Opinion

Should President Trump be allowed back in the White House if he is still contagious?

According to CBS News, President Trump, who is still infectious from COVID-19, returned to the White House on the evening of October 5 where he gave a thumbs up before walking inside and taking off his mask. Soon afterward, he tweeted a minute-long video from the balcony, saying he’d “learned so much about coronavirus” and believes he might be immune to it. “One thing that’s for certain: Don’t let COVID-19 dominate you,” he said. “Don’t be afraid of it. You’re going to beat it.” North Star News always welcomes your opinions and we want to know whether you think Trump should be allowed back in the White House or not as he is still recovering from COVID-19. In your opinion: Should President Trump be allowed back in the White House if he is still contagious from COVID-19?

Aiden Stanciu, Reporter|October 16, 2020

Here are some explanations from students and staff who said no:

Obviously, anyone who has the possibility of being contagious shouldn’t be allowed in a government building, especially the White House. Regardless of what you think of the president, I think we all can agree that he should stay in the hospital and fully recover before returning to office. I believe that he’s only in office right now in order to calm the people, even though he obviously isn’t in any condition to return to the White House.

– Freshman

First, as a president he’s supposed to give an example to the citizens of this country to distance themselves to prevent COVID-19 from spreading more. Also, he could infect more people in the White House, causing problems to all the citizens in the U.S. Moreover, the fact that he tweeted that he might be immune to the virus is absolutely concerning. The things he has said about the virus so far have accumulated to embarrass the whole nation and no longer surprise me.

– Sophomore

This is a selfish decision and he’s not being a good role model for his citizens. How do we expect ordinary people to follow CDC guidelines and be safe when our own president disregards them? If he’s going to return, he should be safe, but as we’ve all seen, he’s not safe at all.

– Junior

He clearly doesn’t care about other peoples’ health, even if they’re immune.

– Senior

If someone is still in the contagious phase of any illness, they should not be in contact where others are around. In a place that is staffed with over 300 staff members, that is virtually impossible.

– Faculty/Staff Member

On the other hand, here are some explanations from students and staff who said yes:

He has the most important job in the United States and needs to be able to do it. They are obviously taking precautions, social distancing, and treating him and the first lady. When he took off his mask, there was nobody around him.

– Freshman

At this point it’s inevitable that every person in the US will be exposed to the virus. I believe that obtaining it from someone with minor to less severe symptoms is ideal, as it is believed there are multiple strands of the virus. The best thing for our nation is to build immunity which can only be done by mass exposure. It is unfortunate there will be casualties, but the science and data shows isolation has had a negative impact on our success with beating the virus. Furthermore, a rushed, incomplete vaccine provides us no safety or reassurance.

– Faculty/Staff Member