International media not surprised Trump catches COVID 19
Niyi Maraiyesa
The global media were not caught in a surprise at the news that United States President Donald Trump eventually caught up with The dreaded coronavirus.
The international media criticised the US president’s “botched” response to the coronavirus pandemic, and his “open skepticism” over the use of face masks and social distancing.
German media seemed somewhat unsurprised. “Trump usually does not wear a mask in public”, wrote the centre-right Die Welt, while the centrist Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung pointed out that the pandemic did not deter him from making numerous major election campaign appearances.
Media in France echoed the sentiment that President Trump undermined his own health by underestimating the virus. Libération wrote “After months of catastrophic handling of the pandemic in the USA, after months of lies and contradictory messages to his supporters… Donald Trump has tested positive for Covid-19,”
Iran’s international-facing English-language Press TV observed that Trump “has been somewhat cavalier” about the Covid-19 threat, adding that “it was only a matter of time” before the US president caught the virus.
An anchor on Iranian state television broke the news “with an unflattering image of the US president surrounded by what appeared to be giant coronaviruses”, the Associated Press reports.
Elsewhere, questions have been asked about what the news could actually mean for the US presidential election. The India Today website anticipated that Trump’s quarantine would bring his election campaign to a standstill, stating: “The [presidential] debates and the entire Republican campaign now comes under a shadow.”
The website quoted predictions by analysts that Trump may hope to get sympathy votes now that he has tested positive himself. But others, like Hindi-language daily the Navbharat Times, predicted that “Trump’s diagnosis and his attitude towards the pandemic will harm him in the election.”
Pakistan’s Geo News carried an online report reading: “The future of Trump’s re-election campaign is in doldrums due to his illness and inability to address the rallies before the crucial November 3 vote.”
“The president, who is tested regularly for Covid-19, has kept up a rigorous travel schedule across the country in recent weeks, holding rallies with thousands of people in the run-up to the November 3 election, despite warnings from public health professionals against having events with large crowds.”
