US Media Reluctant To Cover Trump Because Of The President's COVID-19 Diagnosis
JAKARTA - Several compact media outlets decided not to travel by Air Force One with President of the United States (US) Donald Trump. They are worried about Trump's positive COVID-19 diagnosis, even though White House doctors have allowed Trump to return to the public.
The campaign trip was planned to be made to Florida. Quoted from Fox News , Tuesday, October 13, media outlets , such as The Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal chose not to send any journalists to join the president. Other online media, which have recently avoided the assignment of press groups from the White House are Politico, Hearst Newspapers and BuzzFeed.
"White House journalists have security concerns and are uncomfortable traveling with the current president," said Elisabeth Bumiller, bureau chief for The New York Times.
This news comes as Trump is campaigning in Florida on Monday 12 October evening at an airport in Sanford, just north of Orlando. The campaign is Trump's first campaign since his diagnosis of COVID-19.
The doctor who treated Trump stated that Trump responded well to treatment. The doctor claims that Trump can safely go about his normal schedule without the risk of catching or transmitting COVID-19.
News of the massive media reluctance to cover Trump came on the same day Trump's Supreme Court candidate, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, began his Senate confirmation hearing. He delivered his opening statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Since being declared cured, Trump said that he was now immune from COVID-19. In fact, scientific evidence is inconclusive on how long it takes for people who have recovered from COVID-19 to have antibodies and be protected from a second infection. But Trump has claimed that he is immune to the coronavirus and is no longer taking medication.
“It seems I am immune, I don't know, maybe a long time, or maybe a short time. Can be for life. Nobody really knows, "Trump said.
"Now you have a president who does not have to hide in the basement, like his opponent," Trump said quipped his rival in the 2020 US elections, Joe Biden.
Trump's Java may also be due to his confidence in Regeneron's COVID-19 antibodies. The drug is known to be a Trump treatment and will be used to treat COVID-19 patients in 2020.
Even Operation Warp Speed, a US government program established to combat COVID-19, has secured hundreds of thousands of doses of the monoclonal antibody drug developed by Regeneron Pharmaceutical Inc and Eli Lilly & Co, US. Later, there will be one million doses that will be secured by the government by the end of this year.