GAINESVILLE, Georgia — As Washington reacts to President Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis, Georgia Republicans are seemingly sighing in amusement and exasperation.
Georgians, such as Gainesville lawyer Dale Perry, used colorful language to describe how liberals have portrayed Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis as the embodiment of his perceived mismanagement of the pandemic.
“Bluntly, I think that’s pure bulls–t,” he told the Washington Examiner on the sidelines of a campaign stop by GOP Sen. David Perdue in his hometown. “When you get out there and when you mingle with people, you’re going to be exposed.”
Bambi Gibbons, another Republican at the launch of Perdue’s statewide bus tour before the Nov. 3 elections, believed Trump’s diagnosis simply proved that “the president is a human being.” But the customer service representative, 55, understood criticism regarding the White House’s lack of transparency over the president’s health.
Administration aides have not confirmed whether Trump has tested negative for the virus or whether he is still contagious.
“It’s important to be open about health because, if something happens to the president, we have to know what the next steps are,” Gibbons said. “The president must be protected, of course, but in terms of health, I think this is of national interest.”
She added, “I’m hoping that they’re telling us what we need to know in terms of his health, but I’m confident that he’s shown that he’s bounced back.”
Melanie Thomas, 46, was less charitable in her assessment. The caregiver, who wasn’t at the event but spoke to the Washington Examiner nearby, was quick to draw comparisons between reactions to Trump and Democratic Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms contracting COVID-19.
Bottoms, once a 2020 Democratic vice presidential contender, tested positive for the virus in July.
“A lot of people have said that he deserved it, but when the mayor of Atlanta contracted COVID, nobody said anything,” Thomas said.
Trump was “an easy person” to target, according to Thomas. She cited the president’s decision to greet wellwishers gathered outside Walter Reed Military Medical Center during his three-day hospitalization as one example. He waved to supporters from the backseat of a hermetically sealed SUV, subjecting his driver and security detail to the virus.
“When he was in the hospital, getting out in the car and waving to the people, it just made everybody so mad. ‘Oh, he’s putting people at risk.’ Get over it,” she said.
The trio’s perspectives don’t just reflect the views of Georgia Republicans living outside Atlanta. Their opinions were echoed by members of the GOP based closer to the sprawling Democratic metropolis.
Before a closed-press meet-and-greet hosted by appointed Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler on the city’s outskirts, Bud Bullock said Trump’s diagnosis merely exacerbated confirmation bias. Trump detractors had added it to their ever-growing list of reasons why they don’t like the president and vice versa, the Marietta lawyer explained.
But Bullock, 52, questioned Washington’s response to Trump’s comments imploring the public not to let the virus “dominate” their lives.
“He took a lot of grief for saying that. You go all the way back to FDR and you get, ‘We have nothing to fear but fear itself,'” he said, quoting Franklin Delano Roosevelt. “But apparently now we can’t say you shouldn’t be afraid.”
For Rebecca Weaver, in her 40s, Trump’s approach to COVID-19 mirrored her own.
“My husband is a diesel mechanic. Trucks have to be on the road every single day. He doesn’t get the luxury of being able to take off because there’s an illness out there, and he has an autoimmune disease,” she said.
The Athens teacher continued, “To see the president out there, even though he’s sick, is encouraging. That is what we all should be doing.”
Weaver didn’t vote for Trump in 2016 but intends to this cycle because she staunchly opposes big government. She also opposes public pressure being placed on the White House to be more open concerning the president’s health.
“I don’t think that they should go out and panic an entire country because the president gets a sniffle, or a cold, or is overweight, or has high blood pressure,” she said. “If he can do his job, I don’t care what his health conditions are. And he’s doing his job right now.”
A little more than a week after he revealed he had the coronavirus via Twitter, Trump resumed his public schedule over the weekend, speaking to a crowd of several hundred from a White House balcony overlooking the South Lawn. While most people in the audience were wearing masks, they weren’t socially distanced.
Gaganjot Sambi, 36, didn’t mind that Trump had emerged from isolation within the 10-day period recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as long as he took precautions.
“He needs to put that message across, that this is something that won’t keep you from doing things, but you need to be cautious enough not to pass it on,” the Atlanta lobbyist said.
Trump returns to the campaign trail on Monday with an event in Sanford, Florida, outside of Orlando.
