Demands for social distancing to stem the spread of the Coronavirus have been instituted across the United States, including Washington, D.C., where the president’s daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump lives with her family, but it’s unclear whether the Trumps think those public health and safety-oriented orders actually apply to them. The New York Times reported this week that Ivanka and her family, including her husband and fellow presidential adviser Jared Kushner and their three children, traveled to the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, for a ceremony marking the recent first night of the Jewish holiday of Passover. Even after the ensuing scrutiny, the Trumps are still refusing to acknowledge any missteps — the White House issued a statement this Thursday proclaiming that Ivanka’s trip was supposedly actually fine and dandy.
A White House official told CNN’s Betsy Klein:
‘Ivanka, with her immediate family, celebrated Passover at a closed down facility considered to be a family home. Her travel was no different than had she been traveling to/from work and the location was less populated than the surrounding area near her home in D.C. While at Bedminster she has been practicing social distancing and working remotely. Her travel was not commercial. She chose to spend a holiday in private with her family.’
"family – celebrated Passover at a closed down facility considered to be a family home. Her travel was no different than had she been traveling to/from work and the location was less populated than the surrounding area near her home in D.C." (2/4)
— Kate Bennett (@KateBennett_DC) April 16, 2020
Ivanka’s travel to Bedminister is not remotely “no different” than her travel to and from work in D.C. The Trump golf resort in Bedminster is an over 200 mile drive away from D.C. That means that rather than some kind of innocent jaunt down the street, the Trumps engaged with an intracountry transit infrastructure meant to ferry people across hundreds of miles of the country, even as the very city in which they live — D.C. — remains under a stay-at-home order in an attempt to stem the spread of the Coronavirus.
The U.S. death toll from the virus is at over 30,000 and counting, and the Trumps think that taking a trip from D.C. to New Jersey is no big deal? Seriously? New Jersey itself is currently the second hardest hit state in the country in terms of total numbers of confirmed cases and deaths.
Reporter Kate Bennett noted that the Trumps’ trip didn’t just put themselves in jeopardy, but it also jeopardized the health of the Secret Service agents who traveled with the Trumps.
She noted:
‘Presumably, however, her holiday at her expansive Washington home would also have been private. Traveling to Bedminster also requires travel by Jared and Ivanka’s Secret Service details, many of whom I would presume also have families who are concerned about the virus. USSS declined to comment to @CNN.’
expansive Washington home would also have been private. Traveling to Bedminster also requires travel by Jared and Ivanka's Secret Service details, many of whom I would presume also have families who are concerned about the virus. USSS declined to comment to @CNN. (4/4)
— Kate Bennett (@KateBennett_DC) April 16, 2020
Observers are expected to trust Ivanka and Jared as parts of the White House’s Coronavirus response task force handling issues including reopening the economy, even though they appear to be struggling with basic tasks of seriousness amidst the pandemic. Jared in particular has been handling medical supply chain issues across the U.S., but his work has included spectacles like spending what seems like millions of dollars to assist DuPont in the production of personal protective equipment that they’ve then sold to interests other than the government with higher selling prices all around.
