Contagious Trump removes mask for photos upon
return from hospital
President poses near his staff and downplays threat of
virus after three days at military medical center
David Smith
and Lauren Gambino in Washington with Helen Sullivan
Tue 6 Oct
2020 04.39 BST
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/05/donald-trump-walter-reed-hospital-covid-19
A
contagious Donald Trump returned to the White House on Monday and immediately
took off his face mask for a photo op, despite being in close proximity to his
staff.
After a
three-day stay at a military hospital to treat symptoms of coronavirus, the US
president stepped off the Marine One helicopter just before 7pm and walked up
the south portico staircase. He stopped in front of an illuminated entrance
with four US flags, turned to face the south lawn – and brazenly removed his
mask while posing for cameras.
Trump
waved, gave two thumbs up and saluted as he watched Marine One lift off from
the south lawn. A photographer stood close by. Video footage suggested that he was
breathing hard. He then waved and walked inside, where masked staff were
visible, only to reemerge for what appeared to be a film shoot.
In the
film, which he tweeted soon after, Trump offered some bizarrely contrary advice
about the virus, which has killed more than 200,000 Americans: “Don’t let it
dominate you. Don’t be afraid of it. You’re gonna beat it. We have the best
medical equipment. We have the best medicines, all developed recently.”
The
president, much criticised for his defiance of public health guidelines, added:
“Nobody that’s a leader would not do what I did. And I know there’s a risk,
there’s a danger, but that’s OK. And now I’m better and maybe I’m immune – I
don’t know! But don’t let it dominate your lives. Get out there. Be careful.”
Critics
were stunned by the president’s audacity. Neera Tanden, the president of the
Center for American Progress think tank, told the MSNBC network: “I could not
imagine a greater act of selfishness by a human being, let alone the president
of the United States, who is supposed to protect us. He’s doing the opposite,
he’s endangering people around him.”
The
reckless act seemed to signal an unbroken line in Trump’s cavalier attitude to
the virus, which he had admitted he deliberately downplayed for months. He also
announced on Twitter his intention to return to the election campaign trail
“soon”.
“Don’t be
afraid of Covid,” he tweeted earlier in the day. “Don’t let it dominate your
life. We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great
drugs & knowledge. I feel better than I did 20 years ago!”
The message
appeared to confirm the predictions of critics that, if Trump stays relatively
healthy, he will attempt to use his own experience to yet again downplay the
virus and claim its severity has been exaggerated.
Earlier on
Monday Sean Conley, the White House physician, whose own credibility had been
questioned, explained the decision for Trump leaving Walter Reed National
Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. “He’s met or exceeded all
standard discharge criteria,” Conley told reporters. “He’ll receive another
dose of Remdesivir [an antiviral medication] here today and then we plan to get
him home.”
Donald
Trump’s decision to remove his face mask after returning from being
hospitalized was immediately criticized. Photograph: Erin Scott/Reuters
He added:
“We send patients home with medications all the time. In fact, yesterday
afternoon he probably met most of his discharge requirements.”
A reporter
asked how this would be safe, referring to Trump’s drive by supporters on
Sunday and his return to the White House, where staff have reportedly been in
turmoil since the president and first lady’s diagnoses late last week.
Conley
said: “The president has been surrounded by medical and security staff for days
wearing full PPE. And yesterday the US secret service agents were in that same
level of PPE for a very short period of time.”
It has been
more than 72 hours since Trump’s last fever, Conley added, and his blood oxygen
level was normal. “Though he may not entirely be out of the woods yet, the team
and I agree that all our evaluations and, most importantly, his clinical
status, support the president’s safe return home where he’ll be surrounded by
world class medical care 24/7.”
But Conley
repeatedly declined to say whether Trump’s lungs had suffered inflammation or
when he received his last negative test. “I don’t want to go backwards,” he
said.
Anthony
Fauci, the top US infectious diseases expert and White House Coronavirus Task
Force member, warned on CNN that Trump could experience a “reversal” in his
progress. “I’m not involved in his primary care,” Fauci said. “But the issue is
that he’s still early enough in the disease that it’s no secret that if you
look at the clinical course of people sometimes, when you’re five to eight days
in, you can have a reversal.”
Fauci also
said he believed the experimental Regeneron antibody therapy given to Trump
helped the president. Fauci explained that “monoclonal antibodies” are a
treatment that scientists are “really quite optimistic about”. The drug has
been developed specifically for the pandemic and is in late stage trials in the
US.
Speaking on
Rachel Maddow, former CIA director John Brennan, a fierce critic of the
president, said, “I don’t think the American people can have any confidence
that what they’re hearing right now about Donald Trump’s health is accurate.”
Wearing a
mask, Trump emerged from Walter Reed at 6.38pm on Monday. He walked to a
presidential limousine ignoring reporters questions: “Mr President, how many
members of your staff are sick?” Another asked if he was a “super-spreader”.
Trump,
giving a slight wave, said: “Thank you very much, everybody.”
He paused
at the limousine and gave a thumbs up and fist wave before climbing in. He then
took the short flight on Marine One to the executive mansion, where he staged
his most controversial photo op since his security forces cleared peaceful
protests so he could pose with a Bible outside a historic church.
But he
found a White House diminished by Covid-19, with press secretary Kayleigh
McEnany, two junior communications staff and two housekeeping staff the latest
to test positive on Monday. Personnel there have flouted public health
guidelines for months. There are now concerns the outbreak could threaten the
running of government.
Zac
Petkanas, a director at the health advocacy group Protect Our Care, condemned
Trump’s decision to return. “The fact that he’s willing to endanger the lives
of White House support staff like housekeepers, janitors and his Secret Service
detail speaks volumes about his priorities,” Petkanas said.
Joe
Lockhart, a former White House press secretary under Bill Clinton, tweeted:
“This Presidency has turned grotesque. The President is a superspreader who
thinks he’s immune and doesn’t care how many he kills – as long as the camera
gets his good side.”
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