After President Donald Trump tweeted that he would be released from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Monday, CNN’s Brian Stelter quickly jumped to interpreting Trump’s message of encouragement as saying the president “recommends getting sick.”
“The president here is almost saying that he recommends getting sick by saying, ‘I feel better than I did 20 years ago.’ He’s acting like he’s drinking from the fountain of youth. And thanks to COVID he feels better,” Stelter said on live TV Monday afternoon. “This is crazy. It’s like he’s back to denying COVID while he still has the disease.”
Trump tweeted that American should not to be afraid of COVID and claiming, “I feel better than I did 20 years ago.”
“I will be leaving the great Walter Reed Medical Center today at 6:30 P.M. Feeling really good! Don’t be afraid of COVID. Don’t let it dominate your life. We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs & knowledge. I feel better than I did 20 years ago!” he tweeted.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1313186529058136070?s=20
Stelter accused the president of using his release from the hospital as an opportunity for extensive press coverage.
“By the way, note the timing 6:30 pm, the nightly newscasts, they’re not as big as they used to be but they still have a big audience. I think he wants that return shot with Marine One, the same way we had on Friday night on the same time when he left.
He also condemned Trump for going back to the White House where Melania is quarantining, claiming that it was irresponsible and “worst practice.”
“He’s going home to the first lady who’s actually the more responsible one. She’s the one showing leadership. She’s being a role model by isolating herself in the White House. The president is the one showing worst practices, and the first lady is showing best practices,” Stelter continued.
Stelter joins the ranks of other mainstream media reporters panicking and criticizing the way Trump has handled the COVID-19 crisis as well as his own diagnosis.
