Chinese President Xi Jinping wished President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump “a speedy recovery” after a Chinese propaganda chief said Trump “paid the price” for downplaying COVID-19.
Trump announced that he and the first lady tested positive for coronavirus early on Oct. 2. Hop Hicks, a top adviser to Trump, tested positive on Wednesday after she traveling with the president, ABC News reported.
“In a message to Trump, Xi said that learning President Trump and Melania have tested positive for COVID-19, he and his wife, Peng Liyuan, extend sympathy to them and wish them a speedy recovery,” China Xinhua News, a state-controlled publication, tweeted.
In a message to Trump, Xi said that learning President Trump and Melania have tested positive for COVID-19, he and his wife, Peng Liyuan, extend sympathy to them and wish them a speedy recovery pic.twitter.com/llykLDNPcs
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) October 3, 2020
Xi’s message comes after Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of the China-controlled Global Times, said in a now-deleted tweet: “President Trump and the first lady have paid the price for his gamble to play down the COVID-19. The news shows the severity of the US’ pandemic situation.”
“It will impose a negative impact on the image of Trump and the US, and may also negatively affect his reelection,” he continued.
Relations between the U.S. and China have plummeted in recent years as the two nations have squabbled over a variety of issues, including trade and security, according to The Associated Press.
Numerous reports have found that the Chinese government attempted to conceal coronavirus early on, causing it to spread significantly.
The Department of Homeland Security, for example, found that the Chinese government hid COVID-19’s severity in early January to stockpile medical supplies, the AP reported in May.
Chinese officials also purposefully silenced doctors who were early on sounding the alarm about the virus and downplayed the threat of an outbreak multiple times, according to the AP.
The State Department did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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