Watching Donald Trump walk into the White House last night — still contagious, without a mask — it was hard not to feel reflexive concern for the many officials who work in the complex, and whose health the president is needlessly putting in jeopardy.
The Associated Press reported this morning on the conditions at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
The West Wing is a ghost town. Staff members are scared of exposure. And the White House is now a treatment ward for not one — but two — COVID patients, including a president who has long taken the threat of the virus lightly. President Donald Trump’s decision to return home from a military hospital despite his continued illness is putting new focus on the people around him who could be further exposed if he doesn’t abide by strict isolation protocols.
And no one seriously expects the president to care at all about “strict isolation protocols.” Indeed, the AP report added that Trump “has made clear that he has little intention of abiding by best containment practices.”
The result is a “fearful” staff, with limited access to up-to-date information, learning about new infections from media accounts.
Axios had a related report on “widespread dismay” among officials. A White House source added:
“It’s insane that he would return to the White House and jeopardize his staff’s health when we are still learning of new cases among senior staff. This place is a cesspool…. He was so concerned with preventing embarrassing stories that he exposed thousands of his own staff and supporters to a deadly virus. He has kept us in the dark, and now our spouses and kids have to pay the price. It’s just selfish.” Remember, these criticisms aren’t being directed at Trump from outside the White House; they’re coming from within the president’s own team. The New York Times also reported today while a “culture of negligence” had prevailed in the White House, it’s now been replaced by “a culture of panic.” The Washington Post added, “As the residence staff has been caring for the first family, a chorus of concern has started to rise among former White House and residence staff members about whether the first family and the administration are taking care of those employees in return.” Expect that chorus to grow louder.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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