US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have tested positive for coronavirus.
The leader has confirmed his infection in a tweet “Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for Covid-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!.
Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2020
Earlier in the day, Trump had announced that he and the first lady had undergone Covid-19 tests after his top adviser Hope Hicks tested positive for coronavirus.
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, he’s gone from downplaying the threat, to claiming total control of the crisis.
Here, a collection of the statement where he mocks coronavirus:
- Trump received multiple warnings about the threat of the coronavirus in January. “We have it totally under control,” Trump told CNBC on Jan. 22. “It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine.”
The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA. We are in contact with everyone and all relevant countries. CDC & World Health have been working hard and very smart. Stock Market starting to look very good to me!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2020
- “It’s going to disappear,” Trump said at a White House briefing on Feb. 27. “One day, it’s like a miracle, it will disappear.” Trump also started comparing the virus to the death toll from the flu.
So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 9, 2020
- On March 7, during a press conference with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, when asked about the threat of virus Trump denied it and said, “No, I’m not concerned at all. No, I’m not. No, we’ve done a great job.”
- In a briefing on April 23, President Trump suggested that injecting disinfectant might cure Covid-19.
- The coronavirus would weaken “when we get into April, in the warmer weather—that has a very negative effect on that, and that type of a virus.”
Our people want to return to work. They will practice Social Distancing and all else, and Seniors will be watched over protectively & lovingly. We can do two things together. THE CURE CANNOT BE WORSE (by far) THAN THE PROBLEM! Congress MUST ACT NOW. We will come back strong!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 24, 2020
- On April 3, the CDC is advising the use of non-medical cloth face covering as an additional voluntary public health measure. US President Donald Trump stated, “So with the masks, it’s going to be, really, a voluntary thing. You can do it. You don’t have to do it. I’m choosing not to do it, but some people may want to do it, and that’s okay. It may be good.
- On June 17 Trump claim The pandemic is “fading away. It’s going to fade away.” ahead of his rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
- On July 4 US President claimed that 99% of Covid-19 cases are “totally harmless.”
- On September 23 Trump claimed that America is “rounding the corner” and “rounding the final turn” of the pandemic. Trump made these claims before and after the country registered 200,000 coronavirus deaths.
While Trump continues to claim that he has done a great job in stopping the spread of Covid-19, his own words show he frequently ignored or downplayed the threat after taking that action, even as the WHO ramped up its alarm.
He also can’t escape the numbers, which show that the U.S. is leading the world in deaths and infections since the crisis began.