Lincoln Project hopes White House coronavirus outbreak is a wakeup call for Trump’s supporters

The Lincoln Project hopes President Donald Trump's diagnosis for the coronavirus serves as a wake-up call to his supporters.

The president has sought to downplay the threat from the virus from the beginning, according to audio recordings by Bob Woodward, and a partisan divide over basic medical precautions has developed over the ensuing months.

“The Lincoln Project sincerely hopes Trump's infection with COVID sends a signal to the Americans who follow him to take this deadly disease seriously," the anti-Trump conservative group said in a statement. "From the start, the President and his media cheerleaders have amplified dangerously irresponsible messages about the transmissibility, seriousness, and fatality rates of COVID. They have ignored and marginalized scientific and medical experts, placed political hacks in positions at HHS and elsewhere to prevent the American people from receiving accurate information about the pandemic, and spread false information about spurious cures."

“We hope the President's followers will take heed," the group added. "This disease is not a hoax; it is a killer. Masks, social distancing, and handwashing are vital elements in protecting yourself from COVID. There is no vaccine available at this time. Hydroxychloroquine does not cure or treat COVID in any way."