Democrats ‘Happy’, ‘Excited’ After Trump Gets COVID-19, Poll Shows
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A surprisingly large portion of Democrat respondents to a new survey said they were “happy” after US President Donald Trump contracted the coronavirus, a trend reflected in a flurry of celebratory social media posts from his critics.
Four out of ten Democrats said they were “very” or “somewhat” happy when asked how they felt about the diagnosis, in a Morning Consult poll published on Friday, while 31 percent admitted they were “excited.” Some 41 percent reported feeling “indifferent.”
The survey comes a day after Trump announced that he and the first lady had contracted the illness, which has infected more than 7.3 million Americans and killed in excess of 208,000.
In stark contrast to Democrats, a majority of GOP voters surveyed for the poll said they were “sad” (55 percent) or “worried” (51 percent) after the diagnosis, while only 14 percent reported feeling “happy.”
A supermajority of Democrats (84 percent) said they “don’t trust” the president to be honest about his health as he fights the virus, compared to a similar proportion of Republicans who say they do trust him (80 percent), RT reported.
The number of Democrats elated by the president’s positive test result was mirrored by a wave of jubilant tweets from his opponents, many directly wishing him harm.
In a now-deleted post, a former White House staffer under President Barack Obama and a spokeswoman for the 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign, Zara Rahim, stated plainly: “I hope he dies.”
Another verified user, Danielle Muscato – a self-declared “civil rights activist” and a contributor to a slew of corporate media outlets – also relished the news.
Others scaled back the vitriol a few notches and withheld their death wishes, instead hoping that Trump merely “gets sick” to teach him a lesson about the dangers of the virus.
Some of Trump’s most vocal detractors, including MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, took a more sympathetic approach and wished the president and first lady a speedy recovery. Those displays of decency were also met with fierce opposition, earning Maddow the label of “fascist” in some quarters.
People openly tweeting in hopes of Trump’s demise may actually find themselves banned by the platform, as this runs afoul of its rules against abusive behavior.
“Content that wishes, hopes or expresses a desire for death, serious bodily harm or fatal disease against an individual is against our rules,” Twitter said in a statement, quoted by Motherboard on Friday evening.