This is a fact: Over the weekend, at Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump came into contact with a Brazilian press aide who was diagnosed Thursday with coronavirus.
Which leads us to another fact: The President of the United States has been exposed to coronavirus.
Despite that indisputable reality, Trump has so far refused to be tested for the virus. Asked about the press aide’s positive test on Thursday, Trump responded this way: “Let’s put it this way, I’m not concerned, OK?”
That’s consistent with his reaction when informed that Reps. Doug Collins of Georgia and Matt Gaetz of Florida had both interacted with a person who had tested positive for coronavirus at the Conservative Political Action Committee.
“I don’t think it’s a big deal, I would do it, I don’t feel any reason — I feel extremely good,” said Trump, adding he had “no symptoms, no anything.”
That is a deeply irresponsible view for anyone — much less the President of the United States — to take.
(Side note: It also appears to be untrue. “He is very concerned about all the people he met who have it, including the Brazilian,” a source close to the President told CNN’s Jim Acosta.)
Here’s why: Trump is a 73-year-old man who we KNOW has been exposed to the virus. People who have coronavirus can be asymptomatic for days or even weeks — and by continuing to carry on your normal daily life, you run the risk of infecting lots and lots of people if you do, in fact, have the virus.
Asked at a news conference Friday if he was being “selfish” by not being tested, Trump responded, “I didn’t say I wasn’t going to be tested.” When the reporter followed up, Trump said he will “most likely” be tested “fairly soon.”
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/13/politics/trump-test-coronavirus/index.html