Trump Has Covid-19: Democrats Slam US President for Setting ‘Dangerous’ Example with Quick Return from Hospital

By Staff, Agencies

US President Donald Trump left the Walter Reed Medical Center after having spent three days being treated for the coronavirus. Democrats accused him of rushing his release for the sake of politics.

Trump walked out of the hospital doors at 6:40 local time on Monday and walked to the waiting motorcade, not taking any questions from the gathered press pool but giving a thumbs-up gesture to the photographers before getting into his car.

The Marine One helicopter took Trump back to the White House, where he is expected to continue his recovery.

Shortly before he left the facility, Trump tweeted that he “will be back on Campaign Trail soon.”

The president and First Lady Melania Trump tested positive for the virus late last Thursday and were initially quarantined at the White House. The next day Trump was transported to the Bethesda, Maryland hospital amid speculations that his condition worsened.

White House physician Dr. Sean Conley later confirmed that Trump was given oxygen twice over the weekend, as a precaution while receiving an experimental antibody cocktail treatment.

Announcing his impending discharge earlier on Monday, Trump said he was feeling better than “20 years ago” after the therapy. However, not everybody rejoiced at the 74-year-old’s apparent improvement.

Trump’s short stint at the hospital prompted Democrats to accuse him of politicizing his illness. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi [D-California] lambasted Trump for spending too little time at the facility, arguing that he might become “a long-hauler.” The term is used to describe a Covid-19 patient, who tests negative but is experiencing long-term debilitating effects from the virus, such as severe fatigue and impaired memory.

"He should not be dealing with it politically to make it look like he overcame the virus because he's had such good policies...He has been very destructive and dangerous to the country," Pelosi told MSNBC on Monday.

It wasn't just Democrats blasting the president, either. Former New Jersey governor and EPA administrator in the George W. Bush administration, Christine Todd Whitman, tweeted that Trump’s “irresponsibility” was “shocking,” referring to a string of tweets in which the president told fellow Americans “not to be afraid” of Covid-19.