President Donald Trump on Thursday in a video posted to his Twitter account, in which he looked healthy and didn't appear to exhibit any breathing issues, promised to make the Regeneron Pharmaceuticals antibody cocktail that he received free for seniors battling COVID-19.
"We're taking care of our seniors, you're not vulnerable. But they like to say the vulnerable, but you're the least vulnerable. But for this one thing, you are vulnerable," Trump said from the lawn in front of the White House.
"So am I. But I want you to get the same care I got. I got incredible care at Walter Reed [National Military Medical Center], incredible doctors and this medicine in particular one medicine was unavailable. You're going to get the same medicine free — no charge. We're going to get it to you soon. The nice part is it's made by a number of companies, it's totally safe, but it's powerful against this disease so we're going to get it out to you. We're going to take care of our seniors — all free. The seniors are going to be taken care of."
Some journalists, physicians, and lawmakers earlier this week said it looked as though the president was breathing heavily during a photo op following his release from Walter Reed.
"If a picture is worth a thousand words, what about a video? This 8-second video destroys all attempts by @realDonaldTrump to downplay the virus because it shows him gasping for air," tweeted Rep. Ted Lieu.
"Many Americans are now visually seeing how the virus causes breathing difficulties & lung damage," the California Democrat continued.
Dr. Noah Greenspan, a cardiovascular and pulmonary clinical specialist in New York who watched the video posted Monday, told Newsweek via email: "This is definitely not what I would consider normal, quite (unlabored) breathing."
The video comes amid mainstream media reports that Trump has been losing ground among seniors. In an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released Sunday, Joe Biden led Trump by 27 points among seniors, 62% to 35%. In a CNN/SSRS poll out Tuesday, Biden is up by 21 points, 60% to 39%.