The President and First Lady have tested positive for COVID-19 and are in quarantine. The news comes just days after Trump faced off with former vice president Joe Biden, without masks, during the first 2020 presidential debate. During the debate, Trump mocked Democratic nominee Joe Biden for always wearing a large mask.
Trump, 74, took to Twitter early Friday morning to let the American people know that this time the rumors he had coronavirus were true. “Tonight, [Melania] and I tested positive for COVID-19,” he wrote. “We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!”
Sean Conley, Trump’s physician, said he expects the president to carry out his duties “without disruption.” The couple hasn’t shared whether or not their young son Barron is also sick. Contact tracing at the White House will determine which U.S. government members have also contracted the virus. Trump may have gotten the virus after traveling on Air Force One this week with Hope Hicks as the president’s adviser tested positive for the virus on Thursday.
The commander-in-chief is high risk and must take care as he fights the deadly virus due to his advanced age and weight. If he quarantines for at least two weeks, as is recommended, he’ll miss out on a significant bit of the final stretch of his campaign trail before the presidential election on Nov. 3. Trump held frequent rallies with thousands of attendees in recent weeks, despite the threat of the highly-contagious virus.
The diagnosis comes after over six months of Trump downplaying the threat of the coronavirus and calling the pandemic a hoax. He’s pushed for states to re-open after lockdowns were put in place in hopes of containing the spread of the virus. Trump’s approach to the pandemic has been profit over people as he continues to stick to his rhetoric that restarting the economy is more important than saving American lives. He continues to understate the senseless loss of life that’s resulted from the disease in the United States where over 200,000 people have died from COVID-19 complications.
