Yeah, that’s what it’s starting to sound like. Reportedly they sent him off to the hospital today because they weren’t sure he would be able to walk to the helicopter on his own in the future, and they were trying to avoid that particular visual.
The official story is that he may have been feeling under the weather earlier, but only got tested after Hicks came back positive, but people are questioning that narrative. The White House was perfectly willing to hide this stuff and only admitted it because the press got hold of the stories.
I’m also reading, however, that Trump is totally freaking out. So if there’s a collapse, it’s not necessarily (entirely) a physical one. This probably explains why he hasn’t tweeted, for example.
Oh dear, now his doctor let slip that he’s 72 hours into his diagnosis and that he was retested on Thursday, not tested for the first time. Which means he knew he was positive on Wednesday, not just showing symptoms. (Before the fundraiser, which he went to anyways.)
And there was this little exchange between his doctor and the press (emphasis mine):
Q: “He has not received any supplemental oxygen?”
A: “He is not on oxygen right now, that’s right.”
Q: “He has not needed any at all?
A: “He has not needed any this morning today at all. That’s right.”
It takes 8-10 days from onset for covid patients to really start going downhill, yet there’s also this quote from someone close to the president: “The president’s vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care.”
I mean, there’s been a total reckless disregard shown, continuously, by all the Republicans, even now, so I’m not sure his indifference stands out, but yeah. Trump’s in the middle of (at least) one super-spreader event for the Republicans. (Kellyanne being one of the latest to test positive*.) This may end up being incredibly disruptive - and deadly - for them as a party. (Wow, the metaphors-made-real here…)
*And Chris Christie, apparently. (Oh, the continuous schadenfreude.) After helping with debate prep. It’s looking like dozens of people will end up being infected by Trump, many after he knew he was sick (and he never informed them - they had to find out through press reports).
They can be unaware of his lack of care for others well prior to this, though. He’s shown the whole world who he is for decades now. That’s probably why they voted for him, because they share his “I got mine, fuck you” world view.
Yeah but I wonder if they’ll all still feel the same way now that “I’ve got mine” refers to the President giving them a deadly virus instead of a tax break.
And a third group of donors who will say nothing, because they are dead.
We’ve been using the phrase “Death Cult” to describe Trumpists for a while now but we may witnessing the beginning of a new phase in which the GOP is forced to change direction simply because a critical mass of the old guard has been killed or incapacitated by the virus.
Which isn’t to say that the new direction will necessarily be better instead of worse. I can imagine several ways in which the GOP could go from “not doing enough in response to the virus” to “doing terrible, unconscionable things in response to the virus.”
My boss during the 2016 election cycle dodged my question about 45’s fitness for office by saying he’d be casting his vote for Pence. I don’t work there anymore but am seriously wondering how he feels about maybe getting his wish.
We’ll know it’s serious when Pants calls for divine intervention and angels of doom appear, swords flashing, flames flickering, all that stuff. Till then, chill.
I’m seeing photographs of Republicans coming out for spontaneous rallies to wish Trump well - they’re all tightly packed together without any visible masks. So… yeah. I’m not sure how much of a difference Trump knowing he was positive before he went to these meetings really makes to most of them.
If these ‘well wishers’ are super lucky, they won’t get the basic infectious disease biology lesson so many top GOP donors ans senators have received this week.
I have my doubts about just how faithfully anyone who makes that claim followed any guidelines.
The most obvious problem–and probably grist for the mill among people who claim “what’s the point of masks?” etc.–is that even healthcare workers who adhere to all precautions still sometimes sicken and die.
HCWs don’t just stop wearing masks and SDing because “well heck that didn’t work out perfectly for some” because they fully grasp what Dr. Tyson has said many times:
That’s because they are getting hit with a massive exposure to the virus over long hours per day. Fatigue is also a factor in susceptibility. N95 means that it screens 95% of 3 micron particles. Not 100%. And not for 9 straight hours.
