Coronavirus spreads through West Wing, revealing Trump team’s disregard for rules

Maskless during the first presidential debate.

Riding in a hermetically sealed SUV while infected with the highly contagious coronavirus with two Secret Service agents, just to feel loved by supporters outside your hospital as your doctors signal you are very sick.

The rules simply don’t apply to those at the centre of Trump World.

Donald Trump’s contraction of the coronavirus has shone a bright light on how he, his family, and just about anyone who is brought into his inner circle don’t just ignore the rules – they feel entitled to demolish them.

Though his medical team has provided vague and contradictory descriptions of his illness and how far along in the Covid cycle he is, the president appeared in day four or five of his infection when he decided to take a driveabout outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre in his motorcade on Sunday evening. Experts say that is when an individual is most contagious.

The stunt led an attending physician at Walter Reed to tweet about what he described as a need to follow certain rules to prevent others from getting infected with the sometimes-deadly virus.

“Every single person in the vehicle,” wrote Dr James Phillips, might “get sick” or even  “die”.

“Commanded by Trump to put their lives at risk for theater,” Phillips added. “This is insanity.”

Nevermind such scientific judgments when you are Mr Trump or inside his circle.

“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,” White House spokesman Judd Deere said, notably putting the boss ahead of the agents.

It would be naive to think any president’s care would be administered free of politics. But Mr Trump appears to be giving the orders, not his military physician, Dr Sean Conley.

“The president then later today, in consultation with the doctors, will make a decision on whether to discharge,” Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told Fox News on Monday morning.

Only that is not how the doctor-patient relationship should work.

With coronavirus spreading quickly through the West Wing – press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and others announced positive tests on Monday – and the president hospitalised, the Trump team still showed no signs of easing their sense of being above health rules or government-issued guidelines.

“Do they think that the health and safety rules for everybody else do not apply to them?” Chris Wallace, host of Fox News Sunday, asked Trump campaign adviser Steve Cortes over the weekend, referring to Trump family members and White House aides going maskless during the first presidential debate last Tuesday night.

“Everybody was tested before that event, as you well know,” Mr Cortes replied, prompting Mr Wallce, who moderated that debate, to ask: “It doesn’t matter. Everybody that was in that room was tested, and the Cleveland Clinic’s regulation was it didn’t matter. ... Everybody was told to wear a mask. Why did the first family and the chief of staff feel the rules for everybody didn’t apply to them?”

Smiling throughout the exchange, Mr Cortes said rather clearly that Team Trump has its own set of rules, ones that many of the president’s supporters have adopted.

“We also believe in some element of individual choice. People were distanced, and they had been tested,” Mr Cortes said.

Mr Wallace gave it one more shot, but his verbal jousting partner refused to take any responsibility for the Trump camp’s actions.

“They weren’t distanced, and there were rules, and there was no freedom of choice. They broke the rules,” the Fox host said. “Why did they break the rules?”

Mr Cortes then turned to what the Trump Team does best, other than stage-crafting sets with Air Force One as a rally backdrop.

“The way you’re starting to harangue me now actually reminds me of what you did to the president,” he fired back. “He had to debate not just Joe Biden but you as well. You were not a neutral moderator then. … People can make reasonable decisions for themselves.”