President Donald Trump tweeted late Oct. 1 that he and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for COVID-19 and will begin quarantining. Musicians have been posting on Twitter both criticizing and sending well wishes to the president, who has spent much of the year downplaying the threat of the virus that has killed more than 205,000 Americans, according to the Associated Press.
Two days before the president tested positive for COVID-19, he mocked Democratic nominee Joe Biden for wearing a mask during the first presidential debate, which took place Sept. 29.
“I don’t wear face masks like him. Every time you see him he’s got a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away … and he shows up with the biggest mask I’ve ever seen,” the president said, according to Business Insider.
Cardi B quoted the president’s tweet announcing his diagnosis, saying “‘BET YOU WANNA’ wear a mask now.”
Questlove tweeted at early hours of Friday morning wondering if Trump was saying he had the virus just to later claim that he took a vaccine and is fine as part of an effort to push out a COVID-19 vaccine before the presidential election.
Ice-T quoted the president’s tweet announcing his diagnosis early Friday morning, writing, “Can I say Karma’s a Bitch….”
Laura Jane Grace of rock band Against Me! tweeted “As it turns out, snorting excessive amounts of Adderall does NOT make you immune to the virus.”
Mark Morton, Lamb of God’s lead guitarist, tweeted “My mom just called me and told me not to say anything shitty on Twitter about Trump having Covid. Mom…I would NEVER do such a thing! <3 #FuckCovid.”
Brian Baker, best known as one of the founding members of hardcore punk band Minor Threat and as a guitarist in Bad Religion, tweeted simply “I do not wish them well.”
Vernon Reid, founder of rock band Living Colour, tweeted “Trump contracting coronavirus is further evidence of his complete incompetence. Whether or not he actually called COVID-19 a hoax directly is irrelevant. He consistently REFUSED to take the precautions insisted upon as the ONLY means to not contract the virus, & now he has it.”
He later added: “Remove our like or dislike of Trump for a moment. Think of the Office & not the man. This. Was. Preventable. The communicability & deadliness of the virus made the POSSIBILITY of infection a National Security issue. That single aspect called for a seriousness he is INCAPABLE of.”
Alex Skolnick, best known as lead guitarist in thrash metal band Testament, responded to a tweet from British author and journalist Carole Cadwalladr that said: “A reminder to all Americans that the net effect of our prime minister catching COVID-19 was that it prompted a surge of patriotic support. From which he emerged with renewed popularity. Which enabled him to tear up key functions of the state.” She was referring to U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was diagnosed with COVID-19 in March.
In response, Skolnick tweeted: “The timing here is very different. That was early on. At this point, no amount of sympathy or national unity could get us behind him. Also, Johnson hadn’t just caused the ugliest debate in history, in which he mocked, taunted and ridiculed his opponent about wearing a mask.”
Low, an indie rock band from Duluth, Minnesota, tweeted: “Yeah, but has he denounced white supremacy yet?” The tweet is a response to the fact that, during the presidential debate, Trump refused to denounce white supremacy after being asked to by the moderator, Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, and Biden.
Rob Sheridan, the former art director for Nine Inch Nails, published a series of tweets Friday morning regarding Trump’s previous comments suggesting the virus is a “hoax.” In the tweets, he called the president a “genocidal mass-murderer” for dismissing the pandemic’s severity.
Geoff Barrow, instrumentalist for the band Portishead as well as a member of the band Beak and hip-hop supergroup Quakers, tweeted an edited picture of the president depicting him with a swastika on his head, a clown nose and an IV of clorox attached to him.
In contrast, some musicians tweeted in their support of the president and wished him well.
Kanye West tweeted: “There’s a crying need for civility across the board. We need to and will come together in the name of Jesus. I’m praying for President Trump’s and Melania’s full recovery, just as I would for Joe and Jill Biden if they were stricken, as well as everyone else with COVID-19.”
Phil Labonte, best known as the lead singer of the metalcore band All That Remains, tweeted: “I woke up to find out Trump got Covid. I hope he and Melania are fine. If he ends up being fine it will be fucking hilarious.”
Rock band Trapt tweeted: “What happens when Trump beats this thing and has no symptoms, just like a few other people in his administration who took the Hydroxychloroquine/Z pack combo? Trump will say CDC is to blame for all deaths, while looking like Superman… Look what it did for Boris’ popularity.” He was also referring to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Featured image: Raymond Flotat.
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