JOIN USOne would have thought that being afflicted by a deadly illness would make a person more sensitive and responsible with regard to dealing with it. Not so, it seems, in the case of US President Donald Trump, who has been diagnosed with Covid-19 and is undergoing treatment at a top medical facility. On Sunday night, he left the hospital to go on a drive-by in a motorcade. Sitting in close proximity to him in the enclosed vehicle were Secret Service agents. That he was exposing these agents and their families to infection does not seem to bother him. This is quintessential Trump behaviour -- deliberately violating rules and protocols, selfishly doing what he wants to do, unmindful of the consequences of his conduct for others, and uncaring of the wrong message he is sending out to millions of people. Going by the medicines he is being given -- he is on the steroid drug dexamethasone, and his oxygen levels have dipped a couple of times – he has a serious infection. Yet, he went out of the hospital to impress his supporters. This is appalling behaviour.
Right from day one of the pandemic, Trump’s conduct and policy decisions have been out of sync with scientific opinion. For months on end, he downplayed and dismissed the magnitude of the coronavirus threat. He also endorsed hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, which are unproven as remedies for Covid-19, as game-changing treatment. People listen to what leaders say, even when what they say is obviously stupid. This is especially the case during a pandemic, when no cure is in sight and public anxiety is high. Some Americans heeded Trump’s advice on drinking cleaning agents to keep the virus at bay. Trump has failed America on multiple fronts during the pandemic, whether it is by denying funds for treatment, opening up workplaces and schools too soon or by simply setting a bad example by not wearing a mask. The US has recorded nearly 7.5 million cases and over 210,000 deaths so far on account of Covid-19. Trump cannot escape responsibility for the situation that America finds itself in.
Soon after testing positive, Trump said that he had “learned” more about the disease and understood it better. It triggered a flicker of hope that the illness would knock some sense into his head, that he would admit to having invited the infection by not wearing a mask. Instead of calling on Americans to follow protocols to prevent the pandemic’s spread, Trump broke every protocol to perform a political stunt on Sunday. Clearly, Trump is incapable of responsible conduct.