Holy Shit Donald Trump Has Coronavirus

US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania have both tested positive for COVID-19, the President has revealed in a tweet.

Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2020

Trump’s positive result comes a day after his close personal aide, Hope Hicks, tested positive. MSNBC reports Hicks has spent time recently with several senior Republicans, including Trump’s sons Donald Jr and Eric, his daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner, and senior adviser Rudy Giuliani.

Trump has spent the entirety of the pandemic downplaying COVID-19’s seriousness. At various times he has called the virus a hoax, saying it would simply go away. More than 200,000 Americans have now died of COVID-19.

“The President and First Lady are both well at this time, and they plan to remain at home within the White House during their convalescence,” Trump’s doctor said in a statement.

The news will throw the final few weeks of the US Presidential election, which will be held on November 3, into chaos. Trump will likely be forced to quarantine for at least two weeks, missing crucial time on the campaign trail, possibly including the final debates.

Trump may seek to postpone the election, but that can only be done through an act of Congress, and it’s unlikely the Democrat-controlled US House of Representatives would agree to a date change. As it stands, Trump has an 80% chance of losing the election, according to polling website FiveThirtyEight.

More to come.