Trump supporter Sean Colgan.
Trump supporter Sean Colgan blames what he calls the Wuhan Virus on the Chinese Communist government, which “was more interested in looking good than doing good.” Photo by Chris Stone

When it comes to COVID-19, Sean Colgan may not trust mainstream news media, but he listens to “the smartest person I know” — his sister-in-law, Sarah.

So Colgan, a Donald Trump superfan who led many street-corner rallies for the president, is paying heed to advice on how to protect himself. He’s 63.

It’s been eight months since we last checked in with the Oceanside resident, the subject now of 10 interviews since May 2016. Impeachment hearings and the Senate trial are long over, and Trump is unbowed.

But in light of the coronavirus crisis, we wanted to take Colgan’s temperature. He replied Thursday to questions via email.

Times of San Diego: How are you? How has coronavirus guidance affected your life, your job? Skipping any events?

Sean Colgan: I’m good. I don’t have it, and neither does anyone I know, so everyone I know is also good. As for work, I work for a car rental agency, and as people aren’t traveling, they aren’t renting cars either. So I’m on a two-week (for now) furlough — as is the entire driving crew. I’m not skipping events so much as they have all been canceled.

Where are you getting your information on the virus and how to protect yourself?

I must confess that I haven’t been taking the whole Wuhan Virus thing seriously up until recently. The hysteria, deliberately induced by the MSM, made me suspicious even of the info I was getting from the CDC.

But I checked in [with] the smartest person I know (my sister-in-law, Sarah) and learned something that changed my mind on the matter. That being that the Wuhan Virus is an animal virus, meaning that humans have nothing specific built into our immune system to fight it off.

Also, that it mutates with astonishing speed. No way to tell when it mutated from infecting only animals to being able to infect human beings. But it’s known that it went from animal to human infection to human to human infection in a mere two weeks. That’s fast, like Mach 5 fast, in epidemiological terms. It could, though there’s no sign of it yet, mutate into a very lethal form very fast.

How are you navigating the stay-at-home order and dealing with the financial crunch?

I’ve put a (very) little money aside. I still have my Social Security SSI income. So I’m doing OK, money-wise. I’m something of a homebody. I’m still visiting family, while taking precautions.

What news outlets would you NOT trust for accurate, helpful information on the virus?

Nothing I’ve seen so far leads me to trust any of them.

President Trump has come under harsh criticism for not being a role model in this emergency — by shaking hands with corporate CEOs, for example, and touching their microphone at a news conference. Do you think he’s modeling proper behavior and seriousness?

Our president is staying calm. He’s also reacting as best he can given the circumstances. That would be why even the head of the WHO has praised his actions.

President Trump also has been hammered for misstating facts of the virus (such as claiming Google will set up a website to assess patient symptoms and to direct Americans to “testing at a nearby convenient location.”) Should Americans trust everything Trump says on this matter?

That our president has erred proves only that he’s human. But that our president has our best interests at heart is something we can always be sure of.

Who do you blame for the pandemic?

The ChiCom Govt. Sure, this whole thing was unexpected. But the ChiCom Govt. was more interested in looking good than doing good. Like letting the rest of the world know just what the problem was, and how bad it was. It’s part of the reason I didn’t take it seriously until recently.

As for how the ChiCom Govt. has acted now that the cat is out of the bag, I think that in just a few months, we’re all going to learn just how brutal a reaction was implemented by them. I mean, any reaction that starts off with the army encircling a city in the middle of the night cannot be expected to proceed w/o bloodshed.

How bad do you think the pandemic will get? What percentage of Americans will be infected and how many will die? What do you base this belief on?

There’s no way to predict what will happen next, given how fast the virus can mutate. It’s as easily likely to mutate into a harmless state as it is to mutate into something that can kill millions. Anyone claiming anything else is A: lying, to B: [out to] gain a political advantage.

With the economy in or near a recession, what are Mr. Trump’s chances of re-election — assuming Joe Biden is his opponent?

I can’t see the majority of We The People voting for Mr. Biden in any circumstance. I gotta wonder if the Democratic Party is really serious about the November election.

Do you expect to be showing signs at street corners again this fall?

Right now, I’m only praying with the Catholic prayer group that gathers in front of the abortion mill in Vista. But I’ll be back to waving political flags and/or signs on street corners, and everywhere else I can made an impact real soon. Meaning I won’t be waiting for fall.