Trump has coronavirus because of his own recklessness

He's responsible for the deaths of more than 200,000 Americans and jeopardized millions of others.

Welcome to The Signorile Report, where you’ll read hard-hitting political commentary and exposés; find interviews with newsmakers; hear me “engage” with right-wingers who call my radio program; and connect with like-minded, passionate people everywhere committed to fighting against hate and corruption. Subscribe now to get all of this in your email box a few times a week.

The news that broke last night that Donald Trump and his wife Melania have tested positive for coronavirus has stunned the world. It came after the news that a top Trump aide, Hope Hicks, had tested positive and was was ill at home.

Trump downplayed her illness on Sean Hannity’s Fox Radio show last night — even as he knew he was likely positive, saying he was waiting for a test. (The White House has rapid tests, so he probably tested positive a few times on those and was waiting for a PCR test, which takes more time.) The White House isn’t being honest and upfront, as so many details are murky. Hicks was still on Air Force One even after she tested positive. She hardly wore masks, though Trump claimed to Hannity that she did. Few White House aides wear masks.

We have no reason to believe anything they’re telling us about the severity of Trump’s condition, or the condition of anyone else in the Trump campaign and in the White House.

Even if this is stunning, none of it is surprising. Trump has downplayed the virus, said it was going to go away from the beginning, recently said it was turning a corner and has refused to wear a mask and to encourage the wearing of masks. He has pushed away respected scientists and believes everything told to him by Scott Atlas, a radiologist and Fox News conspiracy monger who is not an infectious disease expert and supports a dangerous “herd immunity” theory, concerning many scientists.

Just Tuesday at the debate with Joe Biden, Trump said: “I don’t wear a mask like him. Every time you see him, he’s got a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away from him and he shows up with the biggest mask I’ve ever seen.”

Trump has also had rallies, including indoor rallies, at which few people wore masks and people were on top of one another. Even after Hope Hicks tested positive on Wednesday night, Trump went to his Bedminster golf club — while other aides stayed behind, with officials clearly worried about contagion — and met with donors at an indoor fundraiser and wore no mask. That is pure insanity.

Yes, it’s a national security issue that the president of the United States has a potentially deadly virus, and he is morbidly obese — an underlying condition — is 74-years-old, and has some other issues we don’t know about but which sent him to Walter Reed Medical Center last fall. He was obsessed with people thinking it was “mini-strokes,” something he brought more attention to than anyone else. We just don’t know what other underlying conditions he has because he’s not been upfront about his medical condition.

But Trump has continued to allow the virus to rage out of control and he is responsible for the deaths of over 207,000 people — the official count, which we know is lower than the actual count, because so many deaths have been undercounted — and he said just this week we were “turning a corner” on the virus when in fact it is surging out of control, back nearing 50,000 cases per day.

Do not let any sympathies get in the way of stopping this dangerous, authoritarian government from continuing to take away our rights and subvert the election.In fact, they will likely be even more desperate now. Do what they would do if the situation was reversed.

Republicans are saying this won’t slow down the already fast-tracked nomination of the extremist Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. But Democrats must do everything in their power to stop that, and it seems dangerous for the Senate to rush through when so many now have to be tested and quarantined — even if they get negative tests at first. The virus incubates for days. Barrett — who so far tested negative, according to the White House — was with Trump and his family, and then with many senators on Capitol Hill. This nomination must be stopped and put off until after the election.

Trump will likely never have a rally again. Even if his case is mild, that's at least 2 to 3 weeks. If he has a tougher case it will be longer. There are only 4 weeks left to the campaign. And what kind of rally could they possibly have? That's it — there will be no rallies, which is for the best on so many levels.

This also likely means an end to the debates, or at least any in-person debates. In retrospect the first debate was horribly irresponsible. The White House didn’t even inform the Biden camp of Trump’s positive test last night. The Trump family refused to wear masks at the event even though there was a mandatory mask rule, and put Biden and his family and his supporters at risk.

Trump has done this to himself — and don’t put it past him to downplay it if he recovers, from what the White House says are “mild symptoms” right now — and then continues to ignore the crisis. The blood of hundreds of thousands are on his hands.

Right now it’s important that Joe Biden is healthy. He’s tested negative, this morning, and has planned events. Anyone who says he should stop his safe, socially-distanced campaigning, and put the campaign on hold because of Trump’s illness, isn’t thinking about what Republicans would do it the situation were reversed. Three’s no way he should suspend his campaign.

We still have a dictatorial maniac in the White House who is trying to steal the election. Stay focused on that. We have to continue to work to get him voted out in one month from now.