President Donald Trump said that his bout with COVID-19 was a “blessing from God” on Wednesday.
Trump made the claim in a video taken in front of the Oval Office, which Trump returned to less than a week after his initial coronavirus diagnosis. After Trump announced his positive test on Friday, he was treated for COVID-19 at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for three days. Trump said Wednesday that he was given the monoclonal antibody from Regeneron, which he believed was “the key” to overcoming the virus.
“I think this was a blessing from God that I caught it,” Trump said. “This was a blessing in disguise.”
Trump said it was his idea to be given the antibody from Regeneron. “I said let me take it and it was incredible the way it worked, incredible,” Trump said. “And I think if I didn’t catch it, we’d be looking at that like a number of other drugs.”
According to Trump, Regeneron’s experimental antibody will be made available to coronavirus patients free of charge once the Federal Food and Drug Administration issues an emergency use authorization for the drug.
“I want to get for you what I got,” Trump said, “And I’m gonna make it free. You’re not gonna pay for it. It wasn’t your fault that this happened. It was China’s fault.”
Newsweek reached out to the Biden campaign for comment.
This is a breaking story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
