For some, Donald Trump contracting COVID-19 is a bit of delicious irony. For others, it’s a national tragedy. But for the politicians, cabinet members, secret service agents, and staffers, it could potentially be a death sentence.
President Trump, just days before testing positive for coronavirus, mocked Joe Biden for wearing a mask and spoke at packed rallies, passing out hats and touching the hands of supporters. But at more of a risk than his constituency is his cabinet: as of October 5th, 14 politicians, including Trump’s campaign manager and three US senators, have tested positive for COVID-19.
Many of these infections trace back to a Rose Garden event at which President Trump announced his Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barett. Just days before testing positive, Mr. Trump spoke to a group of hundreds of mostly maskless attendees sitting mere inches away from each other. But despite this, the White House has decided not to use contact tracing to help mitigate the spread, instead opting to email some of those in attendance to warn them.
As early as late August, Secret Service agents were testing positive after events headlined by President Trump or Vice President Pence. But this problem remains, especially after Trump traveled with Secret Service agents in a car solely for political theater.
Two anonymous secret service agents spoke about the dilemma that comes with protecting a president who has the potential to make you sick. One anonymous agent told CNN that he felt like Trump was treating the Secret Service like just another resource.
“We’re not disposable,” said the source. “He’s not even pretending to care now” remarked another anonymous agent to the Washington Post.
Because the GOP and President Trump are hoping to appoint a Supreme Court Justice before the election on November 3rd, a date has been announced for the hearing for Amy Coney Barret’s Supreme Court Approval; October 12th. But three Republican senators have already tested positive, and much of congress is in a high risk-factor group to contract COVID and have dangerous or deadly symptoms, as the average age of the current US senate is 61.8.
An option to attend via video has been introduced, but it goes against the current rules in place and could be unreliable. President Trump and the GOP are asking senators to risk their health and safety or risk a potentially unreliable vote: voting by video is against the current senate appointment rules and we’re all familiar with the issues that come along with video calls by now.
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