Actor Chris Evans has lambasted President Donald Trump after he seemingly downplayed the danger of COVID-19.
The trouble began when Trump spoke in a video released to the public upon his return to the White House on Monday evening. This was after spending three days receiving treatment for the coronavirus at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
The president was spoke about the pandemic in the following video message, which he shared upon his return to the White House:In a video shared with his 87 million followers, Trump stated:
"I just left Walter Reed Medical Center and it's really something very special - the doctors, the nurses, the first responders. And I learned so much about coronavirus. And one thing that's for certain: Don't let it dominate you. Don't be afraid of it. You're gonna beat it."
Trump continued:
"We have the greatest country in the world. We're going back, we're going back to work. We're going to be out front... And, I know there's a risk, there's a danger - but that's okay.
Trump added:
"And now I'm better, and maybe I'm immune - I don't know. But don't let it dominate your lives - get out there, be careful. We have the best medicines in the world, and it all happened very shortly and they're all getting approved. And the vaccines are coming momentarily.
Earlier, in a separate tweet, the president also wrote:
"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! [sic]"
However, the Captain America star was less-than-impressed by the President's words. In a tweet made to his 14 million Twitter followers, the 39-year-old actor replied to Trump by writing:
"Don’t be afraid of Covid?! You’ve been under round-the-clock care by the best doctors using the best drugs. Do you really think everyone has access to that?! Sadly, I’m sure you’re aware of that disparity, you just don’t care
This is reckless to a shocking degree, even for you."
A number of Evans' followers took to the comments to react to his scathing criticism of Trump, as you can see below:
Donald Trump first confirmed that one of his top aides, Hope Hicks, had tested positive for the novel coronavirus on October 2. Two hours later, he confirmed that he and First Lady Melania Trump, had also tested positive. Trump wrote:
"Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER! [sic]"
According to the John Hopkins University Coronavirus Research Center, there have been 7,458,550 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States, resulting in 210,195 deaths, as of the time of writing.