First published 15:00 CST, updated 20:00 CST
“Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!” – it is the tweet that was sent out by American President Donald Trump on October 2nd, early afternoon Beijing time, on the second day of the Chinese Golden Week holiday.
This Golden Week marks a joyous occasion in China, as the country’s National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival both fall on October 1 this year.
News of President Trump testing positive for COVID-19 immediately spread on Chinese social media and reached a top position on the Sina Weibo platform, where many people respond to the news with banter.
“Is this a National Day gift?” (“国庆礼物?”) some commenters wonder.
Other responses just say “ha ha ha ha ha ha.”
“The whole world rejoices!” a top comment says, using a Chinese expression (“普天同庆”) that indirectly is also a reference to Trump’s name in Chinese.
Confirmation of President Trump testing positive for COVID-19 comes after Hope Hicks, one of Trump’s senior advisers, reportedly also tested positive. Hicks traveled together with President Trump to a rally in Duluth, Minnesota. News of Hicks getting infected with the coronavirus also went trending on Weibo earlier today (#特朗普女助理确诊新冠#).
Within moments, the Weibo hashtag “Mr & Mrs Trump Test Positive for Corona” (#特朗普夫妇确诊新冠#) rose from a few thousand clicks to 280 million views around 14:00 in the afternoon, to 660 million clicks an hour later.
The main news sources shared on Weibo are not official state media sources, but Chinese news outlets such as Phoenix News and Sina World. State media outlets People’s Daily and Xinhua News did not report the news on its main news pages at time of writing.
The responses on Chinese social media are partly because of how the American President has dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic in his own country, not just playing down the severity, but also calling it the “Chinese virus.”
But there are also Weibo users who doubt that Trump is actually infected with the virus, calling it a “crafty strategy” to win sympathy in the middle of the presidential election campaign. Getting criticism for how he dealt with the COVID-19 epidemic in America, “this is the chance for him to show he stands together with the American people,” one news blogger (@财神军哥, 85.550 fans) writes, speculating that the feelings of those people in the US who were infected and criticized Trump will “instantly change from hatred to sympathy.”
“If it is really true [that Trump is infected], I hope he drinks enough warm water,” one person writes: “If it is not true, I hope he drinks boiling water.”
Update 20:15 CST
By 20:00 Beijing time, the topic “Mr & Mrs Trump Test Positive for Corona” (#特朗普夫妇确诊新冠#) has attracted a staggering 1.4 billion clicks on Sina Weibo.
One of the topics discussed on Sina Weibo is “what is your first response to Trump testing positive for the new coronavirus?”
“It is a script that is well-written,” one popular comment says: “Pretend to be infected > then cured > no need to fear COVID-19 > it’s just like the flu > the economy can be restarted > the support levels [for Trump] will rise > he will be re-elected.”
This idea of Trump following a script is further spread on social media via a photoshopped film poster saying “TAKING THE CROWN”, “directed and written by Trump.” The character for ‘crown’ (冠) is also the Chinese term for the new coronavirus.
There are other memes and wordplay jokes relating to President Trump “taking the crown” / “getting corona” (夺冠) on Chinese social media. Another image designed by ‘Four Four Six Six’ (@就是四四六六) also shows Trump being ‘crowned.’
In an online poll held by Toutiao News, Weibo users could respond to what they first thought after hearing the news, allowing participants to choose between seven different answers, but the one chosen by a great majority is: “I already expected this to happen.”
Meanwhile, under the tagline “Latest news from America – Trump tests positive for COVID19” this photo is being shared. pic.twitter.com/Yk9bbeaHe7
— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) October 2, 2020
In talking about Trump, netizens commonly refer to him as ‘川建国’ (‘Chuan Jianguo‘), meaning “Build-the-Country Trump,” an online joke to refer to the president as someone whose deeds and words only help to accelerate the further rise of China. The fact that the president’s positive COVID-19 test comes at a time when the mainland Chinese are celebrating their National Day only further adds to this joke.
One Weibo user jokes: “I didn’t expect that Trump would congratulate us on our National Day, let alone that he would do it in this way!”
“It’s really not ok to take in other people’s misery,” one Shanghai netizen says: “…but I really can’t help myself.”
By Manya Koetse
Follow @WhatsOnWeibo
Spotted a mistake or want to add something? Please let us know in comments below or email us. First-time commenters, please be patient – we will have to manually approve your comment before it appears.
©2020 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.
The post Banter and Doubts on Weibo after Trump Tests Positive for COVID-19 appeared first on What's on Weibo.