Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Calls President’s COVID Diagnosis ‘Tragic’

Following President Donald Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis, many of his most frequent critics have eased tensions slightly by offering him well wishes, including New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who called Trump testing positive “tragic.”

While some people have theorized that Trump’s announcement that he tested positive as a possible campaign move, Ocasio-Cortez said she rejects that mindset, The Associated Press reported.

“I personally don’t think it’s appropriate for us to be talking about how a diagnosis of a disease is a political play,” she said.

She continued, saying that the president’s positive test is an important reminder about the need to take the virus seriously and follow protocol. “I hope that this rallies the country to socially distance, to get more serious, if they haven’t, about mask-wearing and making sure that we are taking spread of this disease seriously,” the New York congresswoman said.

“Each time we convene carries with it the potential of a superspreader event,” she tweeted. “There’s no questionnaire about symptoms, no requirement to report to the House physician if we are experiencing symptoms, no temperature check upon arrival to DC, nothing.”

There’s no questionnaire about symptoms, no requirement to report to the House physician if we are experiencing symptoms, no temperature check upon arrival to DC, nothing.

Then we all get on planes and travel back to our communities, often twice a week. It’s dangerous.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) October 2, 2020

A press contact for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign did not respond to Newsweek’s emailed request for comment in time for publication.

Fellow New York politician Senator Chuck Schumer offered similar thoughts to Ocasio-Cortez in a statement that he tweeted out about Trump’s diagnosis. He wished the Trumps and White House staff with the virus a “speedy recovery.”

Schumer then called for stricter following of CDC guidelines in the White House as well as a testing a contract tracing program for the Senate. “Finally, what happened to President Trump is a reminder that of why the whole country, including Senators and staff, must follow the science and follow the protocols laid out by the CDC and public health officials,” he wrote in the statement. “When you ignore the science, you don’t wear a mask, and you don’t follow social distancing guidelines, it puts you and everyone around you at risk.”

Former Vice President and current Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his wife sent their best wishes to Trump and first lady Melania Trump only a month before Election Day. “Jill and I send our thoughts to President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump for a swift recovery. We will continue to pray for the health and safety of the president and his family,” the candidate tweeted on Friday.