Editor’s Note: Samantha Vinograd is a CNN national security analyst. She is a senior advisor to the Biden Institute at the University of Delaware, which is not affiliated with the Biden campaign. Vinograd served on President Barack Obama’s National Security Council from 2009 to 2013 and in the Treasury Department under President George W. Bush. The opinions expressed in this comment are yours.
With coronavirus losses at disgusting levels, Americans learned Monday that no one is safe from Covid-19, not even the man they are supposed to be. agreement Americans safe. News that U.S. national security adviser Robert O’Brien has tested positive for the virus poses an immediate health risk within the White House walls, while serving as a troubling metaphor for management. of the coronavirus crisis of the administration in general. If the government can’t keep a high-ranking official like O’Brien healthy, that doesn’t instill confidence, it can do the same for us.
The O’Brien Covid-19 diagnosis is a short-term health emergency. While others in the White House, including one of President Donald Trump’s personal aides, have tested positive in the past, O’Brien’s exposure is particularly alarming based on the staff he should regularly engage with, not to mention the narrow That operates. The nature of how the White House is structured, coupled with the demands of O’Brien’s work, means that critical U.S. government personnel may have been exposed to the virus, including Trump himself.
Typically, a national security adviser meets with the president, vice president, chief of staff, and other cabinet officials every day, including during the Presidential Information Session (PDB) in the Oval Office, meetings of the Council of Homeland Security in the Situation Room (I’ve been to my fair share, the room is usually pretty crowded), in-person preparatory calls from foreign leaders, and more. I can say from experience: social distancing is not an option in many of these settings without extraordinary measures.
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