The editor of an influential Chinese state-run newspaper has mocked Donald Trump after the US President and first lady Melania Trump both tested positive for the coronavirus.
Hu Xijin, the editor-in-chief of the Global Times, a major Chinese tabloid and mouthpiece of the Communist Party, said that President Trump and his wife ‘have paid the price for his gamble to play down the COVID-19’.
He claimed that the diagnosis revealed the severity of the coronavirus outbreak in the US and would sabotage Trump’s upcoming re-election.
Hu Xijin (pictured in file photo taken on June 5, 2019), the editor-in-chief of the Global Times, a major Chinese tabloid and mouthpiece of the Communist Party, said that President Trump and his wife ‘paid the price for his gamble to play down the COVID-19’
China has taunted Donald Trump after the US President and first lady Melania Trump had both tested positive for the coronavirus. The US President and first lady were pictured in May
The Chinese senior journalist reacted to the news with jeers, claiming that President Trump and the first lady are paying for the price for downplaying the coronavirus pandemic
Hu’s mocking comment comes after the US leader confirmed the news on Thursday evening, tweeting: ‘Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!’
It comes as the president’s top aide Hope Hicks also contracted the virus after traveling with Trump on Air Force One and Marine One multiple times over the last week.
The Chinese senior journalist reacted to the news with jeers, claiming that President Trump and the first lady are paying for the price for downplaying the coronavirus pandemic.
He wrote in a tweet this morning: ‘President Trump and the first lady have paid the price for his gamble to play down the COVID-19.
‘The news shows the severity of the US’ pandemic situation. It will impose a negative impact on the image of Trump and the US, and may also negatively affect his reelection,’ Hu said.
The president tweeted to confirm the news shortly before 1am EST Friday
Melania also tweeted to confirm the news
The Chinese tabloid has repeatedly slammed Washington for its handling of the coronavirus outbreak.
It branded the US as a ‘barbaric and greedy’ country that ‘doesn’t care about humanitarianism’ in an article published in June.
The newspaper also claimed that ‘the US government has failed its people and also failed the world’.
Trump, who has boasted of how he brought US markets to record highs, revealed he had the virus in a tweet shortly before 6am UK time.
The US president is 74 years old, putting him at higher risk of serious complications from the virus. A statement from the White House doctor said both the president and first lady are ‘well at this time’ but did not say if either have symptoms.
If Trump becomes seriously ill, there are constitutional procedures that would allow Vice President Mike Pence to assume power temporarily, just weeks before the November 3 election.
But if Trump suffers mild or no symptoms, the president would be able to tout his recovery as evidence that the virus is a less grave threat than many believe.
Hope Hicks hours before her diagnosis: Hope Hicks, far right, is pictured boarding Marine One on Wednesday. The President was also onboard alongside Stephen Miller, second from right, Jared Kushner, center. Her coronavirus diagnosis was announced the next day. They were on their way to Minnesota when this photograph was taken
WEDNESDAY: President Trump throws hats to supporters after speaking at a campaign rally at Duluth International Airport in Minnesota
Beijing and Washington have been in a war of words during which they have blamed each other for causing the coronavirus pandemic which has killed over one million people worldwide.
Tensions have also flared up between the two countries over the trade war, self-ruled Taiwan and the disputed South China Sea.
Trump, the White House and his campaign have flouted other CDC guidelines and recommendations from public health officials, and largely refused to wear masks or practice social distancing.
Instead, Trump has continued to hold campaign rallies that draw thousands of supporters.
By contrast, Biden is running a deliberately low-key campaign with social distancing at most events, no large gatherings, and conspicuous use of his mask.
Still, Trump has consistently played down concerns about being personally vulnerable to contracting COVID-19. ‘I felt no vulnerability whatsoever,’ he told reporters back in May.
Trump mocked Biden at Tuesday’s debate for wearing ‘the biggest mask I’ve ever seen’, while pulling a face covering out of his pocket and saying he wears one when needed.
The president had previously mocked Biden for wearing a mask in May, saying it was ‘very unusual’ to wear a mask outside and accusing a reporter of trying to be ‘politically correct’ by wearing one himself.
Joe Biden, pictured on the campaign trail in his home state of Delaware on Thursday, spent Tuesday night in fairly close proximity to the president but there was no immediate word on whether he had been tested or was isolating
Biden called Trump a ‘fool’ in response, saying in an interview that ‘this macho stuff’ was costing lives.
Trump previously said he ‘did not want to give the press the pleasure’ of seeing him with a mask, while saying he had worn one away from the cameras.
He added that he could not see himself greeting ‘presidents, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens’ while wearing a mask.
But the president finally changed his tone in July, saying it was ‘patriotic’ to wear a mask.
Melania Trump, by contrast, had let Americans see her in a face mask as long ago as April while urging people to take the health regulations ‘seriously’.
Trump also sparked outrage and ridicule after suggesting in April that people could inject themselves with disinfectant to fend off the virus, which would be extremely dangerous.