Though it is uncertain whether or not President Donald Trump may be infected with the coronavirus folks aren’t taking any chances. On Friday, it was confirmed that the president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, has been diagnosed with the rapidly spreading virus after shaking hands with Trump. Hours later, while speaking in the White House Rose Garden to declare a national emergency for the U.S., Trump was offered an elbow bump when reaching for a handshake.
In a video that has been circulating social media, following Bruce Greenstein, the chief strategy and innovation officer at LHC Group, concluding his remarks and walking away from the podium, Trump walked up to speak and attempted to greet Greenstein with a handshake. However, the executive extended his elbow to the president instead, who replied, “OK, I like that.”
The CDC has encouraged people to stop shaking hands in an effort to avoid spreading the coronavirus. However, when Vice President Mike Pence was asked if he and Trump will stop shaking hands to adhere to the advised precautionary measure, the VP said he will “continue to do it.”
“As the president has said, in our line of work you shake hands when someone wants to shake your hand,” Pence said, according to The Hill. “And I expect the president will continue to do that. I’ll continue to do it. What this is is a broad recommendation for Americans. But a really good recommendation is to wash your hands often.”
Trump, who has admitted to being a germaphobe, has also admitted to not being tested for the virus.
In conjunction with the CDC urging Americans not to shake hands, the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department, has been urging citizens to “fist-bump instead of shaking hands,” according to Noozhawk.
However, there is glaring irony in the suggested “fist-bump,” as former President Barack Obama was once associated terrorism for his fist bumps.
In a June 2008 episode of Fox News’ “America’s Pulse,” according to HuffPost, host E.D. Hill questioned if a fist bump Obama shared with his wife Michelle Obama was a “terrorist fist jab.”
Hill alluded to the Obamas’ gesture in a teaser for an upcoming discussion with a “body language expert.” “A fist bump? A pound? A terrorist first jab? The gesture everyone seems to interpret differently,” she said.
Then, in a following conversation with Janine Driver, whom the host described as the “body language expert,” Hill said that the “Michelle and Barack Obama first bump or fist pound” was being called “all sorts of things” by people. She asked Driver, “Is that sort of a signal that young people get?”
Hill did not explain any prior references she made to terrorism.
Perhaps, since Trump appears to be fond of the elbow bump, maybe it can replace his handshakes for a while.
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