--- title: Donald Trump Fans Are Undaunted By His COVID-19 Diagnosis description: "He’s the President of the United States. Nobody has the right to question him." canonical: https://time.com/5895978/donald-trump-supporters-covid-19/ author: Charlotte Alter article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-10-04T17:37:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-14T09:07:24.444Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump Fans Are Undaunted By His COVID-19 Diagnosis og:description: "He’s the President of the United States. Nobody has the right to question him." og:url: https://time.com/5895978/donald-trump-supporters-covid-19/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8bc26f0a3644d8e8/698a12c7e76ad2862963826e/Regeneron-trump-covid-19.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Regeneron Trump COVID-19 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Fans Are Undaunted By His COVID-19 Diagnosis twitter:description: "He’s the President of the United States. Nobody has the right to question him." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8bc26f0a3644d8e8/698a12c7e76ad2862963826e/Regeneron-trump-covid-19.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 01:33 video:published: 2020-10-05 section: politics topics: COVID-19, Walter Reed hospital, presidential health, supporter rally, medical staff gratitude, public messaging genre: speech, news clip tones: confident, celebratory, defiant, appreciative emotions: pride (high), gratitude (medium), enthusiasm (high) sentiment: positive audience: US voters, political supporters, news viewers, health-interested readers people: Donald Trump organizations: Walter Reed National Military Medical Center content_suitability: health controversy [00:00-01:33]; politics [00:00-01:33] transcript_source: automatic transcription transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # Donald Trump Supporters Are Undaunted By His COVID-19 Diagnosis > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. Senior correspondent Philip Elliott brings sharp context to the issues driving the capital, connecting the decisions made in Washington to the institutions, industries and people they affect. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=51851fd3-533a-4917-8074-5bb37ed25f8b&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Trump Declares 'I Get It,' Then Briefly Leaves Hospital to Salute Supporters [Watch (HLS stream): Trump Declares 'I Get It,' Then Briefly Leaves Hospital to Salute Supporters](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/5M1ilSHw.m3u8) (1:33)  _Published 2020-10-05. Two days after being hospitalized with COVID-19, President Donald Trump declared, “I get it,” in a message to the nation Sunday before briefly leaving the hospital to salute supporters from his motorcade._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary President Donald Trump speaks from Walter Reed hospital, praising the doctors, nurses, soldiers and first responders there. He announces a surprise visit to supporters outside and says he has learned a lot about COVID-19 through firsthand experience. He closes by expressing love for the USA and the work being done. ## Key points - Trump says he is getting great reports from the doctors at Walter Reed and calls the hospital incredible. (00:00) - Trump thanks the nurses, doctors and staff at the hospital and says he has met soldiers and first responders there. (00:00) - Trump says he is about to make a surprise visit to supporters who have been waiting outside holding Trump flags. (00:29) - Trump describes the enthusiasm of his supporters as greater than anyone has had. (00:29) - Trump says he has learned a lot about COVID-19 by going to what he calls the real school. (00:59) - Trump says he understands the disease and promises to keep the public informed about it. (00:59) - Trump closes by saying he loves the USA and what is happening in the country. (00:59) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:29] Praise for Walter Reed staff. Trump praises the hospital, its medical staff, soldiers and first responders, and previews a visit to supporters outside. - [00:29 to 00:59] Announcing a surprise visit to supporters. Trump says he will make a surprise visit to supporters and describes their enthusiasm for his administration. - [00:59 to 01:33] Lessons learned about COVID-19. Trump says he has learned about COVID-19 firsthand and closes by expressing love for the country. ## Key quotes - [00:00] Donald Trump: "This is an incredible hospital, Walter Reed." - [00:29] Donald Trump: "So, I'm not telling anybody but you, but I'm about to make a little surprise visit." - [00:59] Donald Trump: "This is the real school." - [00:59] Donald Trump: "In the meantime, we love the USA and we love what's happening." ## Questions this video answers - Where is Trump being treated and what does he say about the hospital? [00:00] - What surprise does Trump plan for supporters outside the hospital? [00:29] - What has Trump said he learned about COVID-19? [00:59] - How does Trump describe the enthusiasm of his supporters? [00:29] ## Content suitability - health controversy [00:00-01:33]: Presidential COVID-19 hospitalization and claims about the disease are the central subject. - politics [00:00-01:33]: Speech by a sitting president with partisan framing and references to supporters.  