Donald Trump claims Covid expertise after going to 'real school' not 'read-a-book school' – Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP

Donald Trump is now the world’s leading expert on Covid-19. He “learned it by really going to school... real school … not the let’s read-a-book school,” he told a camera in Walter Reed medical centre while he remained there under medical observation and treatment for coronavirus.

Donald Trump holds up his face mask during the first presidential debate with Joe Biden, shortly before the US President was diagnosed with Covid-19 (Picture: Julio Cortez/AP)

That Donald Trump should catch the virus is not surprising, given he’s eschewed mask wearing throughout the emergency, he’s dismissed concern about his handling of it as a hoax and he’s packed indoor arenas and the Rose Garden full of people with no hope of physical distancing.

However, his actions since catching Covid have surprised even his harshest critics. Firstly, there was the vanity drive-by where he had secret service agents drive him in a hermetically sealed SUV so that he could wave at his enraptured superfans, themselves crowding the pavements outside his hospital.

One doctor pointed out that every one of the five to six occupants in his car would now need to quarantine for 14 days and would almost certainly contract Covid. All for a piece of political theatre.

Then was the inevitable “victory” tweet. “I feel really good. Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life,” he suggested.

This is wrong on two levels, firstly – he still has it. Secondly, with rates of infection spiking across the planet, the last thing anyone with influence should be doing is telling people to ignore it and carry on.

Small wonder then, that 60 per cent of Americans now disapprove of Trump’s handling of Covid-19.

Alex Cole-Hamilton is the Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP for Edinburgh Western

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