Donald Trump upset with Meadows for COVID-19 comments
Chief of Staff Mark Meadows spoke to reporters from the Associated Press and New York Times
President Donald Trump is reportedly upset with Chief of Staff Mark Meadows after Meadows spoke to the press about the president’s current condition.
Contradicting the White House physician’s assessment of Trump’s health, Meadows told reporters from the Associated Press and the New York Times that the president is not doing well.
“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 are still not on a clear path to a full recovery,” Meadows said to a pool of reporters.
Trump, who wants coverage of his health to be optimistic, is reportedly furious that Meadows would contradict his physician, according to CNN.
White House Officials had a carefully prepared statement about the president’s health on the weekend, but Meadows’s statement created mixed messages, raising questions about which statement was more accurate.
CNN has confirmed that the White House is certain that Trump is dissatisfied with Meadows’s statement, stating that it “damaged the credibility of the current medical briefings on the President’s bout with the coronavirus.”
Of course Trump is mad at Meadows. He told the truth. He’ll be fired soon. https://t.co/zS9k3NMB1D
— Derek Powazek 🐐💨 (@fraying) October 4, 2020
Navy Cmdr. Dr. Sean Conley, Trump’s physician, is blaming the media for the confusion.
Conley said that the contradictions occurred due to the time of when statement were made, and the media “misconstrued” Meadows’s interpretation of what was going on.
“The chief and I work side by side, and I think his statement was misconstrued. What he meant was that 24 hours ago when he and I were checking on the President, that there was that momentary episode of a high fever and that temporary drop in the saturation, which prompted us to act expediently to move him up here,” Conley said, referring to the Walter Reed Medical Center.
“Fortunately, that was really a very transient limited episode, a couple hours later he was back up. Mild again. You know, we, I’m not going to speculate what that limited episode was about so early in the course but he’s doing well,” he added.
Read More: Trump resisted being hospitalized for COVID as Election Day nears: report
“[I wanted to] reflect the upbeat attitude of the team,” Conley said. “I was trying to reflect the upbeat attitude that the team, the President, his course of illness has had. I didn’t want to give any information that might steer the course of illness in another direction, and in doing so it came off that we’re trying to hide something, which wasn’t necessarily true,” he said. “The fact of the matter is he’s doing very well.”
“I just want to tell you that I’m starting to feel good,” Trump said. “You don’t know over the next period of a few days, I guess that’s the real test. So, we’ll be seeing what happens over those next couple of days.”
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