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Oct 4, 2020 5:37 PM UTC Two days after being hospitalized with COVID-19, President Donald Trump declared, “I get it,” in a message to the nation Sunday before briefly leaving the hospital to salute supporters from his motorcade.  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Oct 4, 2020 5:37 PM UTC Two weeks ago, as he ate lunch outside a cafe in Holly, Mich., Greg Vanlandeghem said he saw the presidential race as a choice between two bad options. “We’ve got a guy trying not to die,” he said, “and we’ve got Trump.” The candidate Vanlandeghem described as “trying not to die” back then was Joe Biden, the 77-year old former Vice President who has been dogged by right-wing attacks on his age and mental acuity. But two weeks later, after President Trump was [diagnosed with COVID-19 and hospitalized](https://time.com/5895938/not-on-a-clear-path-to-a-full-recovery-what-happens-if-trumps-condition-worsens/), the tables have turned. Biden is healthy and campaigning in Pennsylvania, while the 74-year-old President is in a hospital suite after spiking a fever and receiving oxygen. And now that it’s Trump dealing with a serious medical situation, physical fitness seems to have faded from the list of priorities for some Republican voters who cast Biden as doddering or senile. “I think it’s unfortunate, but it’s something that a vast majority of the population is going to come down with at one point or another,” Vanlandeghem, a 37-year-old homebuilder, said when I called him back to ask about the President’s diagnosis. “I wish him well.” Some of the President’s more fervent supporters have interpreted his diagnosis as a reinforcement of what they already believe about Trump and the coronavirus. Many of his devotees are attracted to what they see as Trump’s strength, and believe him when he [compares COVID-19 to the flu](https://www.forbes.com/sites/tommybeer/2020/09/10/all-the-times-trump-compared-covid-19-to-the-flu-even-after-he-knew-covid-19-was-far-more-deadly/#43ec4156f9d2) or suggests there’s little reason to be alarmed. Where medical experts see a 74-year-old overweight man as vulnerable to a highly dangerous virus, these supporters see a tough leader with a minor affliction. When I first met Eddie Kabacinski, a city council member in Warren, Mich., he was waving a Trump flag outside a Biden event in mid-September, bemoaning Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s executive orders to curb the spread of COVID-19\. “I’m not in favor of wearing a mask,” he said, gesturing at mine. When I called Kabacinski back Saturday to ask him about the President’s diagnosis, he was in the middle of a “MAGA Drag” on I-75—a public show of support for the President. “I’m concerned about it just as much as I would be if it’s the flu or the cold or anything else,” he said. Should the President have been more disciplined about wearing a mask? “Masks are not going to do anything for this whatsoever,” he said. “It’s just an infringement on people’s civil liberties, it’s not mandated in our Constitution.” (Public health experts are in near-uniform agreement that wearing masks helps to stop the spread of COVID-19.) I asked him if he thought the President could have done more to protect himself and the people around him. “The President is the Commander in Chief. He is the person that everybody else looks to as the leader of the free world. It does no good for our Commander in Chief \[to be\] showing cowardice and wearing a mask,” he said. “He’s the President of the United States. Nobody has the right to question him.” When I first met Karen Darga, 57, in September, the former teacher was loading Halloween decorations into the back of her car in a parking lot in Sterling Heights, Mich. She said she was leaning towards voting for Trump in 2020\. “I truly feel that he’s done his best” to stop the spread of the pandemic, she said. When I asked Darga about his [taped comments to journalist Bob Woodward](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54094559) about his plan to “play it down,” she was understanding. “He didn’t want to have mass hysteria,” she said. Now that Trump has the coronavirus himself, Darga is sad but not surprised. “I know that he chose not to wear his mask when he went to different events, and that was his choice,” she said. “I feel like he didn’t want to alarm anybody.” She now plans to vote for the President again. “I’m optimistic,” she said. “It isn’t going to change much.” But even if the President’s illness hasn’t dissuaded his supporters, some of them may still be having second thoughts about him. Vanlandeghem, who didn’t vote in 2016, said he had been planning to vote for Trump until he saw the President’s behavior in [the debate against Biden](https://time.com/5894588/presidential-debate-analysis-chaos/) last week. He was so disgusted, he says, that now he won’t vote at all this year. “I don’t think I’ll waste my time.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5895978/donald-trump-supporters-covid-19/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5895978/donald-trump-supporters-covid-19/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Supporters Are Undaunted By His COVID-19 Diagnosis","datePublished":"2020-10-04T17:37:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-14T09:07:24.444Z","description":"\"He’s the President of the United States. 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