Trump offers help to a terminally ill baby in England

[Jimbo101]

ABC News

President Donald Trump offered to help a terminally ill British baby on Monday, saying on Twitter that "if we can help little #CharlieGard, as per our friends in the U.K. and the Pope, we would be delighted to do so."

Charlie Gard suffers from a rare genetic condition and is unable to breathe unaided. Last week, his parents lost a legal battle to take him to the U.S. for trial therapy. His parents and a London children's hospital said Friday that the 10-month-old boy will be given "more time" before life support is withdrawn.

White House spokeswoman Helen Aguirre Ferre said that members of the Trump administration have spoken to Gard's family.

"Although the president himself has not spoken to the family, he does not want to pressure them in any way, members of the administration have spoken to the family in calls facilitated by the British government. The president is just trying to be helpful if at all possible," she said, calling the situation "heartbreaking."

[Aristus]

1. It would be nice if he was concerned about people suffering from health problems over here...

[Vinca]

2. Meanwhile, the parents of sick American babies wonder if they will have health care for their child.

[louis-t]

3. I'll wait until the check clears before celebrating.

[WomanWhoRoars]

4. hmmmm

Good thing Charlie isn't from one of the banned countries....

[Sugar Smack]

5. Well! That changes everything, doesn't it?!?

[Hieronymus]

6. Trump is trying to appear concerned, meanwhile if it happened here .. tough.

[Turbineguy]

7. Trump needs all the mileage he can get.

Of course, maybe over the weekend he's decided to become a decent human being.

[Demtexan]

8. He wants that offical state visit.

So he is kissing ass.

Someone told him to do this.

[rzemanfl]

9. Drumpf's Terri Schaivo. n/t

[SunSeeker]

10. This is just a cynical attempt to curry favor with Brits before his visit.

It won't work. They hate his guts, and will hit the streets in protest if and when his visit date is announced.

[Voltaire2]

11. There is no help.

This baby is already severely brain damaged and the only "treatment" is an experimental research project by a doctor who agrees that in this case it would be futile.

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. Exactly - this is a cynical attempt to look compassionate, that he knows makes no difference

It hasn't been a question of money (crowd-funding raised over a million pounds), or of permission to come to the USA. Here is the paragraph at the centre of the real story:

"On Tuesday, the parents lost a bid to take Charlie to the U.S. for trial therapy when the European Court of Human Rights sided with earlier rulings that continued treatment would cause "significant harm" and that life support should end. Specialists have said the proposed therapy wouldn't help Charlie."

That's the highest possible court of appeal (which agreed with lower courts), and the opinion is that travelling and treatment would not help, but would be a worse life than doing nothing.

So Trump's team knows this (maybe he does too, maybe he lost interest before they could explain), so they know making the "offer" costs them nothing at all. Hell, I bet they hope it'll get some people saying "see, you can't trust nationalised healthcare".

This is cynical exploitation of a dying child by a monster and his henchmen.

[Orrex]

12. "Trump Discontinued Medical Coverage For His Own Disabled Nephew"

From
8 Less Known Trump Stories That’d Derail Any Other Campaign

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When Donald Trump paraded his five children from three different wives in front of America, he was hoping we'd all see a family man underneath the shitshow facade we're used to getting from him. In fact, Trump is so concerned about the well-being of children everywhere that he's made affordable childcare a centerpiece of his campaign. There's one kid you shouldn't ask about how Trump actually feels about children, however -- his nephew with cerebral palsy. Oh wait, you can't, for legal reasons.

Let's back up. Donald Trump had a big brother who died at the young age of 43 in 1981. Freddy Trump wasn't as into real estate as his little brother or dad, and by the time he died, he had a reputation as an alcoholic, which some people think is why Donald himself is a vigorous teetotaler -- he watched his big brother destroy himself with booze. Before Freddy died, he got married and had two kids, Mary and Fred III. Those two kids grew up, got married (not to each other), started their own families, and moved on with life.

Then something weird happened. Somewhere along the way, Donald Trump's father decided to exclude his dead alcoholic son's heirs from his will. So when Fred Trump Sr. died in 1999, the millions of dollars he left behind were divided among Donald and his two living siblings -- everyone in Freddy's family was cut out of the inheritance. Specifically, Donald Trump helped his father draft a will which divided "at least $20 million, among his children and their descendants, 'other than my son Fred C. Trump Jr.'"

Now, we know what people will do for a fiver to buy a pack of smokes. Imagine what people will do for their cut of a multi-million-dollar windfall. Now imagine what those people would do if they had a newborn child who had just been diagnosed with cerebral palsy -- which is exactly what had happened to Fred III. Fred and his sister sued the family for their share of the estate, because who wouldn't? Their grandfather was a 93-year-old man who suffered from Alzheimer's, and the whole will seemed fishy. When Donald Trump found out his nephew was suing over the will, he did something amazing. He cut off his nephew's baby son's medical benefits, claiming he "was angry because they sued."
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More at link

[mahatmakanejeeves]

13. Trump vows to help Charlie Gard, the terminally ill infant at center of British legal battle

Now it's "vows," not "offers."

Trump vows to help Charlie Gard, the terminally ill infant at center of British legal battle

By Lindsey Bever July 3 at 11:35 AM