Imagine your worst nightmare about how to spend New Year’s Eve. Imagine the people you’d least like to spend New Year’s Eve with. And imagine paying up to $1,000 for the privilege of attending what could likely be a super-spreader event with the host and his wife no-shows.
So those of us who spent New Year’s Eve quietly at home even if watching Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper on CNN was your main source of entertainment take comfort that you weren’t at Mar-a-Lago.
On past New Year’s Eves, the Trumps personally welcomed guests to the Palm Beach resort, and Trump usually gave a brief speech.
But this year the pResident made a last-minute decision to skip the event and return to Washington as he remains obsessed with overturning the election results. He has called for “wild” protests in the capital on Jan. 6 when some Republican lawmakers have promised to delay the electoral vote tally that will certify President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
CNN reported that the disappointed guests at Thursday evening’s party had to settle for angling for selfies with Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and Fox News host Judge Jeanine Pirro.
They did have a chance to mingle with Eric and Lara Trump as well as Don Jr. and Screaming Banshee Kimberly Guilfoyle. Tiffany Trump was there, but Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump were nowhere to be seen.
And you could make small talk with Sen. Rand Paul, Rep. Matt “Florida Man” Gaetz, and Mike “My Pillow” Lindell. There were also various conservative media personalities, including several from OANN.
Then there was the B-list entertainment to enjoy on the ballroom’s main stage: Mike Love, co-founder of The Beach Boys, Vanilla Ice and Berlin’s lead singer Terri Nunn (best known for the song “Take My Breath Away” from the 1986 film “Top Gun”).
The menu included such delicacies as “Mr. Trump’s Wedge Salad,” cheese tortellini, and Wagyu beef.
The Tampa Bay Times reported that the packed New Year’s Eve parties at Mar-a-Lago and elsewhere across Florida came on the same day as the state broke its coronavirus caseload record with more than 17,000 cases added on that day.
The City of St. Petersburg advised residents on Twitter that: “Celebrating NYE virtually or with members of your own household (who are consistently taking measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19) poses the lowest risk for spread.”
So what about the 500 guests who showed up for New Year’s Eve at the Donald J. Trump Ballroom. There was no social distancing with guests seated 10 per table. Hardly any guests wore masks as they shouted and sang along with the entertainers.
It’s altogether possible that the Nightmare at Mar-a-Lago might turn into another Trump-sponsored superspreader event. That wouldn’t be a first for Mar-a-Lago — at the start of the pandemic a maskless birthday party for Guilfoyle in the same ballroom turned out to be a spreading event.