Republican calls out anti-Trump GOP strategist for mocking first lady’s coronavirus PSA

Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) called out an anti-Trump GOP strategist for mocking first lady Melania Trump’s coronavirus public service announcement. 

Strategist Rick Wilson posted “#BeInfected” on Twitter in response to a Wednesday CNN report that the first lady was planning to air a PSA. The comment was a play on her #BeBest anti-cyberbullying campaign.

Gosar clapped back saying, “Delete this, Americans are dying.”

Delete this, Americans are dying.

— Rep. Paul Gosar, DDS (@RepGosar) March 19, 2020

The first lady posted the PSA video Thursday, after this tweet exchange occurred. 

“While changes need to be made now, this is not how we’ll live forever. Our children will return to school, people will return to work, we will gather at the places of worship, concerts, and sporting events again,” she said in the video.

pic.twitter.com/3KXrAP0A35

— Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) March 19, 2020

Other officials like Surgeon General Jerome Adams, coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx and Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease Dr. Anthony Fauci appeared to participate in a series of PSAs telling the U.S. how to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Gosar announced he was under self-quarantine along with members of his staff earlier this month after interacting with a person who was diagnosed with COVID-19 after visiting the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February.

The Arizona Republican has faced scrutiny for calling COVID-19 the “Wuhan virus” earlier this month.

He defended those remarks, stating, “Just astoundingly ignorant to have all major media refer to it as #WuhanVirus for months but somehow, today, you’ve decided that’s #racist.”

COVID-19 has infected more than 11,200 people in the U.S., killing at least 157. A total of 108 people in the U.S. have recovered, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.