First observed late last week, when President Trump announced that he had tested positive for the Wuhan Chinese virus, the outbreak escalated into epidemic proportions Sunday afternoon when the president left his hospital suite at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for a short trip around the block to greet supporters who had rallied outside the facility.
The impromptu ride triggered the press into fits of outrage. The White House Correspondents Association, the self-appointed overseers of presidential press conferences, went crazy because they were given no notification of the little excursion. Never mind that their pool members were busy capturing video footage of the motorcade. Their reaction is exactly why Trump didn't tell them what he was planning, other than teasing it via a Twitter video shortly before he did it.
And when members of the White House PR staff announced their positive tests, one of the correspondents stated he felt more safe covering events in North Korea than the president and the daily press briefings. This may have been the most dramatic of all the drama queen moments of the last few days.
The contagion had spread the previous day, when media members were busy second-guessing the reports from Trump's doctors on his condition and progress, and speculating as to whether or not Trump knew he had the virus at a fundraiser Thursday before his positive test was announced, at a campaign rally Wednesday night, or even at the debate on Tuesday when he had to take on both Joe Biden and Chris Wallace in a two-against-one battle.
But it blew up on Sunday, as news of the president's trip out of the hospital spread. Liberals were aghast at what happened. They said that Trump was recklessly endangering the public and members of his Secret Service detail, spreading the Chinese virus all over Bethesda, Md.
If they could just stop for one minute and think rationally, they'd realize just how wrong and misguided they are. But logical thought is not something for which the American left is known. A little reasoning blows their arguments out of the water.
It wasn't like Trump was out shaking hands with the crowd of well-wishers on the street outside Walter Reed. He was inside a vehicle. He wasn't exposing Secret Service agents needlessly and putting them in a situation where they'd be forced to quarantine for two weeks. No one outside the detail that had already been with him at the hospital, or at the White House prior to his admittance, was involved. And he was isolated from his driver in the vehicle, as the passenger compartment is separated from the driver's seat by glass.
But the biggest thing to consider is this: By putting forth the argument that Trump put the Secret Service agents at risk, liberals undercut one of their biggest claims in this whole virus response effort; that masks work and people need to wear them. We in Kentucky hear this lecture every day from the governor and our state version of Fauci Jr. We have to wear masks or we're all gonna die. During Sunday's drive, Trump was wearing a mask. So, too, were the Secret Service agents. So what's the problem? If masks work, then everyone's in good shape and there's nothing to worry about. But claiming that the Secret Service agents were endangered is an admission that mask-wearing is pointless, isn't it?
Trump's trip outside the hospital served two purposes. Besides galvanizing and thrilling his supporters, it sent a message to the press that the breathless speculation in which they'd engaged over the president's condition was out of line. Various reports had Trump on death's door and in grave condition. Showing up in public proved the doubters wrong. By Monday afternoon, doctors were reporting his vital signs were good, his temperature was normal with no fever, and he was to the point where he could be released from the hospital and sent back to the White House that evening. Indeed, Trump left the hospital at 6:30 on Monday and returned to the White House half an hour later. Live coverage of his trip dominated the evening network newscasts.
Franklin D. Roosevelt took great pains to hide his medical condition and paralysis from the public, with his Secret Service agents going so far as to actively block photography of him in his wheelchair. Back in those days, the press was cooperative with the president's desire to keep his physical condition a secret. Contrast that with the present day, when the media has run wild with speculation as to his health and actively questioning what the doctors are saying. The investigative sleuths even thought they had a huge scoop Sunday by claiming metadata embedded in photos of the president working from the hospital showed that pictures purported to have been taken throughout the day were actually taken just a few minutes apart; forgetting that the data changes when photos are downloaded from the camera, touched up in photo editing software, and then saved as new files.
The media reaction to Trump's diagnosis and hospitalization should be yet another embarrassment for them, but time and time again, the press corps has proved to be shameless. No act is too over the top; nothing is off limits; in the pursuit to chase Trump from office. And the "I hope he dies" reactions from many liberals exposes "the loving, tolerant left" for its true self.
As of now, it appears Trump gets the last laugh. As Congressman Matt Gaetz said, it's not a question of Trump recovering from the virus, but of the virus surviving after having the audacity to infect Trump. The president has made a quick recovery and says he feels better than he has in years. He's always seemed to be a bundle of energy, showing more stamina as a 74-year-old man than most teens and 20-somethings. No doubt he's ready to get back to the twin challenges of leading the country and campaigning for re-election.
In the meantime, seeing the left melt down and the never-Trump press convulsing in fits never gets old. If we can thank Trump's health issues for anything, it's another opportunity to witness it in real time.
