Outspoken English journalist and ex-Good Morning Britain (GMB) host Piers Morgan has criticised the plans of the 44th US President Barack Obama to hold a massive birthday party as the Delta variant of COVID continues to spread in the country.
In his Daily Mail column, Morgan remarked that if Trump were to throw such birthday party "for himself and 475 conservative friends," his liberal critics would’ve called it "shamefully selfish" and "incredibly reckless."
"And they would be right," the journalist remarked. "But it’s not President Trump who is having the party, it’s President Barack Obama. He’s reportedly splashing out a small fortune on celebrating his 60th birthday next Saturday in spectacular style at his $12 million, 7000-square-foot waterfront Martha’s Vineyard mansion."
The bash is reportedly expected to be attended by some 475 guests, including celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, George Clooney, and Steven Spielberg, with about 200 staff handling the catering.
But while a "COVID coordinator" is supposed to ensure observance of "proper protocols" at the event, Morgan argues that "it remains unclear what proof of a negative COVID test, or a vaccine, is required, or whether guests will be required to wear masks."
He further pointed out that Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health, recently advised avoiding big parties as COVID was "having a pretty big party in the middle of the country."
"It only takes one infected person to turn big events into super-spreaders,” Morgan mused, noting that there will be nearly 700 people at the party, "not to mention all the additional ancillary staff" who will arrive with Obama’s guests. "And we know the Delta variant is far more contagious than the original COVID. If one person at the party turns out to have it, then inevitably many more will catch it and take it back to their homes, families, friends, and communities."
He also warned that the situation will be used by unvaccinated people in the United States "as another excuse not to get the shot," noting that the "'one rule for them, another for rules for us’ sentiment" is already "exploding all over social media."
If Obama doesn't cancel his party, Morgan wrote, “he will encourage many skeptical unvaccinated Americans to continue refusing to have the shot at the precise moment when it’s desperately important they have it.”
"Put bluntly: he will cost lives," the journalist stated. "Cancel your party, Mr. President."