Trump Hasn't Learned Anything About The Coronavirus | HuffPost Latest News

President Donald Trump posted a video Sunday night talking about his condition as he recovers from the coronavirus, saying he is now more of an expert than the experts.

I learned a lot about COVID. I learned it by really going to school. This isnt the lets read the books school. I get it. And I understand it. Its a very interesting thing, he said.

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Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 4, 2020

But everything Trump has done since receiving a positive diagnosis for COVID-19 shows how this superspreader has actually learned nothing at all.

The priority for Trump and his allies before last week was to project strength for political purposes, no matter the cost. The priority now is the same, even as the positive diagnoses pile up and the toll becomes dangerously clear.

The video posted Sunday night contained a surprise announcement that Trump was going to take a drive in the presidential motorcade to thank supporters who had gathered outside the hospital to wish him well.

The problem with that move is that Secret Service agents accompanied him in the car, which is tightly sealed dangerous conditions to be in with someone who has COVID-19.

That Presidential SUV is not only bulletproof, but hermetically sealed against chemical attack, tweeted Dr. James Phillips, an attending physician at Walter Reed. The risk of COVID19 transmission inside is as high as it gets outside of medical procedures.

Every single person in the vehicle during that completely unnecessary Presidential drive-by just now has to be quarantined for 14 days. They might get sick. They may die . For political theater. Commanded by Trump to put their lives at risk for theater. This is insanity, he added.

Trump has worked while at Walter Reed or has at least pretended to work and was with his chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and senior adviser, Dan Scavino , on Sunday. In other words, instead of quarantining and conducting his job virtually, his aides were with him.

Trump has continued to bristle at the idea of being quarantined, despite his positive diagnosis. He has sent a message to people around the country that it is not essential to self-isolate.

In a video on Twitter, he explained that he decided to go to Walter Reed because he didnt simply didnt want to have to isolate himself.

I just didnt want to stay in the White House. I was given that offer. Stay in the White House, lock yourself in, dont ever leave. Dont even go in the Oval Office. Just stay upstairs and enjoy it. Dont see people, dont talk to people. And just be done with it. And I cant do that. I have to be out front, he said.

Again, the reason that people recover from the coronavirus alone is not to enjoy being quarantined, but so they dont risk infecting other people.

But Trump and those in his circle where coronavirus cases continue to spread at an astonishing pace seem to have little regard for the spread.

Even after the diagnosis of Trump and top officials, the White House said that masks would still not be mandatory for staff and visitors. People who have been exposed to a staffer with the coronavirus are not being forced to self-quarantine for 14 days.

Indeed, the White House press secretary spoke to reporters outside the White House on Sunday without wearing a mask.

A day later, she announced she now has COVID-19 . Two of her deputies are also sick .