GOP Senators Were Hoping Trump Would Learn a Lesson From COVID. That Certainly Didn’t Happen.

Donald Trump was admitted to the Walter Reed Medical Center on Friday night for COVID-19. In addition to Trump, nearly 20 of his staffers and people associated with his administration have also come down with the Coronavirus. When Trump went to the hospital over the weekend, he was reportedly “scared.”

And there was the hope that fighting the illness would give Trump special insight on what many Americans are fighting. Some Republican senators even said they hoped that would be the case. Those thoughts were set on fire Monday night when Trump made a mockery of mask wearing and social distancing.

Texas senator John Cornyn is in a seemingly tightening race against Democrat MJ Hegar. He recently said of Trump, “I think he let his guard down, and I think in his desire to try to demonstrate that we are somehow coming out of this and that the danger is not still with us—I think he got out over his skis. And frankly I think it’s a lesson to all of us that we need to exercise self discipline.”

Lindsey Graham, also facing a difficult electoral ballot, remarked, “This is a chance for him, quite frankly, to talk about the human side of this: ‘This is tough, this is hard, we’re gonna get through it. If he comes out of this thing a little bit humbled and focused on speeding up vaccines and trying to safely reopen the country, then I think he’ll probably be OK.”

Those hopes were blown away Monday night when Trump ripped off his mask upon entering the White House. Trump was also notably gasping for air while standing on a balcony.

The President doesn’t look well pic.twitter.com/lEYeHrEKMz

— Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) October 5, 2020