Katherine Schwarzenegger urges followers to vote for Joe Biden after Donald Trump tells Americans 'Don’t be afraid of COVID'
Katherine Schwarzenegger is urging people to vote for Joe Biden in a series of Instagram stories on Monday evening in response to President Donald Trump’s tweet telling Americans not to be “afraid of Covid” in the midst of the pandemic.
“If that tweet itself is not enough to get you fired up to want to elect Biden and get rid of Trump as president of our country, then I don’t know what is,” the 30-year-old said, referring to Trump’s announcement on Monday evening that he would be returning to the White House after just days of treatment for the coronavirus at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. “That’s the sickest tweet I’ve ever seen. Please vote.”
I will be leaving the great Walter Reed Medical Center today at 6:30 P.M. Feeling really good! Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life. We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs & knowledge. I feel better than I did 20 years ago!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 5, 2020
Trump’s tweet that went on to urge Americans “Don’t let [the coronavirus] dominate your life,” and to assure people that he feels better than he “did 20 years ago!” The message received backlash from people across the country who have been impacted by the virus, including a host of celebrities from Ava DuVernay to Chris Evans. Amanda Kloots, celebrity trainer and widow of actor Nick Cordero who died of COVID-19 in July, also took to social media to call the tweet “disgraceful” and “hurtful” after losing her husband.
Schwarzenegger, the daughter of California’s former Republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver, a relative of former President John F. Kennedy, acknowledged that although she supports different political beliefs, Trump’s comments about the deadly pandemic gave her reason to speak out against those in support of him.
“I’ve also always been somebody who is super respectful of people’s choices to support whoever they want to support, especially politically. I grew up in a family with different political views, so I’m very used to that and I’m also very respectful of it,” she said. “But I’m actually at a point now where if I think that I am interacting with anybody who supports a man who tweets that when there are people who have lost loved ones and who are really sick and people who are still dying because of COVID, then I just don’t really know how I can understand how you can support an individual like that. So, get thinking people.”
The new mother and wife of Chris Pratt, who recently came under fire for a joke about the upcoming election, posted a photo shortly thereafter to address people who were upset with her for speaking out against the current president.
“Please go ahead and unfollow me if you think Trump’s tweet today was appropriate or helpful in regards to the global pandemic we are in and to those who’s [sic] lives have been lost,” she wrote, adding a sticker that reads, “Bye for now.”
For the latest coronavirus news and updates, follow along at https://news.yahoo.com/coronavirus. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please reference the CDC’s and WHO’s resource guides.
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