On Sunday evening, President Donald Trump ordered his presidential SUV to drive outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the hospital where he was being treated for the coronavirus. Secret Service agents and medical staff expressed concerns as the president’s SUV carried several agents to protect him, potentially risking their lives
Trump is being criticized for endangering those around him. His team members who were not instructed to speak publicly also said that the president’s drive posed an unnecessary risk to the public.
White House officials clarified that Trump was doing more than just waving at the crowds. He wanted to show his strength to supporters for his campaign.
White House spokesman Judd Deere disagreed that Trump was endangering his agents. When responding to reporters, he said, “appropriate precautions were taken in the execution of this movement to protect the president and all those supporting it.”
Medical professionals offered a different take. Among those critics was a doctor associated with Walter Reed.
James Phillips, an attending physician and faculty at the George Washington University, tweeted, “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.”
