Comedian Tom Arnold tweeted Hope Hicks’ personal cell phone number Thursday night, just hours after news broke that Hicks tested positive for the coronavirus. Arnold, a longtime Trump critic, deleted the tweet but later responded to conservative critics, including actor James Woods. Hicks tested positive Thursday, and President Donald Trump announced he and First Lady Melania Trump tested positive for the virus hours later.
“Silent thoughts & prayers aren’t enough for national treasure Hope Hicks,” Arnold’s deleted tweet read, Fox News reports. “She needs to hear them,” he wrote, adding a phone number she claimed was her “personal cell.” Arnold later tweeted the Fox News report on his deleted tweet, adding, “I was being nice!!” Woods also shared the tweet, adding, “Democrats believe they’re going to win the election, so they aren’t bothering to hide who and what they are now. This one is a particularly nasty piece of work.” Arnold fired back quickly. “No way she gives you her number per,” he wrote.
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Another conservative critic, Juanita Broaddack, called Arnold a “horrible, smelly piece of trash.” Arnold retweeted Broaddack. “Woman who stalks women and supports a serial sex assaulter thinks I’m a horrible, smelly piece of trash,” he wrote, adding the hashtag “World Smile Day.” Arnold also shared the list of people Hicks recently came in contact with, created by MSNBC. “I think Rudy Giuliani and Trump Sr are the only 2 old enough to die,” Arnold wrote. “It is what it is. COVID-19 won’t affect the others what so ever.”
Hours after it was reported that Hicks tested positive, Trump surprisingly announced at 1 a.m. ET Friday morning that he and the first lady tested positive. It is not clear where they contracted the virus, notes The Associated Press. White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told reporters the Trump team learned about Hicks’ positive test before they went to Bedminster, New Jersey for a fundraiser. Although some staffers did not go on the trip, Trump continued to New Jersey.
Hicks, 31, is a close associate of Trump’s and has worked for the president before he even began his 2016 presidential campaign. She briefly left the White House in 2018 to work for Fox News, but she returned to the White House in early March 2020 as a counselor to the president. Hicks attended the presidential debate in Cleveland with Trump, Melania, and the rest of the Trump camp. Trump’s family did not wear face masks during the debate.
Trump is now being treated at Walter Reed Medical Center. “I think I’m doing very well, but we’re going to make sure things work out. The first lady is doing very well. So, thank you very much,” Trump said in a video the White House released Friday evening. “I appreciate it. I will never forget it. Thank you.”
