Joe Biden Reacts to Donald Trump and Melania Trump COVID-19 Diagnoses

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden will “pray for the health and safety” of President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump after the two announced Friday they had both tested positive for the coronavirus just over a month before Election Day. The former vice president tweeted Friday morning his well-wishes for the Trumps to have a “swift recovery.”

“Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!” Trump tweeted early Friday. The Trumps’ positive tests come months into the global coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 200,000 Americans so far. Trump is in the highest risk category when it comes to serious complications from the virus at 74 years old.

The first lady also tweeted the news, writing, “As too many Americans have done this year, @potus & I are quarantining at home after testing positive for COVID-19. We are feeling good & I have postponed all upcoming engagements. Please be sure you are staying safe & we will all get through this together.”

Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence tested negative for coronavirus Friday morning, according to White House spokesperson Devin O’Malley, who revealed the vice president is routinely tested “every day” for COVID-19 and “remains in good health” while wishing the Trumps “well in their recovery.” CNN reports that Biden will also undergo coronavirus testing today after Tuesday’s presidential debate, during which neither he nor Trump wore masks, but remained at a distance from one another and did not shake hands.

Trump has downplayed the seriousness of the coronavirus throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, saying in February, “It’s a little like a regular flu that we have flu shots for. And we’ll essentially have a flu shot for this in a fairly quick manner.” Journalist Bob Woodward reported in his new book Rage that in a series of interviews with Trump early on in the pandemic, the president admitted to knowing the virus was possibly five times “more deadly” than the flu across demographics. “I always wanted to play it down,” the president told Woodward, days after he declared a national emergency. “I still like playing it down because I don’t want to create a panic.”