As the country awoke to the news that Donald Trump had been infected by the virus he spent weeks downplaying even as he privately discussed its deadliness, one of the networks most instrumental in spreading the president’s COVID-19 lies once again stepped up to the plate. “Given President Trump’s resilience—we can see that every day, think about what he’s been through—given the fact that he’ll have the best medical care in the world…the overwhelming probability here, based on the data, is that the president and the first lady make a strong and quick recovery,” said Fox News host Steve Hilton, explaining his “much more optimistic [coronavirus] scenario” for the occupants of the White House. He went on to suggest that Trump catching the virus could actually help him win the election, as he will become a living “metaphor for the recovery of the country”—that is, if he does make “a quick recovery” as predicted.
On Fox & Friends, cohost Brian Kilmeade presented viewers with a similar spin, arguing that the president’s positive diagnosis could actually be good for his campaign. “In the big picture, there could be a good message sent here to the American public—you can get it, you can be a senior and you can beat it and go back,” he said. “This is another thing, the most famous person in the world gets and beats it, correct?” Kilmeade added that the days Trump must now spend in quarantine and recovery might be best viewed as a “forced study time,” where he can “recalibrate, strategize, prepare for the second debate”—particularly after a disastrous performance in his first onstage clash with Biden, in which even Kilmeade criticized him for blowing “the biggest layup in the history of debates by not condemning white supremacists.”
After receiving pushback from his colleague Geraldo Rivera, who argued that Trump needs to take this time to rest, Kilmeade claimed that as long as “you’re asymptomatic and you isolate,” COVID-19 patients can still go about their business. “There’s no reason to isolate and not do anything if you’re OK.” Rivera was not convinced. “This disease kills old people,” said Fox’s correspondent-at-large. “I want him to be prudent now. Enough about ‘I have a mask in my pocket.’ Why wasn’t the mask on your face, Mr. President?” (During Fox’s Tuesday debate coverage, one of the network’s main coronavirus skeptics insisted that the candidates should “forget masks,” and even in the hours immediately following Trump’s diagnosis, Fox News contributor Tammy Bruce falsely claimed, “There’s still questions about masks.”)
Marc Siegel, M.D., Fox News’s medical contributor, posited his own glass-half-full perspective on the president’s behalf. “He doesn’t have lung disease, and he doesn’t have underlying kidney disease, which is key, doesn’t have high blood pressure. All of those bode well,” he said, before adding a couple caveats. “The fact that he’s over 70 means that everyone has to be very, very cautious—and, of course, that he’s overweight.” Ironically, Siegel repeated Trump’s deceptive talking points and diminished the dangers of COVID-19 back in March, claiming at the time that, “worst-case scenario,” it could end up being like another seasonal “flu.” He also suggested that mainstream media outlets were knowingly and unnecessarily hyping up the virus’s risks to hurt Trump. As recently as last week, Siegel insisted that if a coronavirus patient is “under 70, it’s almost impossible you are going to die.” (The president is 74).
Right-wing blogger Mollie Hemingway, one of Trump’s favorite Fox News contributors, made a Friday morning appearance on air to suggest that all Americans act in a civil, respectful manner when commenting on the president’s infection. “I was disappointed, genuinely disappointed, to see the glee with which some people responded to this news,” she remarked, adding that there is a “proper way to respond to this news. For people who pray, it is a good time to pray. You should be praying for your world leaders, your leader of your country, every day, but this is a good time to do it.” However, when Hillary Clinton came down with pneumonia during the 2016 election, Hemingway did not offer up a prayer—she tweeted “HA HA HA” in a response to an apparent joke about the Democratic nominee’s sickness.
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