I will be leaving the great Walter Reed Medical Center today at 6:30 P.M. Feeling really good! Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life. We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs & knowledge. I feel better than I did 20 years ago!
WASHINGTON – Celebrities, political pundits, and critics responded to Donald Trump’s tweet to not “be afraid of Covid”, calling the message “preposterous” and “dangerous” for the leader of a nation that has surpassed 210,000 deaths to spread.
Trump returned to the White House Monday evening, despite still being infected with COVID-19, just three days after he arrived at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center with coronavirus symptoms that caused doctors to administer oxygen.
Trump, who received around-the-clock care at Walter Reed and therapies not widely available to most patients experiencing mild symptoms, advised his followers to not let COVID-19 “dominate your life. We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs & knowledge.”
I will be leaving the great Walter Reed Medical Center today at 6:30 P.M. Feeling really good! Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life. We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs & knowledge. I feel better than I did 20 years ago!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 5, 2020
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden responded to the tweet: “I saw a tweet he did, they showed me, he said ‘don’t let COVID control your life.’ Tell that to the 205,000 families that lost somebody.”
Singer and actress Barbra Streisand responded with, “How dare he say such a stupid thing” and that it was “preposterous! 210,000 American people have lost their lives! Children have lost their parents. Mothers and fathers are gone!” she tweeted.
“Don’t be afraid of Covid.“ How preposterous! 210,000 American people have lost their lives! Children have lost their parents. Mothers and fathers are gone! How dare he say such a stupid thing.
— Barbra Streisand (@BarbraStreisand) October 5, 2020
Actor Chris Evans posted. “You’ve been under round-the-clock care by the best doctors using the best drugs. Do you really think everyone has access to that?!” Other personalities also replied to Trump:
David Axelrod, senior advisor to former president Barack Obama, called Trump a “Super Spreader of dangerous untruths.” He pleaded with people to “not follow his advice” and to “BE afraid of COVID, and act accordingly.” Author Karen Swallow Prior posted: “You can definitely survive getting hit by a bus” and “you should definitely be afraid of it and take every possible precaution to avoid it.”
It is important to mention that so far, around 20 people — including White House officials, Trump campaign staffers and reporters – have tested positive since Trump’s positive COVID-19 test announcement. This includes two White House residence staff members.
Health experts have stressed wearing masks as one of the most effective ways to curb the spread of the virus.
