This article is not specifically connected to Hip Hop culture, but when the President of the United States announces he has contracted a potentially deadly disease that news is relevant to the entire world. Overnight, President Donald Trump revealed he and First Lady Melania Trump have COVID-19.
“Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!” tweeted Trump at 12:54 ET. The 74-year-old politician, who is considered medically obese, is in the highest risk category for serious complications from coronavirus.
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
As too many Americans have done this year, @potus & I are quarantining at home after testing positive for COVID-19. We are feeling good & I have postponed all upcoming engagements. Please be sure you are staying safe & we will all get through this together.
— Melania Trump 45 Archived (@FLOTUS45) October 2, 2020
The announcement rocked the political landscape as POTUS watchers and journalists began analyzing how Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis will affect the presidential race, national security, and the economy. Stock futures for the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Dow Jones Industrial Average fell dramatically after Trump disclosed he contracted coronavirus.
At least 200,000 people in the United States have died as a result of COVID-19. Over 7 million people in this country contacted the virus. Donald Trump and Melania Trump were among the 40,000 Americans to test positive over the last 24 hours. Twenty-seven states are showing upward trends in infection rates.
For much of the pandemic, President Trump publicly downplayed the seriousness of the virus even though he admitted to Washington Post associate editor Bob Woodward, on the record, that the disease was deadly. In addition, he referred to the coronavirus outbreak as a hoax, and at this week’s presidential debate he mocked Democratic nominee Joe Biden for wearing a mask.
Trump also suggested using the antimalarial drug chloroquine or household disinfectants to treat COVID-19. Members of the medical community forcefully pushed back against both of those recommendations from Trump because they were viewed as highly dangerous remedies that do not combat coronavirus.
Hope Hicks, who has been working so hard without even taking a small break, has just tested positive for Covid 19. Terrible! The First Lady and I are waiting for our test results. In the meantime, we will begin our quarantine process!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2020
Several of the President’s aides and secret service agents have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began. White House adviser Hope Hicks recently tested positive for the coronavirus as well. Trump’s insistence on having in-person, large-crowd political rallies caused a lot of concern.
Experts worried the rallies, which typically did not adhere to social distancing and mask-wearing guidelines, could serve as superspreader events. Former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, 74, died in July from COVID-19 complications after attending a Trump rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma the previous month.