There’s tone deaf, there’s Marie Antoinette tone deaf, and then there’s Donald Trump.

If anyone needed reminding that the president of the United States is incapable of empathy and compassion, his Sunday afternoon MAGA drive-by photo-op should do the trick.

In a move reminiscent of his controversial photo-op in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church last June, the U.S president briefly left his hospital room at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center   today, and rode a motorcade to greet cheering supporters that lined the street outside the hospital.

While the president’s stunt no doubt delighted MAGA nation, it quickly sparked outrage for its disregard for the health of the Secret Service agents riding in the presidential SUV.

That Presidential SUV is not only bulletproof, but hermetically sealed against chemical attack. The risk of COVID19 transmission inside is as high as it gets outside of medical procedures. The irresponsibility is astounding. My thoughts are with the Secret Service forced to play.

— Dr. James P. Phillips, MD (@DrPhillipsMD) October 4, 2020

 

Some Secret Service agents outraged at @realDonaldTrump‘s Sunday night drive . How could.Trump’s desire to be seen outside of his hospital suite justify the jeopardy to agents who protect him, they ask https://t.co/15MifhWqGP

— Carol Leonnig (@CarolLeonnig) October 5, 2020

But perhaps more telling than his callous disregard for the health and safety of his Secret Service detail — after all he’s been holding mass rallies with no physical distancing and little mask wearing  —  was a comment made in the video (see below) Tweeted to cue up his “walkabout”.

pic.twitter.com/0Bm9W2u1x7

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 4, 2020

“It’s been a very interesting journey. I learned a lot about COVID… This is the real school. This isn’t the, ‘Let’s read the book school’. And I get it…And it’s a very interesting thing, and I’m going to be letting you know about it”.

To hear Donald Trump talk about the disease like something he just discovered when it has infected more than seven million Americans and claimed the lives of more than 210,000 along the way, should remind everyone that the president of the United States is simply not wired to feel or understand something –no matter how egregious — unless it touches him personally.

The president’s feeble attempt at putting his sputtering campaign back on the tracks served only to showcase his utter lack of basic humanity, decency and concern for the wellbeing of anyone not named Trump.

Having endured a presidency characterized by lies, coverups and obfuscation,  and with 30 days to go before the election Americans should take this latest reality TV episode for what it is: an unvarnished glimpse into the gaping void that is the president’s soul.