'You catch it and then you get better:’ Trump claims he would’ve beaten COVID-19 without treatment
President Trump boasted Thursday that he doesn’t need any help beating coronavirus -- and you don’t either.
The COVID-stricken president said he is strong enough to win his fight against the deadly virus without treatment, an ill-informed statement considering that 210,000 Americans have succumbed to the pandemic
“I think I would have done it fine without drugs. You don’t really need drugs,” Trump told Fox News.
“You catch it and then you get better. And then you are immune,” Trump added.
Trump praised the experimental anti-body treatment that he was given last Friday, calling the drug a “cure” for COVID-19.
But he suggested that his own strength was primarily responsible for his ability to fight off the virus so far.
“I view it as a cure because I took it,” Trump said. “It’s great, it made me better, I’ll tell you right now.”
Doctors say that personal strength obviously has little to do with a person’s ability to fight off coronavirus, which has infected more than 7 million Americans.
Trump also says he doesn’t think he is contagious with coronavirus, even though doctors say COVID-19 patients can still spread the disease for up to two weeks after being infected.
“I don’t think I’m contagious at all,” said Trump, without offering any evidence to back up his claim.
The shocking statements amount to a return to Trump’s default effort to downplay the impact of the pandemic and to undermine efforts to contain the worst public health crisis the U.S. has faced in a century.
After admitting being infected with COVID-19, Trump initially suggested his own illness might cause him to change his tune, saying “I get it now.”
But since his condition has improved, Trump staged a made-for-TV return to the White House and pointedly ripped off his face mask, which protects those around him from contracting the virus from him.
The president now claims to be almost fully recovered, although he admitted taking a powerful steroid, which can mask symptoms and also cause dramatic mood swings.
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