Trump, 74, and first lady Melania Trump, 50, have both tested positive for Covid-19. A feverish and fatigued President Trump was flown to a military hospital – Walter Reed National Military Medical Center – on Friday night where he is being given Remdesivir therapy. Now there’s concern that the White House or Trump might have spread the virus further to the public.

 

As the world’s most powerful man, his health has not only spooked the stock market and crude oil prices, but also created confusion and criticism about the true story and the severity of his symptoms. There were conflicting reports over whether he was in risky condition or was “doing very well”. And there were contradictory news whether he has been given oxygen treatment or not.

 

The timeline of Trump’s first positive Coronavirus test has raised suspicions. His physician, Dr. Sean Conley, said it had been 72 hours since he was diagnosed with Covid-19 – suggesting Trump knew about his status on Wednesday, well before his condition was disclosed to the public on Friday. Yet, the president had irresponsibly continued with his normal schedule – travelling and meeting people.

Nevertheless, President Donald Trump’s Coronavirus diagnosis has invited two schools of thought. With just about 30 days ahead of the presidential election on Nov 3, some analysts say his unfortunate infection would attract “sympathy vote”. However, other political analysts said it’s unlikely that Donald Trump would enjoy any sympathy due to the president’s past approach to the virus.

 

Trump’s response to the pandemic has been criticized by many Americans. For months, the U.S. president has been downplaying – even ridiculing – the threat of the virus. As recent as a campaign rally in Ohio late last month, Trump claimed the disease “affects virtually nobody”. Besides repetitively predicted the virus would go away, he rarely wears a mask and even condemns people who do so.

 

To deflect his incompetency and mismanagement of the pandemic, Trump took the easiest way out – blames the Chinese. The president, together with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have been taking turns calling Covid-19 the “Chinese virus” or “Wuhan virus”, much to the displeasure of Beijing. In retaliation, China blamed the U.S. for the outbreak.

Naturally, when the news reached Beijing that Trump has contracted the Coronavirus, Chinese netizens celebrate it on social media. In fact, the hashtag “Trump couple test positive for Covid-19” became the top trending topic on Weibo, the Chinese micro-blogging website equivalent to Twitter, with over 800 million views as of Friday 4pm in Beijing.

 

While Chinese President Xi Jinping wished the POTUS and FLOTUS a speedy recovery, Chinese netizens happily poked fun at Trump’s misfortune, lecturing the U.S. leader with message like – “See what happens when you don’t wear a mask”. Many thanked the U.S. President for giving China the special “National Day gift” (his infection comes just a day after China celebrated its 71st anniversary).

 

Trump’s infection also comes as the Mid-Autumn Festival is being celebrated where the eight day public holiday – known as the Golden Week – saw a travel rush throughout China. Beijing normally monitors and censors messages, hence for mockery over Trump’s misfortune to be allowed, it speaks volumes about the hostility or hatred against President Trump.

From trade war to tech war, Trump administration has blacklisted Huawei, threatened to ban popular Chinese-made apps WeChat and TikTok,  cancelled the visas of Chinese students and researchers over espionage concerns and of course, criticised China’s handling of Covid-19. But the American’s war against China has only stoke feelings of nationalism among the Chinese people.

 

Hu Xijin, editor in chief of the state-run tabloid Global Times, had initially published a message that said Trump “paid the price for his gamble to play down the COVID-19.” Later, it was deleted and replaced with a more diplomatic message – “Saddened to learn #President and the #FirstLady of the #US tested positive. Hope they both have a speedy recovery and will be fine.”

 

But the Chinese aren’t the only people who thought the U.S. president deserves the long overdue retribution. Italians too believed that it’s time the arrogant Donald Trump tastes his own medicine for not taking the pandemic seriously. Some news media even said Trump’s infection was predictable as nearly every political leader who has belittled the danger of the virus has been infected.

Sonia Proietta, a local greengrocer in Italy said – “I hope for him (Donald Trump) that he understands despite his arrogance that this is something that hits rich and poor, Covid deniers, white supremacists, it hits everybody of any colour. We all need to come off our high horses, switch on our brains, and start to collaborate with each other.”

 

Ms. Martina Fonsat, wearing a mask as she shopped at the capital’s famous Campo de’Fiori market, mocked the U.S. president – “It was he who didn’t believe about this virus, and now he’s got it, this is karma, everything adds up”. Last month, Italy’s former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was released after more than a week of treatment for Coronavirus.

 

The 83-year-old Berlusconi, wearing a mask as he made his exit from Milan’s San Raffaele hospital, told reporters – “It has been the most dangerous test of my life”. Similarly, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it “could have gone either way” after he recovered from Covid-19 in April. Leaders from Brazil, Honduras, Guatemala and Bolivia had also been infected.

Even Americans used the hashtag #karma on Twitter to mock their own president. They recalled how Trump refused to wear a mask for 6 months, despite his own government’s public health advice. They agreed it’s karma when Trump got the virus right after he made a joke (during the first presidential debate) about Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s mask-wearing habits and the size of his mask.

 

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October 4th, 2020 by financetwitter

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