Overnight, President Trump announced that he and his wife have tested positive for COVID-19 (see Breaking: President Trump and First Lady Have Tested Positive for Coronavirus). That followed the announcement that Hope Hicks, who had been in close contact with Trump, had also tested positive for the virus.

This obviously set off a firestorm of hot takes in the news media. The only question was which network would stoop the lowest, the soonest to try to score political points. You’ll be less than surprised to learn that CNN has taken that prize.

Don Lemon was the worst offender, deciding that this was a good time to try to dunk the President over hydroxycloroquine despite it not even being a factor here (the President was not still taking it as far as we know).

CNN's Don Lemon openly gloats that Trump got the coronavirus despite having taken hydroxychloroquine.

Trump took it back in May, and it's not like a vaccine where you take it and might not need to take it again.

So much for facts. pic.twitter.com/m8vCDg2EyP

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) October 2, 2020

That’s Sanjay Gupta on the right, who poses as an objective medical source but has become no better than Anderson Cooper or Chris Cuomo during the pandemic. Lemon is a special kind of slime ball though, unable to wait even a few hours before trying to take a victory lap over a deadly virus inflicting Trump.

Lemon also thought that praising Biden was a good look.

More gloating from Don Lemon about President Trump getting COVID-19 and saying that Biden made the right move to almost never leave his home.

This guy is not serious.

It's detestable and evil. pic.twitter.com/UQ7fTd37BB

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) October 2, 2020

There’s going to be a lot of this in the wake of Trump’s diagnosis. We are already seeing people in media claim this is because he didn’t wear a mask on stage at his rallies. This ignores that Democrat governors have gotten the virus despite wearing masks in public. Nothing is a magic bullet here, but the media will pretend otherwise to try to score points.

Of course, the absurdity didn’t end over on CNN. We also got this take so hot that it scorched me just by watching it.

CNN analyst and former Obama official Sam Vinograd says this is the most DANGEROUS TIME EVER in the history of the United States government. pic.twitter.com/7x6ESG2Pmd

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) October 2, 2020

This is a country that’s been through a revolution, an invasion of our own soil after winning our independence, a civil war, two world wars, and the turmoil of the 60s. The idea that Trump getting a virus that he has a 95%+ chance of surviving (and that’s not even considering the top medical care he gets compared to others) is the most dangerous period this country has ever been in is laughable. It also ignores that we are a constitutional republic with contingencies for these situations if the worst were to happen.

Here was China’s propaganda arm this morning. Sounds a lot like CNN, doesn’t it?

https://twitter.com/huxijin_gt/status/1311907328451514368?s=21

In short, CNN is a dumpster fire. Even MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow managed to remain gracious. You don’t try to take political shots when people get sick. It’s not just decorum in play. It’s being human. Don Lemon and the rest are incapable of abiding by the even more basic tenants of common decency though.

(Please follow me on Twitter! @bonchieredstate)