Fake news! Facebook deletes Trump post saying flu’s worse
DONALD Trump was accused of spreading misleading information about Covid last night as he told Americans they would have to learn to live with the virus.
After returning to the White House following just three days in hospital, the President falsely tweeted that coronavirus – which has killed 210,000 in the US – was less dangerous than the flu.
Both Twitter and Facebook labelled the message as ‘spreading misleading and potentially harmful information’ – and Facebook last night removed it. The President wrote: ‘We have learned to live with it [flu].
‘Just like we are learning to live with Covid, in most populations far less lethal!’ Coronavirus has actually killed more Americans than the past five flu seasons put together.
As doctors condemned the President’s decision to leave hospital despite potentially still being infectious with coronavirus, Mr Trump said he was ‘looking forward’ to facing off against rival Joe Biden in the second candidates’ debate next week. Mr Trump said Americans should ‘get out there’ and pledged to be back out meeting voters ‘soon’, with less than four weeks to go until the election. The former Apprentice host staged a made-for-TV return to the White House on Monday night as he ripped off his mask and saluted from the balcony. But climbing the two dozen steps to get there seemed to leave the 74-year-old struggling for breath, which he tried to hide.
Mr Trump told his 87 million Twitter followers in a video: ‘Now I’m better, maybe I’m immune.
‘But don’t let it dominate you. Get out there, be careful, we have the best medicines in the world.’
Medical experts, Covid victims and politicians reacted with outrage.
Doctors said Mr Trump’s actions did not help the average Covid sufferer, who did not have the expert, round-the- clock medical care provided by the presidential physicians.
Mr Biden said: ‘What is this macho thing, “I’m not going to wear a mask”? What’s the deal here? Big deal, does it hurt you? Be patriotic, for God’s sake! Anybody who contracts the virus by essentially saying, “masks don’t matter, social distancing doesn’t matter” – I think is responsible for what happens to them.’
Mr Trump’s claim that Americans could rely on the same high-quality treatment he received in the presidential suite at the Walter Reed military hospital infuriated doctors.
Dr Andrew Preston, from the University of Bath, said: ‘We can’t extrapolate from Trump’s situation to the average person.
‘The average person does not have a 24-7 army of personal medics covering every medical discipline and medical provision in his home (the White House) equivalent to most
‘What is this macho thing?’
small medical facilities; immediate access to a cocktail of experimental drugs, most of which are difficult to access for most; or a wall of screening of every person who might come into contact with them, regardless of whether they then use PPe in highrisk situations.
‘So, it’s pretty pointless trying to compare Trump’s situation with what has been gleaned from treatment of... the general public.’
Fiana Tulip, whose mother died from coronavirus in July, said the President removing his mask at the White House was the ‘cruellest visual yet’. The Texan added: ‘He is just disregarding the 210,000 Americans who have lost their lives and the millions of people who are suffering.’
The exact state of Mr Trump’s health is unclear because his doctors refused to discuss key details. Under coronavirus guidelines he should now be in quarantine but, trailing in the polls to Mr Biden, the President knows he needs to be in the public eye to stand a chance of re-election.
Last night Mr Trump’s personal physician, Dr Sean Conley, said he was doing ‘extremely well’ and had no Covid symptoms, just five days after testing positive.
It came as the top military leaders in the US were forced into quarantine after being exposed to the virus. They included General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, plus the chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force. They had all been in meetings with a senior Coastguard officer who tested positive.