Lawmaker Criticizes Trump Virus Comments; Urges San Diegans to Stay Vigilant

By Christine Huard

October 5th, 2020

Rep. Scott Peters, D-San Diego, said Monday that he’s glad President Donald Trump appears to be responding well to treatment for COVID-19, but criticized the president’s “reckless rhetoric” regarding the dangers of the virus.

In announcing via Twitter earlier Monday that he would within hours be leaving Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he’d been hospitalized since Friday, Trump wrote, “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!”

Peters issued a statement in which he said he was “heartened” to hear Trump was improving, but questioned his remarks regarding the state of COVID-19.

“To suggest that we shouldn’t be ‘afraid’ dishonors every single American who has lost someone to this pandemic,” Peters wrote. “More than 210,000 lives have been tragically lost to COVID-19 — parents, children, husbands, wives, family and friends lost forever. Those families are devastated and the rest of us are indeed afraid of similar loss.”

Peters also questioned Trump’s statements through the lens of the medical care the president received, which the congressman said far exceeds that which is available to regular citizens.

“The president received the highest-quality care in the world and is feeling better. That does not mean we can disregard the gravity of this disease,” Peters wrote. “Most people can’t fly via helicopter to a specially dedicated, state-of-the-art hospital suite, nor can they acquire multiple experimental drugs when things take a turn. I encourage San Diegans to trust the science that tells us to continue to be vigilant.”

Trump’s treatment has included dexamethasone, remdesivir and an infusion of an experimental antibody cocktail from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. Following his discharge, he is expected to continue treatment at the White House.

— City News Service