The best people (led by the smartest person in the world)

The U.S. ambassador to South Africa attended a dinner at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club with Brazilian officials who later tested positive for the novel coronavirus. But she told her State Department employees that she did not consider herself at risk because the dinner was outside and she believed the virus could not withstand the Florida heat, people familiar with the matter said Friday.

  WaPo

Laugh, but remember, her president told us all it would be gone by April because of the heat.

Ambassador Lana Marks made the claim during a “town hall” meeting for hundreds of staff members at U.S. diplomatic facilities in South Africa on Thursday, which was held following several days of concern among staff members who knew of her exposure.

[...]

During the meeting, Marks said she was not in close contact with an infected person and that the temperature at Mar-a-Lago that night was above 26 degrees Celsius (about 79 Fahrenheit) and that the virus would not be transmissible at that temperature.

[...]

State Department employees at Thursday’s meeting protested that they have been placed at risk, that Marks is not following the guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and that she is incorrect that the virus could not have been transmitted at the outdoor dinner.

Marks, a fashion executive and Mar-a-Lago member, told staff at the meeting she would go into semi-seclusion but not cut out all meetings or contact with staff, these people said.

I'm guessing she'll be in the meeting room alone.

She had previously told staff members at the embassy that she does not believe the positive test result for a close member of President Jair Bolsonaro’s staff, press secretary Fabio Wajngarten, people familiar with elements of that conversation said.

A true Trump believer.

She's self-quarantining back in South Africa for a couple of weeks. Presumably because word got around.

Marks is a friend and neighbor of Trump’s in Palm Beach. The South African-born luxury handbag designer has no previous diplomatic experience but told senators at her 2019 confirmation hearing that her knowledge of the country and its languages qualifies her for The Post.

And they confirmed her. So...who's to blame?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.