On Monday night, President Donald trump tweeted: “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!”
The president then made a very dramatic return to the White House, to continue his treatment for the coronavirus after staying in hospital for three night. Standing on the White House balcony, the president removed his mask in a show of victory.
Democratic candidate Joe Biden congratulated Trump on his return to the White House, saying he was “glad” he was “coming along pretty well.” But he rebuked the president for his approach to the pandemic, saying: “Anybody who contracts the virus by essentially saying masks don’t matter, social distancing doesn’t matter, I think is responsible for what happens to them.”
The post generated anger among medical professionals, who warned that people should be encouraged to be even more afraid of the coronavirus in light of the fact that even the leader of the free world has contracted it. They pointed out that the US continues to lead the world in the number of coronavirus cases: 7,679,644, and in the number of deaths from the pandemic: 215,000 as of Monday. Despite the late hour, the president’s latest tweets were immediately viewed by more than a million followers.
A spokesman for Twitter said Trump’s tweet did not violate the company’s rules because it did not constitute a clear call to action that could potentially cause harm.
President Trump walked out of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Washington DC pumping his fists, apparently eager to return to the campaign trail. He ignored a question from a reporter who asked, “Are you a super spreader, Mr. President?” and said, “Thank you very much everybody,” on his way to the Marine 1 helicopter.
Well after midnight, the president tweeted: “Will be back on the Campaign Trail soon!!! The Fake News only shows the Fake Polls.”
Fake or not, the president’s work appears cut out for him: the average national polls show Democratic candidate Joe Biden leading the incumbent 51% to 42.7%, with all the polls showing between 3 and 12 points between them. Biden is leading in most swing states as of Monday: in Arizona by 8 points, North Carolina by 4, Pennsylvania 5, Wisconsin 6, and Florida 5. Trump has a lead in Ohio. The Senate polls also show a grim picture for the GOP, with the Democrats appearing to succeed in flipping the Senate.
Trump posted a video message from the White House where he repeated the message about the pandemic: “Don’t be afraid of it. You’re going to beat it.”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)