Rep. Mark Green Friday slammed anyone who is already criticizing President Donald Trump for testing positive for COVID-19 as acting as "just another opportunist."
"I have only been here for 18 months, a little over 18 months," the Tennessee Republican, who is also a physician, said on Fox News' "Fox and Friends." "I'm a freshman congressman. They have done nothing but bully this president from the beginning. It's really quite despicable.
Green said he thinks the biggest impact will be on Trump's campaign, as the president can clearly function from the White House while he's quarantined with First Lady Melania Trump.
"He can take care of all of his duties as commander in chief," said Green. "No one should worry about that. But he will have to, you know, quarantine, which will probably be very difficult for our president. He is a go-getter and an action guy, but he has got to quarantine. He can't do those rallies."
Meanwhile, Trump is reportedly suffering some mild COVID symptoms, but Green said the majority of people who become ill are asymptomatic, even people in higher age categories like Trump, who is 74 years old.
Contact tracing will also determine how quickly Trump can return to the campaign trail, said Green, adding that people who have been in contact with the president probably should get tested.
"If it were me, personally, I would probably go get a test," said Green. "If it was my patient I would say go get a test and maybe get a second one 24 hours later. That's probably the safest thing to do."
Meanwhile, COVID is "just like any other viral illness," said Green, and he'd suggest rest and staying hydrated.
"Rest is important but no more so than he normally requires, which is for him apparently a lot less than most of us," said Green.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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