President Donald Trump tested positive on Thursday for the virus that's killed over 200 thousand Americans.
On Friday, he was helicoptered to Walter Reed Medical Center to undergo treatment, where he received supplemental oxygen and the drug dexamethasone, which the World Health Organization recommends only to those experiencing severe symptoms.
Inexplicably, Trump is set to be discharged from Walter Reed on Monday evening after reportedly imploring officials to "get him out." In a press briefing on Monday afternoon, the President's medical team said he would finish his final remdesivir treatment at the White House tomorrow evening, while remaining on the drug dexamethasone.
Trump announced the development on Twitter.
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
Even as the President battled the virus with the best medical care on the planet, he continued to downplay the virus as he's done since before it first entered the United States.
Trump told his supporters, "don't be afraid" of the virus and not to "let it dominate your life."
Critics largely saw his tweet as another dismissal of the 200+ thousand people who have perished to the disease.
One day America will see this tweet for the obscenity it is.
He's lying about the severity of his illness. He's lying about the seriousness of COVID-19. He's lying about his pandemic response. He's getting people killed by bearing false witness about the virus.
He is a monster. https://t.co/gREjMSe9a7
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) October 5, 2020
Don't be afraid of covid? Tell that to the 210,000 families who have lost loved ones. To the Black, Brown and Indigenous folks disproportionately affected. With tens of millions of jobs lost and the economy tanked. Many of us isolated for months. You're the cruelest. #votehimout https://t.co/QhM47Pa3lx
— Mandy Moore (@TheMandyMoore) October 5, 2020
In all seriousness, the President's incompetence has already gotten 200,000 killed. The consequences of this tweet will probably kill a couple thousand more.
Just bone chilling. https://t.co/uGScoBTiTt
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) October 5, 2020
I ain't surprised he's learned nothing and continues to down play the seriousness of this issue....I'm just very tired. Wear a mask. Wash your hands. Social distance. Vote. https://t.co/I9O3S20QNV pic.twitter.com/DJuU9kkjrY
— Xander Mobus (@XanderMobusVO) October 5, 2020
Hard to imagine a more crass, insensitive or stupid tweet. No doubt the hundreds of thousands of mourning families will be overjoyed. https://t.co/nC1H0ufcae
— Jonathan Lis (@jonlis1) October 5, 2020
If only the more than 200,000 Americans who died from Covid-19 had thought to not be afraid. If only they hadn't let their lives be dominated by ventilators & hospital stays & crushing medical bills & dying w/o being able to say goodbye to their families, you human biohazard. https://t.co/IjmRuHAU1a
— W. Kamau Bell (@wkamaubell) October 5, 2020
People also noted that, unlike many Americans, the President not only has access to healthcare, but some of the best treatment available.
Don't be afraid, says the guy with a team of a dozen doctors, access to experimental treatments that no one else gets, a four room hospital suite, who lives in a house with top doctors on site 24/7.
All of which is provided to him for free because he refuses to pay taxes. https://t.co/uGScoBTiTt
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) October 5, 2020
So everyone has the same access to experimental drugs as you so they shouldn't be afraid of covid? https://t.co/05POCKEA2F
— Judd Apatow (@JuddApatow) October 5, 2020
“Don't be afraid of Covid," says the president who since his positive test has been hospitalized and treated with a steroid typically used for severe cases, an experimental antibody drug cocktail and a five-day course of the antiviral drug remdesivir. https://t.co/VsWsf34UE3
— Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) October 5, 2020