US President Donald Trump trended across Twitter after he announced that he and his wife Melania had tested positive for COVID-19.
The hashtag #TrumpHasCovid was the top trend, with over 400 000 tweets at the time of writing.
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The names Donald Trump and Melania also appeared in the top five trends.
Trump announced the news on his Twitter account, saying that both he and the US First Lady had tested positive.
Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2020
The president may have contracted the virus from advisor Hope Hicks, who tested positive for the virus shortly before Trump announced his results.
Hope Hicks, who has been working so hard without even taking a small break, has just tested positive for Covid 19. Terrible! The First Lady and I are waiting for our test results. In the meantime, we will begin our quarantine process!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2020
First Lady Melania Trump also shared her diagnosis on her official government account.
As too many Americans have done this year, @potus & I are quarantining at home after testing positive for COVID-19. We are feeling good & I have postponed all upcoming engagements. Please be sure you are staying safe & we will all get through this together.
— Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) October 2, 2020
The news comes as the United States is just weeks away from its presidential election.
In fact, the first US presidential debate took place just days ago on 29 September with Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
Trump is not the first world leader to contract the virus. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson contracted the virus in April.
Twitter users react to Donald Trump COVID-19 announcement
Twitter users reacted to the news in various ways. Trump supporters and some politicians wished the president a speedy recovery.
However, many users also brought attention to Trump’s repeated downplaying of the coronavirus even as over 200 000 Americans have died from COVID-19.
Even as interview recordings from Bob Woodward showed Trump acknowledging the danger of the virus, the president continued to defend the choice not to wear a mask in public.
The US President has also continued to hold rallies with his supporters despite the risk of coronavirus spread.
You can explore the hashtag #TrumpHasCovid to see the most popular related tweets.
Feature image: Screenshot/Twitter
