus have progressively become more intensive and wide-ranging. Early steps such as keeping more hand sanitizer nearby eventually evolved into an intensive safety apparatus, including the testing regimen requiring dozens of staffers.”

Trump only has himself to blame. He downplayed the virus early on when he could have taken it seriously, and he has forced states to re-open early while turning wearing masks into a culture war. Now the virus is spreading like wildfire and he’s panicking — not because Americans are being infected and are dying, but because he only cares about himself.

Featured image via Flickr/Michael Vadon, under Creative Commons license 2.0

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