'A slap in the face': Families of COVID-19 victims slam president's downplaying of his diagnosis
Source: ABC News
Hours before he was released from a hospital stay for his coronavirus diagnosis Monday, President Trump tweeted his thoughts on the pandemic that's killed over 210,000 Americans, saying, "Don't be afraid."
(snip)
But for scores of families who've lost loved ones to the disease, as well as first responders and other advocates, the response was far different. Many of them slammed the president's cavalier sentiment and warned that it could make the situation worse.
Brian Walter, a New York City transit worker who lost his father to the virus, told ABC News in a statement that Trump's advice to people not to fear the coronavirus "hurts."
Walter is a member of the survivor network and advocacy group COVID Survivors for Change, which has been documenting the toll the pandemic has left on millions of Americans. On Sunday, the group installed 20,000 empty chairs on the lawn across from the White House to symbolize the nation's COVID-19 deaths.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/slap-face-families-covid-19-victims-slam-presidents/story?id=73436967&cid=clicksource_4380645_4_heads_hero_live_twopack_hed
And tRump supporters are failing to recognize that he had the very best care available, which is far above what is available to most Americans.
= new reply since forum marked as read
I saw exasperated pundits on CNN exclaiming that they had thought that once he experienced the disease first hand, "maybe, just maybe that he would consider a change...".
FUCKING NO! HE WILL NEVER CHANGE. NEVER EVER.
We have had 4 years of the media's continual coddling. 
IMHO, the only thing that might actually promote a "change" is to STOP BROADCASTING THE SHITSHOW.
and kept yelling CUT IT OFF! CUT IT OFF! JUST CUT IT OFF! 
But see, if they did, from their perspectives, what would be left for them to talk about because it would mean that their own jobs would be on the line?
It is just like when all the sports were shut down. That meant that all the sports reporters and broadcasters were suddenly without material to justify their jobs. It's the same thing with these "infotainment" programs. Remove the "entertainment" and they suddenly have nothing to "talk about". 
He had done some variation of that show for over a decade.
It's no different. His "staging" at the WH, with the flags, the lighting, Marine One taking off with the Washington Monument in the background as the sun was setting, and believe it or not, a "reshoot" of the saluting, ALL shown "live" by the exasperated pundits, is nothing more than more of the "entertainment" focus that he has excelled at. Except this time, it's on the taxpayer's dime and the impact is literally lethal.
including the earliest of that genre way back in the '90s - "Cops". But the "buzz" of such shows, was ever-present in the entertainment media and among my friends, co-workers, and family.
Even before Mourning Schmoe, Larry King used to have him on all the time. Literally for 25 years.
He's been doing this for decades. It's all he knows. And he has now taken his "character" (recall how he often talks about himself in 3rd person) and put it into the White House setting, and is continually putting on a performance. Always. And acting like a temperamental actor.
The danger is that we can't have a "performer" as a President. There is too much at stake in the security and governance of this country to insert the Office of the President into an episode of a reality show. And he is carrying out exactly what people like Grover Norquist dreamed of and expressed way before the 2016 election (in fact in 2012) -
And this is why the GOP loons tolerate him. They draft up the most nightmarish crap and hand it to him to sign.
(ETA, note Norquist's remark right at the beginning about "auditioning for 'Fearless Leader'", and not needing that, so perhaps that performance will wake some of them up to the fact that this is what he fancies himself to be now)
I don't think many in the white house would really appreciate it...
though.
