President Donald Trump reached out to senior Americans on Thursday, promising them swift coronavirus treatments for free.
“To my favorite people in the world, the seniors. I’m a senior. I know you don’t know that nobody knows that, maybe you don’t have to tell them,” Trump joked in a video filmed at the White House and posted to social media.
The president spoke about his ongoing efforts to stop the coronavirus and quickly develop new drugs to treat the disease.
“We are making tremendous progress,” Trump said, “We have medicines right now, and I call them a cure.”
Trump spoke favorably of the experimental treatments he took to treat the virus when he traveled to Walter Reed hospital last Friday once he was diagnosed with the disease.
“It was incredible. I could have walked out the following day,” he said.
Trump said that he wanted to push forward the treatments that he used and get them approved by the FDA for emergency use.
“We are going to make them available immediately,” he said, adding, “You’re going to get the same medicine. You’re going to get free, no charge, and we’re going to get it soon.”
The president said the drug, such as the antibody cocktail he used that was developed by Regeneron, was “totally safe” and powerful against the virus.
Polls show that the president has struggled with support from seniors, especially after the first presidential debate.
A CNN poll reported that 60 percent of seniors who were 65 and older supported Biden, and only 39 percent supported Trump. A recent NBC poll showed that 62 percent of seniors backed Biden, and only 35 percent supported Trump.
Seniors are a big reason Trump is the president. American voters 65 and older supported Trump over Hillary Clinton in 2016 by nine percentage points, according to a Pew Research Center study in 2018.
The president said in his video that he would continue fighting the coronavirus and taking care of America’s seniors.
“We’re taking care of our seniors,” Trump said. “You’re not vulnerable, but they like to say ‘the vulnerable,’ but you’re the least vulnerable, but for this one thing you are vulnerable, and so am I.”