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Covid-19 infected Trump slammed for putting Secret Service agents in danger after drive-by: ‘They may die’

The president posted a video to his Twitter account earlier announcing that he would 'pay a little surprise to some of the great patriots that we have out on the street'

On Sunday, October 4, evening President Trump, for a short while, left Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to wave at supporters gathered outside the facility. Trump, was seen wearing a mask and seated inside a black SUV as he waved at fans. As NPR reports, other images showed Secret Service agents inside the vehicle with personal protective gear on.

Before his visit, he tweeted a video thanking the doctors and staff at Walter Reed for treating him for Covid-19 and said he also announced that he was about to "make a little surprise visit" outside to greet supporters. “We're going to pay a little surprise to some of the great patriots that we have out on the street, and they've been out there for a long time and they've got Trump flags and they love our country,” Trump said.

He also said in the video, “I learned a lot about Covid. I learned it by really going to school. This is the real school. This isn’t the ‘let’s-read-the-book’ school. I get it and I understand it. And, it’s very interesting thing and I’m going to letting you know about it. In the meantime, we love the USA and we love what's happening.”

Dr James Phillips, chief of disaster medicine at George Washington University, criticized POTUS’ decision of drive-by and wrote on Twitter: “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.” In another separate tweet, he wrote: “That Presidential SUV is not only bulletproof, but hermetically sealed against chemical attack. 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.”

This concern regarding the Secret Service agents was highlighted in a Washington Post article. After POTUS tested positive for Covid-19 on October 2, people around him — donors, aides, Secret Service agents — were worried that they if they, too, might be infected. As per The Washington Post, Secret Service agents voiced their anger and frustration to colleagues and friends, saying that the president’s actions have repeatedly put them at risk. “He’s never cared about us,” one agent told a confidant, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Former Secret Service agents opined that it was unheard of for agents to openly complain about their president. However, some currently in the ranks were convinced that during the pandemic, Trump may have been putting his protectors in harm’s way, as per the report. Agents working in field offices around the country criticized that since late August, they are no longer being tested when they returned home from working at a rally for POTUS. “This administration doesn’t care about the Secret Service,” one current agent relayed in an internal discussion group. “It’s so obvious.”

Judd Deere, spokesperson for the White House, said in a statement: “The President takes the health and safety of himself and everyone who works in support of him and the American people very seriously.” Various staffs work together, he said, to “ensure all plans and procedures incorporate current CDC guidance and best practices for limiting Covid-19 exposure.”

This particular topic of Secret Service agents being at risk was widely discussed on Twitter. Writer Yashar Ali, shared the screenshot of a text message and wrote: “A former USSS agent who was an agent on the presidential protection division and served under two presidents texts.” The text alleged that the President “disregarded the health and safety of agents around him”. Another social media user wrote: “Needlessly endangering his Secret Service detail. For another photo op. So sad that he cares so little for others. If only ALL AMERICANS got the care he gets. If only DRS. & RNs that could not see their families for weeks could have a motorcade every couple days. PATHETIC!” Another said, “And Donald trump really needs to not be taking joyrides with the secret service while he’s positive for Covid.” More people slammed Trump for putting others at risk, “@realDonaldTrump Shame on you for putting your secret service detail at risk by doing a senseless photoshop. You should be ashamed of yourself.” One commented, “Totally inconsiderate to have secret service in that car with you just so u can come out for a photo op! It just gets worse.” One said, “I pray and hope that he realizes that the secret service man are husbands and fathers and brothers and that he will put their safety before his own even though they are putting his safety first.”

According to the NPR report, Deere said his short visit had been cleared by the medical team beforehand. “Appropriate precautions were taken in the execution of this movement to protect the president and all those supporting it, including PPE,” he said in a statement.

The president, as per the report, very rarely makes any movement in public without a press pool. In this scenario, they were not informed about the president leaving Walter Reed. “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,” Deere said in a separate statement after the trip.

The White House Correspondents' Association said in a statement, “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. Now more than ever, the American public deserves independent coverage of the president so they can be reliably informed about his health.”

Hours before his brief visit, Trump's medical team told reporters that the president experienced two drops in his oxygen levels over the course of his Covid-19 analysis. He is being treated with a steroid, and there is a possibility that he may be discharged from Walter Reed as early as Monday, October 5.
 

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