‘Caronavirus’? Donald Trump misspells coronavirus then claims it’s just media hype

caronavirus donald trump smocking gun tweet gage skidmore flickr cc by sa

Donald Trump is well known for inventing words, but his latest creation is a little more serious. In a tweet on Wednesday challenging his critics in the media and government, the US president addressed what he believes is manufactured fear towards the coronavirus outbreak. Oh wait, that’s “caronavirus” if you’re Donald Trump.

He could’ve used COVID-19 — the current preferred moniker for the virus — or 2019-nCoV. But nope.

The latest spelling error made by Donald Trump garnered just under 40 000 likes, 10 000 retweets, and plenty of snarky commentary since it was published three hours ago.

Others called Trump’s stance on the virus “dangerous af”.

Others shared Trump’s stance on the coronavirus.

While others just joined the thread to post memes — a wholly acceptable reason.

Coronavirus: hype or real cause for concern?

The US CDC (Centre for Disease Control and Prevention) on Wednesday stated that there’s “no reported community spread” of the virus in the US.

In January, WHO declared the outbreak a “global emergency”.

According to Johns Hopkins’ coronavirus outbreak dashboard — a must-visit resource — more than 81 000 people have contracted the virus thus far, with 57 cases confirmed in the US. Cases have also ballooned into the hundreds and beyond in Iran, South Korea and Italy.

For South Africa, the coronavirus is of little concern at this point in time. Just two cases has been recognised on the continent in Algeria and Egypt.

But assuming that coronavirus will just disappear at the snap of a finger would be fallacious and foolish.

More than 2700 people have died as a result of the virus thus far.

Donald Trump’s previous spelling gaffes

Trump is used to creating new words on Twitter.

In 2017, the US President famously created the world covfefe which still doesn’t have a definition.

In December 2018, he claimed that “democrats can’t find a smocking gun” that would tie the Trump 2016 campaign to Russia.

Both tweets are alive and well and have since amassed more than 200 000 likes combined.

Trump is expected to hold a press conference about the US government’s response to coronavirus later today.

Feature image:  Gage Skidmore via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped)

No ad to show here.

More

News

Sign up to our newsletter to get the latest in digital insights. sign up

Welcome to Memeburn

Sign up to our newsletter to get the latest in digital insights.

Exit mobile version