Donald Trump, tested positive for Covid-19, was admitted to hospital on Friday, October 2, and concern is spreading one month before the presidential election against Democrat Joe Biden.
The US president left the White House at the end of the afternoon to join a military hospital in the suburbs of Washington. He joined alone by walking, masked and waving his thumb towards reporters, the Marine One helicopter which then transported him to Walter Reed Hospital.
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“I think I’m doing very well”
In a video posted on his Twitter account at the same time, Donald Trump tries to reassure. “I want to thank everyone for the incredible support. I’m going to Walter Reed Hospital. I think I’m doing great, but we’ll make sure things go well ”he said in this eighteen-second recording made inside the White House, adding that his wife Melania, who also tested positive, was going ” very good “.
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The 45e President of the United States “Continues to suffer from fatigue but is in good spirits”, his doctor Sean Conley had said Friday afternoon in a new health bulletin less serene than in the night, when he assured that his patient was going ” well “.
Doctors injected him with a dose of the experimental cocktail of synthetic antibodies developed by the company Regeneron, which gave encouraging, although very preliminary results – a decision interpreted by some experts as a sign of a potentially worrying state of health.
He was helicoptered to hospital, “For the sake of extreme caution and on the recommendation of his doctor and medical experts”, announced its spokesperson Kayleigh McEnany. Donald Trump y “Will work from the presidential offices” during ” next days “.
Campaign stopped dead
The president of the first world power, who has continued to minimize the pandemic and has multiplied the gatherings often in defiance of health rules, had himself announced by a Tweet the result of the test, in a campaign tense to the extreme. He explained that he and Melania Trump were entering “Quarantine”.
The officials of the White House, while evoking “Mild symptoms”, wanted to be reassuring about his “Quick recovery”, hammering that he remained in control of the country.
Concretely, his campaign is stopped dead. The president’s team, which regularly boasts of being in good health, announced that “All events” planned would become “Virtual” where would be “Postponed”.
Donald Trump is widely criticized for his management of the epidemic, which weighs on his chances of re-election. He is accused of having lacked compassion for the victims of the virus and of having sent contradictory signals about its seriousness, on potential treatments and on wearing the mask, which he rarely endorses after being there. long refused.
“It’s not about playing hard”
After wishing for a “Speedy recovery” to Donald and Melania Trump, Joe Biden, who tested negative on Friday morning, hit the nail on the head. “It’s not about playing hard. It is a question of playing its role. Wearing a mask will not only protect you but also those around you ”, he said in Michigan.
The Democratic candidate, 77, maintained this trip just three days after sharing the scene of the first presidential debate with his Republican opponent. Uncertainty now hangs over the next duel, scheduled for October 15.
Beyond the campaign, some observers are already wondering about the institutional consequences of a hypothetical impediment by the president: the vice-president, Mike Pence, would take the reins of both the country and the Republican campaign.
In the immediate future, Mike Pence, tested negative Friday morning, will continue his electoral trips. But concern was spreading to the Republican camp, several personalities of which have tested positive in recent days, such as party president Ronna McDaniel and Senator Mike Lee, who recently surrendered to the presidency.
The first alert came Thursday evening from the positive test of Hope Hicks, a close advisor to Donald Trump who traveled with him Tuesday and Wednesday. The White House has since started tracing contact cases of those who approached the ex-real estate mogul, knowing that an infected person usually begins to be contagious two days before symptoms appear. However, she did not explain how one of the most protected men on the planet contracted the virus.
Support messages
Former US President Barack Obama addressed his ” best wishes “ recovery to his successor. “Although we are in the midst of a great political fight, and we take this very seriously, we also want to send our best wishes to the President of the United States. [et à] the first lady “Barack Obama said, also speaking on behalf of his wife Michelle.
“Michelle and I hope that they, along with others affected by Covid-19 across the country, receive the care they need and that they will be on the road to a speedy recovery”, he added during a fundraiser for Democratic White House candidate Joe Biden, held online.
Many world leaders have also expressed their wishes for recovery to Donald Trump and his wife, such as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, himself seriously affected a few months ago by Covid-19.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un wished Mr. Trump his recovery ” as soon as possible “, the state agency KCNA said on Saturday. “He expressed his sympathy to the president and the first lady”, according to KCNA. “He said he sincerely hoped they would recover as soon as possible. He hopes they will overcome this. He sent them warm greetings ”, added the official agency.
“I am convinced that your natural vitality, your vigor of soul and your optimism will help you overcome this dangerous virus”, wrote, for his part, the Russian president, Vladimir Poutine.
Finally, the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, accused by Washington of having mismanaged the pandemic, sent him his “Best wishes for a complete and speedy recovery”.
