Pelosi hopes Trump's diagnosis will lead to 'a saner approach' to fighting coronavirus

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) hopes some action comes of President Trump's coronavirus diagnosis.

After Trump and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for COVID-19, Pelosi said she "always pray[s] for the president and his family, that they're safe," and guaranteed that Trump will "have the best of care." But "that's we want for everyone in our country," Pelosi continued, spinning Trump's positive test into a call for better COVID-19 protections and treatments for all.

"I hope this will be a moment where people will understand" the importance of the House's next coronavirus relief bill, as well as "testing, tracing, treatment," social distancing, and masks, Pelosi said. "But more than learning, it has to be something that is acted upon," Pelosi continued. After all, "going into crowds unmasked ... was sort of a brazen invitation for something like this to happen," she added. But she's "nonetheless hopeful that it will be a transition to a saner approach to what this virus is all about."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

Trump and the first lady reported their positive diagnoses early Friday morning. As of 10 a.m. EDT Friday, Vice President Mike Pence, second lady Karen Pence, Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Trump's son Barron Trump had tested negative for the virus.