CNN’s Jake Tapper: ‘Trump Has Become Symbol Of His Own Failures’

As President Trump prepared to move from the White House to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, reporters continued to assemble a timeline of the president’s actions over the last several days, from his appearance on the debate stage in Cleveland on Tuesday night, to his decision to attend a fundraiser in New Jersey Thursday—after the White House knew that the president has potentially been exposed to the virus.

CNN’s Jake Tapper said the president’s testing positive for Covid-19 “was not just reckless behavior, this was a demonstration of a wanton disregard for human life. President Trump, now in quarantine, has become a symbol of his own failures.”

Word of the president’s positive Covid-19 test has rapidly moved from quarantine to the decision late Friday to move the president from the White House to Walter Reed for “the next few days,” while journalists note there has been precious little information released about the president’s condition.

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reporter Michael Schmidt said the White House’s handling of information only increases concern. “We do not know what happened the last time the president went to Walter Reed,” Schmidt said, referring to the unscheduled trip the president made to Walter Reed, which was described at the time as part of the president’s annual physical. “What that does is it erodes the public’s confidence when the White House has to come out now and speak at a time when the president is sick.”

CNN reports at least three journalists who work at the White House have now also tested positive for the coronavirus.