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WASHINGTON: Social media erupted with reactions to President Donald Trump’s revelation on Friday that he and his wife Melania tested positive for Covid-19, with sympathy, mockery and anger at their efforts to minimize the risks of the disease. .
The president’s announcement on Twitter in the early hours of Friday garnered more than 1.2 million likes in eight hours and was shared or retweeted at similar levels.
According to news site Axios, the tweet was Trump’s most popular, topping the 2019 news story that rapper A $ AP Rocky was released from prison in Sweden. Axios analyzed data from the Trump Twitter Archive.
On Facebook, where Trump has some 29 million followers, the comments were both supportive and mocking.
“Praying for our president and his sweet family that the Lord would place a hedge of protection around him and keep away all the forces of evil,” wrote one Facebook user.
But another replied: “Why are you going to quarantine? YOU said it was a hoax…. Now is your time to drink the punch! Or drink some kind of chemical. “
On Twitter, where Trump has some 86 million followers, the #TrumpHasCovid hashtag was one of the main trends.
One supporter tweeted: “May the good health prayers and blessings I am sending with these flowers make you strong and healthy soon.”
Anger, mockery
Others expressed anger at the president for downplaying the risks of the pandemic that has caused more than seven million infections and more than 200,000 deaths in the United States.
“Are you still going to make fun of people for wearing masks?” actress and activist Sophia Bush tweeted.
“Do you regret lying to the American people for months? I ask you this because I assume that you will get the best taxpayer-funded public health service + I really hope you recover. But you owe us answers. “
The president’s niece, Mary Trump, a longtime critic of the administration, wrote: “I reserve my sympathy, empathy and despair for those who are sick and for those who have died because they were deceived, misled or ignored.”
Some expressed fear of an increase in civil unrest as a result of the news.
“I fear that if Trump dies from Covid-19, his rabid followers will go from calling Covid a hoax to labeling it the ‘China virus’ and expressing anger at Asian Americans,” said one Twitter user. “As a Chinese-American, it really scares me.”
The news caused an avalanche of memes, or images with a satirical look, on social platforms.
One image showed a hand of someone sinking into water, with the comment: “Only in 2020 can fate be so perfect, Donald Trump contracts the coronavirus 48 hours after vehemently denying the science in the debate.”
Other reactions came in the form of videos on TikTok, the popular social app that Trump has tried to wrest from Chinese control or shut down.
Some posts showed people dancing in apparent celebration of the news.
One TikTok user commented in a post: “He caught the virus and admitted it, which I NEVER thought you would admit! .. I do not wish to harm anyone, but also … hoisted by your own firecracker !!!
