Misleading medical reports, poorly conceived tweets, and absurd photo opportunities. The Trump administration has so far matched the UK government’s incompetent handling of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s illness with Covid-19 step for step.
From the moment Boris Johnson tested positive for coronavirus on 27 March, Cabinet ministers rallied round to downplay concerns about his health. Business secretary Alok Sharma told reporters the prime minister “had mild symptoms, he is absolutely leading the response from the front.”
Six days later, Johnson was filmed standing outside his Downing Street apartment to ‘Clap for Carers’, a temporary nationwide weekly round of applause held across the country in recognition of NHS workers. Although he looked understandably dishevelled, aides revealed he would be coming out of self-isolation the following day.
As he had suffered from persistent coughing fits and a high temperature ever since contracting the virus, this patently couldn’t have been true. While ministers lined up to reiterate the effectiveness of the prime minister’s performance during his ill-health over the next few days, Number 10 announced Johnson had been admitted to hospital on 5 April.
Which was a bit of shock to a population who had been told repeatedly, even only hours before the announcement, that the prime minister was doing well and who had, according to Health Secretary Matt Hancock, “very much got his hand on the tiller”.
Johnson spent the following three nights in hospital in intensive care. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who stood in for the prime minister during this time, admitted two days ago that during this period, he “really worried we might lose him.”
The rapid deterioration of Johnson’s condition led to an embarrassing unravelling of many of the statements previously given regarding the health of the British leader.
It highlighted the absence of a coherent chain of communication, which contributed to ministers briefing the media with only a limited knowledge of the facts. And in some cases, individuals who knew the truth were opting to share what can most kindly be described as white lies.
Given the UK felt the severe impact of Covid-19 before the US, the Trump administration should have taken heed of the mistakes made by the British government when formulating its approach to the pandemic. That it did not means it is of little surprise it also failed to take note of what not to do if the president contracted the virus. Possibly because he thought it would never happen to him.
As a result, confusion has reigned over Donald Trump’s health status since it was announced that he had Covid-19 on Friday. The sequence of conflicting messages over the weekend have shone the spotlight on a White House in disarray.
Trump’s administration suffers from a corrosive trust deficit as a consequence of years of spreading disinformation. Many are already deeply sceptical regarding the accuracy of reports on the president’s health and seek greater clarification on both the need for, and the effects of, the experimental drug combination he has received.
Such scepticism is hard to dismiss when it was revealed less than a month ago that Trump admitted he had deliberately downplayed the dangers of Covid-19 earlier in the year. This revelation demonstrates his willingness to devalue facts if it suits his political agenda. Top of that list right now is his re-election.
The hospitalisation of a country’s leader leaves a nation reeling and unsure of the potential ramifications of such an event. Citizens need answers. It is not the time for smoke and mirrors; voters deserve better than half-baked half-truths.
Boris Johnson is widely regarded to have come out of hospital a changed man following his near fatal experience, with a new appreciation for the suffering others have endured during the pandemic.
Judging by Trump’s drive by, and the danger he placed his security detail in in the process, it appears he has not yet gained such an understanding. The president has said he is at “real school”, but it would sadly appear that he has much to yet to learn if he is to get America back off the sick bed.
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