Comedian Kathy Griffin slammed President Trump from her hospital bed, saying she was being kept in a coronavirus isolation ward after experiencing “unbearably painful” symptoms.
In a tweet Wednesday afternoon, Ms. Griffin accused the president of “lying” about the prevalence of testing for COVID-19 and blamed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Vice President Mike Pence’s coronavirus task force for her purportedly not being able to obtain a test for the virus.
Mr. Trump tweeted Wednesday morning: “Just reported that the United States has done far more ‘testing’ than any other nation, by far! In fact, over an eight day span, the United States now does more testing than what South Korea (which has been a very successful tester) does over an eight week span. Great job!”
Hours later, Ms. Griffin responded: “He’s lying. I was sent to the #COVID19 isolation ward room in a major hospital ER from a separate urgent care facility after showing UNBEARABLY PAINFUL symptoms. The hospital couldn’t test me for #coronavirus because of CDC (Pence task force) restrictions. #TESTTESTTEST”
Ms. Griffin included two photos in her tweet — one that appeared to show the view from her hospital bed and another that showed her wearing a protective mask over her nose and mouth.
He’s lying. I was sent to the #COVID19 isolation ward room in a major hospital ER from a separate urgent care facility after showing UNBEARABLY PAINFUL symptoms. The hospital couldn’t test me for #coronavirus because of CDC (Pence task force) restrictions. #TESTTESTTEST https://t.co/18fRiOBsdN pic.twitter.com/0sU9fHu4r0
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) March 25, 2020
Tests for the coronavirus remain in short supply. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for testing say: “Clinicians should use their judgment to determine if a patient has signs and symptoms compatible with COVID-19 and whether the patient should be tested. Most patients with confirmed COVID-19 have developed fever and/or symptoms of acute respiratory illness (e.g., cough, difficulty breathing).”
Griffin has been a strident critic of Trump. In 2017, she posed for a photo of her holding a fake severed head of the president. She said her shows were canceled, she lost celebrity friends and she was questioned by the Secret Service amid the outcry.
Griffin mounted a comedy comeback tour in 2018, but she’s has had a rough time of it lately. Last week, her mother Maggie Griffin, who had dementia, died at age 99. “I am gutted,” the comedian wrote.