Melania Trump faced backlash after she offered “our thoughts and prayers” to the victims of the coronavirus pandemic in a tweet on Friday:
Critics slammed the first lady’s post, noting the slow and haphazard way in which her husband’s administration has handled the public health crisis that has now killed more than 52,000 people nationwide.
President Donald Trump downplayed the risk posed by the virus for weeks and has since taken to hyping unproven and potentially deadly cures during his daily coronavirus task force briefings.
The U.S. is now the epicenter of the pandemic with more than 925,000 confirmed cases. Worldwide, the contagion has sickened more than 2.8 million people and killed almost 200,000.
The criticism of the tweet echoed that leveled at political leaders who often call for “thoughts and prayers” following deadly mass shootings, but then fail to enact any meaningful gun control measures.
Some called for the president to show empathy for those who had died or lost loved ones during the outbreak.
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