MEDIA

Trump's 'Don't be afraid of COVID' tweet may be the most irresponsible one in history

Bill Goodykoontz
Arizona Republic
President Donald Trump sent a dangerous tweet about COVID-19 when announcing his scheduled departure from Walter Reed Medical Center, where he was treated for COVID-19.

“Don’t be afraid of Covid.”

No. Be afraid of tweets that could kill people.

11:37 a.m. Arizona time on Monday, Oct. 5 — you’re going to want to write that down.

That’s when President Donald Trump tweeted what may be the single most irresponsible thing ever posted on social media.

“I will be leaving the great Walter Reed Medical Center today at 6:30 P.M.,” he tweeted. “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!”

Trump is wrong and this is a dangerous message

Don’t be afraid of Covid? Say what? Don’t be afraid of a pandemic that has killed nearly 210,000 Americans and more than 1 million people worldwide? That has run rampant without any coherent federal policy to try to combat it? If he meant when he said, “Don’t be afraid” that we actually should be terrified, that would be one thing.

Clearly he didn't, as the similarly irresponsible “Don’t let it dominate your life” part of the tweet confirms.

Trump entered the hospital Friday, after testing positive for COVID-19 at some previous time, which has been impossible to pin down due to the shifting nature of evasive answers given by his doctor and his staff. The briefings would be comical if not about something so deadly serious.

Of course Trump has had access to an array of doctors and treatments almost no one else does. And even if he leaves the hospital, he will return to a White House that could be — should be — a safe bubble.

Several White House staffers and journalists have COVID. That matters

Yet Monday his press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany and two of her deputies tested positive for COVID-19, joining adviser Hope Hicks and others, the exact number of which the White House won’t disclose. At least three journalists working at the White House have also tested positive. Any case is concerning. But we depend on these people for essential information. Covering a source shouldn't be a preventable health risk. 

Trump’s tweet was just the latest in what has been a dizzying news cycle and questionable reactions to it. Monday morning Erin Perrine, the Trump campaign’s communications director, said on Fox News that the president “has experience now fighting the coronavirus as an individual. Those firsthand experiences, Joe Biden, he doesn’t have those.”

That’s a curious take at best. There is, naturally, more.

This isn't 'Full House.' It's a pandemic

On Sunday, alarming medical experts, Trump was driven around in an SUV, waving from inside closed windows to supporters who had gathered outside the hospital. Again, just jaw-dropping developments that get washed away in the tsunami of news.

“It is reported that the Media is upset because I got into a secure vehicle to say thank you to the many fans and supporters who were standing outside of the hospital for many hours, and even days, to pay their respect to their President,” Trump tweeted Monday. “If I didn’t do it, Media would say RUDE!!!”

No they wouldn’t. This isn’t an episode of “Full House.” It’s a pandemic. Legitimate media are working tirelessly to cover it, not worrying about Trump’s feelings.

Trump and his administration have downplayed the seriousness of COVID-19 — Trump acknowledged that he has done so. Maybe this is some kind of political strategy, as Perrine’s comments suggest — I beat the virus, vote for me. Who knows? That’s for others to sort out.

Why Twitter cannot let this stand

What’s crucial for Twitter to sort out is how dangerous Trump’s comments are.

The social media platform has taken action against his tweets before. For instance, Twitter put a warning label on one of Trump’s tweets in June after posting, during social-justice demonstrations, that there would never be an “autonomous zone” in Washington, D.C. “If they try, they will be met with serious force!”

Monday’s tweet deserves the same kind of response from Twitter. At least.

Such an action on Twitter’s part would be met with the usual outcry from Trump supporters who would complain about censorship. It’s not. It’s the responsible thing to do.

Of course everyone wants to get back to normal. Of course we want to “defeat” COVID-19. Telling people not to be afraid of it is not just a ridiculous way to try to meet those goals.

It’s a dangerous one.

Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter: @goodyk.

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