'He's the one that is making them sick': Trump's suggestion that he got infected from Gold Star families faces fierce backlash from Democrats

• President Donald Trump suggested he contracted the coronavirus from a White House meeting with Gold Star families.
• Democratic lawmakers who served in the military took offense at Trump's statements that shifted the White House's coronavirus woes towards the armed forces and law enforcement.
• "The president controls what happens at the White House," Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois told Insider. "So if he says that he's unable — and those around him are unable — to control these events because people were coming up to hug him, then that shows a failure on their part."
• "Shifting blame is second nature for Donald Trump when the reality is he alone is responsible," Rep. Seth Moulton told Insider. "He decided to ignore science and hold massive rallies. He decided to run the White House as if the virus didn't exist."

Six days after President Donald Trump suggested a White House staffer contracted the coronavirus from military service members and police officers, the commander-in-chief said he "figured there would be a chance" he would also contract the virus from attending a ceremony honoring fallen US troops.

"I meet a lot of people. I have to. I'm the president of the country," Trump said during a Fox Business interview on Thursday morning. "I can't hang around in a basement, so I figured there would be a chance that I would catch it."

"Sometimes I'd be within groups, for instance, Gold Star families," Trump added. "I met with Gold Star families. I didn't want to cancel that."

Trump and other senior officials met with family members of the war dead, referred to as Gold Star families, on September 27. The event, hosted by a charity organization, was also attended by Vice President Mike Pence, Defense Secretary Mark Esper, and Coast Guard Adm. Charles Ray.

"They come within an inch of my face sometimes," Trump added. "They want to hug me, and they want to kiss me, and they do, and frankly, I'm not telling them to back up. I'm not doing it, but I did say it's like, you know, it's obviously dangerous. It's a dangerous thing."

The White House seated guests in close proximity indoors and very few of them wore face masks, including the vice president, who leads the coronavirus task force.

Trump, in addition to Adm. Ray, later tested positive for COVID-19. Many of military's top leaders, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, who attended the East Room ceremony, have since placed themselves under quarantine.

Democratic lawmakers who served in the military took offense at Trump's statements that shifted the White House's coronavirus woes towards the armed forces and law enforcement.

"The president controls what happens at the White House," Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois told Insider. "So if he says that he's unable — and those around him are unable — to control these events because people were coming up to hug him, then that shows a failure on their part."

"And frankly, it's shameful he would blame members of the military and members of the police force for his COVID-19 diagnosis," Duckworth, a former US Army helicopter pilot, added. "This is all his own fault for not wearing masks."

Duckworth also noted that Trump announced his nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court to a packed and largely mask-less crowd in the White House garden one day before the Gold Star event; another portion was held indoors in the White House basement.

Aside from Trump, at least nine officials who attended the Judge Coney event have tested positive for the coronavirus, including First Lady Melania Trump; White House counselor Kellyanne Conway; and Republican Sens. Mike Lee and Thom Tillis. The event at the Rose Garden is suspected of being a super-spreader event.

"He has managed to turn the White House Rose Garden into a super-spreader event," Duckworth said, referring to Trump. "And it's really quite shameful because the behavior that he's modeling does not help us fight this pandemic."

Meanwhile, the president of the foundation that hosted the Gold Star event said all of the families who attended tested negative prior to the event and that they were "all doing well and exhibit no symptoms," according to CNN.

Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, a former Marine Corps infantry officer, told Insider he was not surprised the president was deflecting from other public events, such as the one at the Rose Garden.

"Shifting blame is second nature for Donald Trump when the reality is he alone is responsible," Moulton said. "He decided to ignore science and hold massive rallies. He decided to run the White House as if the virus didn't exist.

"Our commander-in-chief opened the door and let it into the White House because of his reckless behavior," he added.

Both Duckworth and Moulton expressed concern for Secret Service agents, who have been in close proximity to the president after his diagnosis. Former Secret Service agents previously told Insider that Trump's drive out of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center while he was infected was "reprehensible."

Two Secret Service agents wearing personal protective equipment were also inside the vehicle with Trump.

"He's the one that is making them sick. It's not an enemy," Duckworth said, referring to the photo op as a "campaign video." "It is not somebody outside the White House fence firing bullets — it's Mr. Trump in the vehicle with them who is spreading his own illness.

"The Secret Service is in such a tough position right now, being forced to quarantine all over the country because the president is treating them like they are expendable," Moulton said. "They're not just protecting the president or the administration, they are serving our country."