Donald Trump Jr. Dismisses 'Ridiculous' Claims That His Father Downplayed Pandemic's Severity
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The Trump campaign is rolling out "Operation MAGA" to keep the campaign moving forward after the president tested positive for COVID-19 last week.
WCCO's Esme Murphy spoke with the president's eldest son earlier Monday. Donald Trump Jr. says his father is doing "really well," and he's not stopped working.
"When I spoke to him over the weekend, that's what he was doing. He was working, he was negotiating deals. You know, I couldn't even get through initially because he was busy doing other things!" Trump Jr. said.
He admits his father's COVID-19 diagnosis is a major blow to the campaign.
"It's less than ideal," Trump Jr. said. "Hopefully people like myself can, you know, pick up at least a little bit of that slack."
He dismisses reports that claim he and other family members are concerned about the president's mental state after his controversial drive outside Walter Reed Medical Center, and an unusually large number of tweets -- mostly in capital letters.
"Those reports are 100% false. I saw that on Twitter myself and I laughed," he said. "That's one of those, you know, left wing folks trying to create a controversy."
Trump Jr. denies what critics are claiming: The president's diagnosis, and that of so many around him, shows he has wrongly and even dangerously downplayed the pandemic.
"I think it's ridiculous. The reality is, you know, I've seen the protocols that go through for him. It's still a virus, just like we can't stop the flu entirely. We can take precautions, but we can't shut down the whole country again, like Joe Biden would do."
READ MORE: Paul Gazelka, Jason Lewis Tests Negative For COVID-19 After Meeting With Trump Last Week
And Trump Jr. expects to see his father back on the campaign trail soon, including possible stops in Minnesota.
"It's a very important state. You know, I've been there a bunch myself," he said. "There's obviously nothing quite like a Donald Trump in-person rally, you know, to get people going."
The president is expected to be released from the hospital and return to the White House Monday at about 6:30 p.m. CST.
