Melania Reads To Kids At A Children's Hospital — Without A Mask

First Lady Melania Trump went maskless for a Christmas story-time visit to a children’s hospital

A record-breaking, deadly surge of coronavirus cases continues, due in large part to the continued incompetence of the Trump administration at every turn of the pandemic. It’s becoming clearer and clearer that not only are the Trumps not going to change course before the end of Donald’s presidency, but they truly don’t care about saving and protecting American lives — Melania just refused to wear a mask during a Christmas visit to a children’s hospital.

Does anything get more vile than that? Visiting sick kids who are already fighting for their health (and some of them, for their lives) and flouting rules meant to keep them safe? I don’t even have words for it. Those poor kids. Please don’t let any of them get sick because of this.

It happened while Melania was visiting the Children’s National Hospital in Washington D.C. Each year of her husband’s term, at Christmas, she’s upheld a tradition of visiting the hospital and reading to the children. And while she was wearing a mask when she entered the hospital, when she sat down to read the children a story, she removed it. News outlets say Melania kept her mask off for the rest of the visit.

This broke city rules — Washington D.C. has a mask mandate for all people in enclosed spaces. But those rules haven’t ever applied to Melania and co. — despite a city-wide ban on gatherings of more than 10 people, the White House announced earlier this month that it’s going ahead with a full schedule of holiday parties, each with around 50 guests. As is common at the White House, these parties have already had many instances of guests going maskless and ignoring social distancing protocol.

The hospital also responded to backlash with a statement saying Melania followed all of its protocols, so another horrifying twist in this story is that a children’s hospital is actively going against CDC guidelines and apparently not requiring masks of all people who visit it. Do the parents of these kids know this?

https://twitter.com/jetpack/status/1339009541309145088

Both Melania and Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19 in October, so admittedly, the odds of them being able to transmit the virus right now are likely lower. But the CDC still says that people who have been previously infected should wear a mask. At this point, it’s a matter of common courtesy. And if the First Lady of the United States can’t be bothered to set a good example, who will?

But then again, does any of this come as any surprise? We’ve always known that Melania is just as vile as her husband, and that Christmas cheer is certainly in short supply at their house. We just hope no kids or their families have to suffer for it.