The way President Donald Trump is handling his personal health in the midst of the pandemic is of the utmost interest to the corporate media, like CNN. From masking to medication, what the President does or doesn’t do can drive an entire news cycle.
The president went golfing and got caught by a CNN photojournalist. At least in this White House reporter’s mind:
CNN photojournalist @abdallahcnn got a shot of President Trump golfing today. He says the president is moving around the course in a golf cart alone but is golfing with three partners. None of the men are wearing masks. pic.twitter.com/WXYS6zDPNd
— Jason Hoffman (@JasonHoffman93) May 23, 2020
Imagine thinking this is newsworthy or problematic. It seems like the panic porn CNN has been peddling has made its reporters believe COVID-19 has wings and radar. Clearly it can effectively identify the president, take flight, and use its navigational tools to fly up his nostrils. In a large battalion, no less.
In reality, golfing on a sunny day is probably one of the safest activities Trump can take part in. As the tweet from CNN reporter Jason Hoffman indicates, the group is not sharing carts. I would also assert that golfing makes social distancing relatively easy since it involves swinging clubs behind you and requires a small flying projectile.
Further, DHS has shared that sun and heat hamper virus transmission significantly. The sun reduces the number of virus particles present on a surface very quickly. The CDC followed this research with downgrading the chance COVID-19 being transmitted by surface contamination.
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Those pieces of information indicate individual carts could be excessively cautious while golfing. Nonetheless, Trump and his group are using them. Still, CNN has the vapors.
The network certainly got support from its lefty viewers. They were very upset the president was golfing at all given deaths from COVID-19 were about to cross 100,000. I guess they think Trump should be spending his time in hospital wards or a pharmaceutical lab personally participating in virus response?
Rather than worrying about Trump golfing, they could ask New York Governor Andrew Cuomo why he sent COVID-19 patients back to their nursing homes. Or they could ask Governor Gretchen Whitmer why a 20-year-old boxer with COVID-19 was sent to one. That young man later beat an elderly resident.
Rather than worrying about Trump going golfing, CNN could pose similar questions to Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolfe. And you could add a question for Governor Whitmer about why she is prohibiting flooding victims from staying in small groups inside hotel rooms and is instead piling them into large shelters. Of course, CNN is not going to challenge any of these governors in a significant way.
The individual decisions of these state leaders all had a far larger impact on COVID-19 deaths than any decision made by President Trump. He spent at least two months of very long days at the White House managing the COVID-19 response. CNN made the editorial decision to stop covering much of that information live.
In fact, Trump had taken a two-month hiatus from golfing at all during the pandemic response. CNN may recall mocking conservatives when they pointed out that former President Barack Obama seemed to golf during emergencies. Perhaps the juxtaposition of Obama heading out to golf immediately after his comments on the beheading of James Foley by ISIS was one of the most memorable.
As far as masks go, when and where to wear one is a personal decision. I drive by our local golf course regularly and see the staff, who interact with many different people in the course of the day, wearing them. This is the same logic that has placed plexiglass between cashiers and customers. Frequent contact with the public at a distance of less than six feet may be a good reason to wear a mask.
The foursomes going golfing are generally not masked. Staff members said that individual carts are frequently requested, but family members often ride together. Golf courses were also one of the first venues to open in locked-down Illinois.
It seems CNN in the age of Trump has been reduced to stalking Fox News hosts and attempting to shame the President by tattling on him. How sad is that? Rather, let’s take heart in the president demonstrating we can do some things largely as we would normally. A naturally socially distanced sport like golf seems to be the perfect example.
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