Caleb M.S.– Staff Writer

Secret Service agents drove President Trump around Washington D.C. in a heavily armored and hermetically-sealed suburban on Sunday evening. The public appearance followed his COVID-19 diagnosis on October 1, and the Presidential Debate on September 29.

Political commentators and citizens alike shared their frustrations about the debate last week. Jake Tapper of CNN called the spectacle “A hot mess, inside a dumpster fire, inside a trainwreck.”

Twitter users echoed the sentiment in the moments and days after the debate, calling the event a “disgrace to American democracy and public virtue.”

News sources such as the Washington Post provided live fact-checking during the event, and reporters from the source identified a massive amount of fallacies from President Trump, as well as some truth-stretching from former Vice President Joe Biden.

During the debate President Trump made repeated false claims to attack his opponent. The president claimed Biden never attended Delaware State—the university later refuted this claim. Trump claimed he brought back Big Ten football—a Big Ten university president refuted this claim saying, “President Trump had nothing to do with our decision….when his name came up it was negative because we didn’t want this to be political.”

Trump also took shots at the Green New Deal, including claiming the proposition would “take out cows.” The Green New Deal is thirteen pages long, available for anyone to read online, and makes no mention of seizing or destroying livestock.

President Trump did not stop at making blatantly false statements but also took shots at Biden’s family, including his deceased son, Beau Biden III.

Biden spent time calling for unity, pitching the strength of his COVID-19 response plan, and repeatedly questioning the character of the sitting president. Both men constantly spoke over the moderator, Fox News’ Chris Wallace. The lack of decorum during the debate led to calls for measures to ensure constructive debates—such as muting the microphone of the party not permitted to speak.

Two days after the debate, on October 1, President Trump alerted the nation of his infection with COVID-19 and began treatment at Walter Reed Military Medical Center. The White House confirmed the President tested positive after returning from a fundraising trip in New Jersey on Thursday, but did not share when his most recent negative test was received. Since the President’s diagnosis, thirty people in contact with the President since the debate have tested positive. This number includes the First Lady, Kellyanne Conway, a White House aide, and eleven Ohio debate staff. Vice President Mike Pence has not been seen since the positive diagnosis. He is expected to debate Vice Presidential nominee Kamala Harris on October 7.

President Trump began Monday morning with a flurry of all-caps tweets, commenting on everything from the Space Force to the “FAKE NEWS MEDIA.” Trump later tweeted Monday afternoon announcing his discharge from Walter Reid Medical Center, saying he “feels better than I did 20 years ago!”

Controversy continues to surround the administration in their handling of the virus and transparency regarding happenings inside the Presidential residence. The second Presidential debate is slated for October 15 in Miami, Florida. It is unclear at this time how format or precautions may be affected in the wake of Trump’s illness.