UPDATE (10/5/20, 7:19pm ET): Donald Trump left the Walter Reed Medical Center on Monday evening, Oct. 5, shortly after sparking Chris Evans‘ — and many others’ — outrage for tweeting “Don’t be afraid of Covid.” The POTUS had been in the hospital since Oct. 2 (he tested positive for the coronavirus on Oct. 1).
ORIGINAL: Captain America to the rescue again. This time the actor who plays him, Chris Evans, is lighting into President Donald Trump for his incredibly dangerous statement that people shouldn’t be “afraid” of catching COVID-19. Over 200,000 Americans have already died from the virus, and the 39-year-old star tore apart a new Trump tweet. POTUS make the completely bonkers claim that five days after his positive COVID-19 test and subsequent four day hospitalization, people shouldn’t let COVID “dominate their lives,” despite getting the best medical care in the country at taxpayers’ expense.
“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!” Trump tweeted on Oct. 5. The shocking amount of dangerous audacity in the tweet was enough for Chris to take to Twitter to call the 74-year-old.
“Don’t be afraid of Covid?! You’ve been under round-the-clock care by the best doctors using the best drugs. Do you really think everyone has access to that?! Sadly, I’m sure you’re aware of that disparity, you just don’t care This is reckless to a shocking degree, even for you,” Chris wrote, while retweeting the president’s outrageous statement.
Chris was referring to how Trump was treated by doctors at Walter Reed Medical Center with remdesivir, a drug not widely available to most people afflicted with COVID-19. In trial studies it helped patients recover 31 percent faster, and received an emergency authorization on May 2020 for those with the most severe cases of COVID-19, though it has not yet been approved by the FDA.
It is also expensive! Even with private insurance, one dose of the five day remsedivir program runs $520 out of pocket. And with two doses given on the first day, that means a patient would have to pay $3,120 for the treatment course. Which of course the president didn’t need to worry about because his treatment came for free. For most Americans, that kind of money — when coupled with a hospital stay and other treatments — is prohibitively expensive, even with health insurance.
Many fans were just as appalled about Trump’s tweet, thanking Chris for his response. @nanjaybri told Chris about Trump, “I’m crying while typing. My dad passed away from COVID. His tweet is one of the most offensive things I’ve seen. He’s mocking the 210,000+ who have died – mostly alone. My dad didn’t want COVID to dominate his life either.” User @MorgansTKDMom, responded to her comment, “Exactly! And for COMPLETELY FREE! No worries about how his family will pay for it.The worst part is, I’m not even surprised anymore. Or I’m surprised he didn’t do something worse. What the hell does that say about our country? Not a whole helluva lot sadly. #VoteHimOut.”
@JennKnight14 responded to Chris by commenting, “We all knew he’d turn this into a political propaganda ploy. I mean look at his joy ride yesterday? And now with the ‘Covid isn’t that bad’: tell that to the 200,000+ that died or tell that to every one of their family members left behind.” She referring to Trump doing a “fan” drive-by in an enclosed SUV outside of his hospital on Oct. 4 with several Secret Service members inside with him. Trump was widely called out for endangering his masked employees’ health and lives for exposing them to COVID-19, just so that he could have his ego boosted by seeing supporters in person while still hospitalized.