Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) said Sunday that he hopes President Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis serves as a “cautionary tale” and pushes people who have been reluctant to wear face masks to start following public health guidelines.
“What I hope is what we’ve seen with the president is a cautionary tale,” DeWine said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
The governor added that he hopes people understand that if the virus can infect the president, it can infect them and their families.
“This should be kind of an alert to everybody, that anybody can get the virus — even the president of the United States,” DeWine said.
“So people who maybe haven’t worn masks in the past, I’m hoping they’ll look at this and say, ‘the president can get it, I can get it.’ It can happen to anybody, I hope that’s what happens and that’s what comes out of it,” the governor said.
CNN’s Jake Tapper asked DeWine if he was bothered by Trump’s “reckless” actions, potentially spreading the coronavirus during his visit to Ohio. The president may have already been infected with the virus before traveling to the state to campaign and for a debate against Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
“You’re the governor of the state of Ohio. Does it bother you that the president and his team put your citizens at risk?” Tapper asked.
DeWine responded by defending Trump’s actions in responding to the virus and the public after testing positive for the virus. He said Trump’s decision to go to the hospital and to put up two videos speaking to the public has been “positive.”
Further pressed on if he is bothered by Trump’s actions, DeWine said, “I’m not resentful.”
He also said that Trump has been “very supportive” of the state’s response to the coronavirus, noting that “hundreds of thousands” new tests will be heading across the country this week.
DeWine also said the president did not reach out to him about potential exposure after Trump tested positive and was potentially contagious with the virus when in Ohio earlier this week.
“They have not reached out to me,” he said. “I know that I talked to the CEO of the Cleveland Clinic the other day, who gave me an update, gave me a report. So, I don’t know whether they have reached out to the Cleveland Clinic or not. They have not talked to me about it, no.”