‘Put Up Or Shut Up’: Maddow Blasts Massive White House Coverup Of Trump’s COVID Testing History

Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 12:15 pm

Rachel Maddow obliterated Donald Trump and the White House on Thursday night for refusing to disclose when the president got his last negative coronavirus test, and instead blaming Gold Star families for his infection.

The MSNBC host suggested that the reason for the White House coverup of Trump’s COVID testing history is likely because he – not military families – is the “agent of infection.”

“He’s blaming the Gold Star families for having infected him, which is astonishing in its own right,” Maddow said. “But why is he saying that? Did the president himself test negative before that event?”

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“Put up or shut up,” she added. “You’re going to make an allegation like that, prove it.”

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Maddow said:

How long do you think he’s been infected for? When do you think he actually got his last negative test? I mean they’re telling us he tested positive a week ago tonight. In the days before that, he had a rally in Minnesota. He had a fundraiser in New Jersey. He had a debate with Joe Biden in Ohio. He did a huge event at the Rose Garden where no one wore masks and nobody social distanced. He did an event with Gold Star families, families who lost a loved one in the U.S. military. He did an event with Gold Star families inside at the White House. Nobody wore masks. No one social distanced. He did all of those things in the days before the White House tells us he tested positive. Did the president bother to get tested before he did any of those events, any of those no-mask, no social distancing events? Did he? What are the odds the president was positive for all of those things? It’s not an issue of small concern, in part because the president is now blaming the Gold Star families at the White House, at that Sunday event before he tested positive. He’s blaming the Gold Star families for having infected him, which is astonishing in its own right. But why is he saying that? Did the president himself test negative before that event? Isn’t it possible that he was the one who was positive at that event and that he was the one potentially spreading it to them? I mean the president’s health isn’t supposed to be a secret. On the issue of him testing negative for COVID, even the Trump White House has not treated that before as a secret. The bizarre secrecy about the timing of the president’s infection means that what they are keeping secret from us all now is information about the president as an agent of infection himself, while he is actively, publicly blaming military families, blaming the families of America’s fallen servicemen and servicewomen for having infected him. Yeah, they probably gave it to him. Put up or shut up. You’re going to make an allegation like that, prove it. When did he get his last test? Why are military families the first ones you think to blame? I didn’t think things would just keep getting worse with him every day. I should have known better.

Once again, Trump is targeting the military

The idea that the commander-in-chief would blame Gold Star families for his own failure to contain the virus in the White House would be stunning if it was any other president.

But this is Trump, a man who has frequently taken aim at members of the military. Most recently, it was reported that he called troops “suckers” and “losers.”

Donald Trump is a sick, weak man whose incompetence and negligence turned the White House into a COVID hot spot.

Instead of taking responsibility and enacting tougher safety protocols to protect his people, he’s running a massive coverup and blaming military families for his failures.

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Sean Colarossi

Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.