Trump Hosts COVID-19 Positive Brazilian at Mar-a-Lago

This was inevitable. As the president continues to hold public events without regard to the health and safety of other Americans much less his own…it was inevitable that he would come into contact with someone who would test positive for COVID-19.

Brazilian official, Fabio Wajngarten , standing to the left of the president has since tested positive for COVID-19.

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham in a statement later Thursday acknowledged that Trump and Pence were in contact with the man.

“Both the President and Vice President had almost no interactions with the individual who tested positive and do not require being tested at this time,” she said.

Grisham said that the White House and U.S. Secret Service are working with other agencies to “ensure every precaution is taken to keep the First & Second Families, and all White House staff healthy.”

She also reiterated that “there is currently no indication to test patients without symptoms, and only people with prolonged close exposure to confirmed positive cases should self-quarantine.”

There are all kinds of things wrong with this whole situation.

First…why is Vice President Mike Pence even present at Mar-a-Lago? He’s the lead on the Coronavirus Task Force and should have been in Washington keeping tabs on the pandemic. Yes, I understand in the 21st C. no one is ever out of reach, but for optics he should look like he’s taking charge. And quite frankly at this point, is it wise for both the president and vice-president to be in public at the same place and same time?

Given the hundreds of event cancellations around the country, why is the president still hosting galas and glad handing apparent strangers. If you read the article above, you’ll understand. Essentially the president denies knowing who this is or what happened at the dinner.

If the Secret Service is OK with this, are they taking sufficient caution around the pandemic? And just because the publicly stated norms for administering the test don’t seem to apply here…really…why aren’t we testing the president now that we know that he has in fact been exposed to someone who has tested positive.

Now, admittedly, I am not a fan of President Trump, but I am really not a fan of the Secret Service not protecting the president. A test would seem to be in order…and he is solidly in the demographic to catch the disease and have severe reactions to it…he’s over 70, male, and obese. These are all factors for the higher mortality percentages.

btw: if both the president and vice-president were incapacitated or died from complications of COVID-19, the Speaker of the House would become president.

But never fear, in the words of our president:

Pressed for comment on the reports, Trump added: “Let’s put it this way, I’m not concerned.”

Not concerned or just not paying attention?

Share:

Related Articles