Local Democrats, Republicans wish Trumps quickly recover from COVID-19
President Donald Trump speaks during the first presidential debate on Tuesday evening. It remains unknown if future debates will take place after the president tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday.
Prominent Democratic Party and GOP members expressed hope that President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have speedy recoveries from COVID-19.
The president announced via Twitter late Thursday night that he and the First Lady had tested positive for the coronavirus just after White House aide Hope Hicks also tested positive.
His tweet read, “Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!”
On Friday, President Trump posted a video to Twitter announcing that he was doing “very well” following his diagnosis and was going to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center “to make sure that things work out.”
Santa Barbara County GOP chairwoman Bobbi McGinnis told the News-Press that her thoughts and prayers were with the president and first lady. She was optimistic about them recovering from the virus.
“I think he’ll be up and running in no time,” she said.
Ms. McGinnis added that she expects President Trump’s recovery will be speedy enough that he’ll be able to participate in the second presidential debate scheduled for Oct. 15 in Miami, and that he will be informed on the pandemic from the perspective of someone who has experienced the coronavirus.
“I think he definitely will be at the first debate, and he’ll be able to talk about his firsthand experience with COVID-19,” she said.
Thoughts and prayers for the president and first lady and optimism that they both will come through were echoed by Coalition of Local Agriculture and Business executive director Andy Caldwell.
Mr. Caldwell, a local Republican running for Congress, said, “99.99% of the people who test positive for COVID-19 do not become seriously ill. If he had a lot more comorbidities, I’d be a lot more worried about it.”
Mr. Caldwell, who is also a News-Press columnist, did acknowledge that the president is in his 70s and overweight, both factors that can lead to the virus more severely impacting a patient. He suspects the president’s diagnosis will make him behave more cautiously in the future.
“That can actually be an underlying health condition, so I suppose we’re going to be seeing him wear his mask a heck of a lot more, at least in the near future,” he said.
Santa Barbara Democrats also gave well wishes to the president and first lady. Santa Barbara Democratic Party chair Gail Teton Landis issued a statement in which she called their COVID-19 diagnosis “serious and concerning” and wished them a quick recovery.
Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, expressed hope that President Trump has a mild case of COVID-19, as well as concern for him being overweight and of advanced age.
She remarked that the president’s positive COVID-19 test is unsurprising given how much he has interacted with other people and not worn a mask.
“That being said, I certainly hope that he is able to make a quick recovery, and like most of the people, we’ll be watching with concern to see just how the virus affects him,” she said.
She added, “Hopefully it’s clear to everyone now that nobody is impervious to this virus. It doesn’t care what your position is, it doesn’t care what your party affiliation is.
“It is a pandemic that we have to take seriously.”
email: jgrega@newspress.com
