World Reacts to President Trump, First Lady Testing Positive for Coronavirus

World Reacts to President Trump, First Lady Testing Positive for Coronavirus

Reactions poured in worldwide after the news of U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump testing positive for COVID-19. The first messages of support came from the leaders of the United Kingdom, Israel, and India.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who successfully recovered from the virus earlier this year, wished a “speedy recovery” to the U.S. President and first lady on Twitter.

“We know what it’s like to have, in our case a prime minister who tested positive for COVID, and setting aside politics we all want to see him and his wife get better soon,” British Housing Minister Robert Jenrick said.

My best wishes to President Trump and the First Lady. Hope they both have a speedy recovery from coronavirus.

— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) October 2, 2020

“Like millions of Israelis, Sara and I are thinking of President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump and wish our friends a full and speedy recovery,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted.

Like millions of Israelis, Sara and I are thinking of President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump and wish our friends a full and speedy recovery. https://t.co/sNrl0yHXrA

— PM of Israel (@IsraeliPM) October 2, 2020

German Chancellor Angela Merkel extended her “best wishes for a full and speedy recovery” to the U.S. first couple, her official spokesman tweeted.

Chancellor #Merkel: I send Donald and Melania Trump all my best wishes for a full and speedy recovery from their #COVID19 infection. @POTUS @FLOTUS

— Steffen Seibert (@RegSprecher) October 2, 2020

The Kremlin spokesperson wished “President Trump a swift recovery.” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hoped in his Tweet for a “quick recovery and good health” for the U.S. President and the first lady.

The French government used this opportunity to rebuke President Trump for his views on the Chinese Coronavirus.

“This demonstrates that the virus spares no one, including those who have shown skepticism,” French government spokesperson Gabriel Attal declared.

The editor of China’s state-owned Global Times newspaper, Hu Xijin, tweeted that “President Trump and the first lady have paid the price” for the White House’s handling of the Wuhan virus.

“It will impose a negative impact on the image of Trump and the US, and may also negatively affect his reelection,” the Chinese propagandist hoped.

The media coverage in European newspapers was muted in comparison, but some commentators couldn’t hide their deep-seated disapproval of the U.S. president. Many European newspapers went straight to the political implication of the news.

German daily Die Welt urged the Joe Biden campaign to keep its collective “schadenfreude” under wraps. The sitting president could otherwise receive a wave of sympathy in response from the voters, the newspaper cautioned.

“[F]or the Democrats … the coming weeks could turn into a tough balancing act; because no president in the recent history has received so much hate from the other side than this one,” the German daily added.

German newsweekly Der Spiegel mocked the U.S. president with the headline: “The American Patient.” German state broadcaster Deutsche Welle posted a statement by Franziska Brantner, a lawmaker of the Green Party, lamented “craziness of the Trump’s handling of the corona crisis.”

The U.S. president and the first lady contracting the virus “shows again that with Trump, we don’t have a reliable ally in the global fight against COVID-19,” she complained.

“Donald Trump’s age and weight may cause Covid complications,” British newspaper The Guardian speculated.

Another UK daily, The Independent, claimed: “Donald Trump is considered high risk to the dangers of the coronavirus because of his age and because he is judged to be overweight.”

Many foreign newspapers noted the silence from the Joe Biden campaign. Biden “was with him during the debate for 1.5 hours Tuesday. I think it’s legitimate to ask how the former VP is doing,” German journalist Christina Bergmann tweeted.

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