Tara McKelvey - Trump and the virus: A day of turmoil in the White House

By Dilip -

For months US President Donald Trump and his aides have gone without masks and often appear to have lived as if there was no pandemic. Then the president tested positive, and their world changed. This is the story of a seismic day. Early on Friday evening, it was peaceful at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, nine miles (14km) from the White House, and so quiet you could hear an acorn drop. But the mood was tense. Police tape was stretched from a tree to a basketball hoop, marking the landing zone for Marine One, the president's helicopter, and a dog sniffed for explosives. Donald Trump would arrive soon, and no-one knew quite what to expect.

Tom Engelhardt : A vote for the apocalypse // Robert Roy Britt: Anti-Science Attitudes are Killing Americans

A security official tried to tell his colleagues where they should stand for the arrival of the president's helicopter. The official admitted that his plan was a work in progress. "I don't think anyone knows what's going on," he said. It was an accurate observation outside the hospital - and for much of the day at the White House, too. The uncertainty began in the early morning hours, just before 01:00 in Washington, with the president's announcement on Twitter that he had tested positive. Afterwards, White House aides and staffers did their best to maintain a sense of normality in the midst of a chaotic environment, but the mood spiralled into something that looked a lot like chaos. There was anxiety, shouting and a few tears…

https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-54392767

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