Stephen King had a bemused reaction to President Donald Trump‘s negative coronavirus test on Saturday night. The White House announced that the president was not carrying the pandemic illness on Saturday, despite his hand shakes and meetings with foreign leaders. King — an outspoken opponent of the president — was not impressed.
The president held a press conference on Saturday to update the American people about the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. He mentioned that he had been tested for the illness personally, and would get the results back soon. A few hours later, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham issued a statement saying that the president had tested negative for COVID-19, the coronavirus.
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“But tests positive for stupidity,” King added on Twitter.
But tests positive for stupidity. https://t.co/1zeRCzyB71
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) March 15, 2020
The post got nearly 50,000 likes and nearly 8,000 retweets over night, with many of King’s followers agreeing with him in the replies. They posted their own memes and jokes about the president’s handling of the pandemic outbreak, which has been criticized widely.
Many of King’s followers simply did not believe that the president had tested negative for coronavirus, or that he had been tested at all, for that matter. They responded to his tweets with skepticism and wisecracks about the president’s medical history.
“Even if he tested positive, would they REALLY tell us?” one person replied.
“Does anyone believe the White House doctor’s office, who has clearly lied about his weight and health before?” added another.
“Wait. He took the test today. Didn’t they say it takes 24 to 36 hours to get the test results? How did he magically get his results in a matter of hours?” a third person wrote.
The president himself was not exactly clear on the details of the test on Saturday. In an unscripted press conference, he said that he was reluctant to even take the test, and he did not know anything about how long it took to get results.
“By the way, I had my temperature taken coming into the room,” he said. “I also took the test the last night. I decided I should based on the press conference last night, people were asking, did I take the test.”
Asked when the American people would hear the results of his coronavirus test, the president said: “I don’t know, whatever it takes. A day? Two days? Whatever it is, they send it to a lab.”
The coronavirus is expected to spread more over in the coming weeks, and experts say this week in particular is a critical time for social distancing and self-isolation if at all possible. Visit the CDC’s website for more details and guidelines on preventing the spread of coronavirus.
