Weekend open thread: Trump is in the hospital

It's unclear whether he's in serious condition, or getting better. Meanwhile Chris Christie, Kellyanne Conway, three GOP senators and others have tested positive for coronavirus

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Here you go folks, an open thread for you all to jump in and discuss the weekend’s events, what’s going on where you are, and what you’re up to.

Lance Ramsay @LanceRamsay

@MSignorile Typhoid Amy! Here is your Bingo card Michelangelo. 8 GOP Senators in the first 3 rows. Might be tough for Moscow Mitch to rouse a majority vote for Typhoid Amy?

politico.comWhere Trump went (and who he was with) leading up to his coronavirus diagnosisTrump announced Friday he tested positive for the coronavirus. He spent much of the last week traveling and surrounded by people.

Donald Trump was taken to Walter Reed Medical Center last night, where he was given experimental drug therapies. The official White House line was it was “out of an abundance of caution,” which made little sense. But he was able to make it to the helicopter, walking, if slowly.

Since then things have been all over the place. His doctor, Sean Conley, gave a glowing press conference this morning in which he said Trump was doing “great” and responding and wanting to get up out of bed and walk out of the hospital. But at the end of the presser, which seemed to be abruptly halted, “a White House official” — later identified as White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows — told the press pool that Trump’s condition was much more grave:

The president’s vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care. We’re still not on a clear path to a full recovery.

Why would Meadows undermine what Conley and the medical team said?

Conley is definitely very slick, and was covering up facts. He was evasive on whether or not Trump had been given oxygen, refusing to answer the question clearly to reporters and only saying he wasn’t given any today. Later it was reported Trump had been given oxygen at the White House and had trouble breathing. The big tell of Conley’s dishonesty was his saying Trump is “slightly overweight.”

Jonathan Lemire @JonLemire

BETHESDA, Md. (AP) — AP source: President Trump was administered supplemental oxygen at the White House on Friday before going to hospital.

And the timeline that Conley laid out this morning— that Trump was diagnosed 72 hours ago — means that Trump not only knew he was positive when he was telling Sean Hannity he was waiting for a test, but was being treated already for a full day. It also means he was out & about knowing he was positive. (Later the White House said the doctor misspoke and meant “Day 3” and not 72 hours).

None of this makes sense. Meanwhile, it appears the White House event announcing Amy Coney Barrett as Trump’s Supreme Court nominee last Saturday was a superpreader event.

Trump’s campaign manager, Bill Stepien has tested positive, as has Kellyanne Conway, Chris Christie, Senator Mike Lee of Utah, Senator Tom Tillis of North Carolina, Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and slew of others.

I’ve weighed in a lot on Twitter over the past 36 hours with my thoughts on it all. I want to hear more from all of you. On this, but also on everything else going on where you are and what you are up to and anything else you want to discuss.

So please, join in the discussion, and I’ll jump in throughout the weekend.