A doctor at the Walter Reed medical center where Donald Trump is currently being treated for COVID-19 has described the president’s decision to go on a drive to wave at supporters as ‘insanity.’
Dr James Phillips, chief of disaster medicine at George Washington University’s Emergency Medicine division, and a COVID-19 consultant specializing on how to reopen safely, condemned Trump’s Sunday afternoon drive.
He said it was dangerous and reckless, in comments which quickly went viral – gaining more than 100,000 ‘likes’ and 40,000 retweets in the first hour.
‘Every single person in the vehicle during that completely unnecessary Presidential “drive-by” just now has to be quarantined for 14 days,’ he pointed out.
‘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 said that the design of the presidential vehicle, specifically modified to protect the passengers from attacks, made the drive even more dangerous.
‘That Presidential SUV is not only bulletproof, but hermetically sealed against chemical attack,’ he continued.
‘The risk of COVID19 transmission inside is as high as it gets outside of medical procedures.
‘The irresponsibility is astounding. My thoughts are with the Secret Service forced to play.’
Trump made the last-minute, surprise visit to his supporters outside Walter Reed Medical Center, briefing leaving his hospital room to thank the cheering loyalists.
He was in a suit, but no protective equipment beyond his face mask.
It was unclear whether the driver was similarly protected, or the Secret Service agents who were also reportedly in the car.
The president went into the hospital Friday evening after testing positive for the coronavirus.
A second doctor, Jonathan Reiner, professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington University, echoed Dr Phillips’ condemnation.
‘By taking a joy ride outside Walter Reed the president is placing his Secret Service detail at grave risk,’ he said.
‘In the hospital when we go into close contact with a COVID patient we dress in full PPE: Gown, gloves, N95, eye protection, hat. This is the height of irresponsibility.’
And Dr Craig Spencer, an ER doctor who survived Ebola and is currently director of global health in emergency medicine at Columbia University, was shocked at the president’s ‘joyride’.
‘Moments after stating “I learned a lot about COVID”, the President takes a joyride in an enclosed space with presumably #COVID19 negative people, all while on experimental medications,’ he said.
The White House said the president made a short trip and then returned to the presidential suite inside the hospital.
‘President Trump took a short, last-minute motorcade ride to wave to his supporters outside and has now returned to the Presidential Suite inside Walter Reed,’ White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere said in a statement. ‘Appropriate precautions were taken in the execution of this movement to protect the President and all those supporting it, including PPE. The movement was cleared by the medical team as safe to do.’
The White House press corps issued a statement, condemning the Trump administration for not keeping them informed of his whereabouts.
They had not been warned that the president was about to leave the hospital, breaking the usual protocol of keeping the pool reporters informed.
‘It is outrageous for the president to have left the hospital — even briefly — amid a health crisis without a protective pool present to ensure that the American people know where their president is and how he is doing,” the White House Correspondents’ Association said in a statement.
‘Now more than ever, the American public deserves independent coverage of the president so they can be reliably informed about his health.’
A crowd of Trump’s supporters had gathered outside the Bethesda, Maryland, hospital – most not wearing face masks.