'Is this for real?': US senator mocked for posting video of Trump beating-up superimposed coronavirus

Kelly Loeffler tweeted clip after US president announced he will be leaving hospital

Republican senator Kelly Loeffler has been mocked for posting a video of president Donald Trump beating up what appears to be coronavirus superimposed onto the head of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) CEO Vince McMahon.

Mr Trump was hospitalised at the Walter Reed Medical Centre on Friday evening, after he showed symptoms for coronavirus following a positive Covid-19 test result a few hours earlier.

After nearly three days at the facility, president Trump tweeted that he would be leaving the medical centre.

He tweeted: “I will be leaving the great Walter Reed Medical Center today at 6:30 P.M. Feeling really good! Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life.

“We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs & knowledge. I feel better than I did 20 years ago!”

Following the president’s announcement, Ms Loeffler, who serves as the junior United States senator from Georgia, first tweeted “Great news! God bless our President!”

A few minutes later she then tweeted a video from 2007 of Mr Trump fighting Mr McMahon, with what appears to be coronavirus superimposed onto the latter’s head.

In the clip Mr Trump pushes Mr McMahon onto the ground and punches him a few times, before then walking off, leaving the CEO lying on the floor. Ms Loeffler captioned the tweet: “COVID stood NO chance against @realDonaldTrump!”

The senator was immediately mocked for the tweet, and Twitter user @GarbageApe replied: “Is this real?”

Journalist Parker Molloy, added: “Attila, this is pathetic, even for you,” in reference to a campaign ad Ms Loeffler made last month, where she was seen replying to a man saying “Yup, she's more conservative than Attila the Hun,” by replying: “It’s true.”

Other users felt that the video implied that the US citizens who have so far died from the virus are weak. According to Johns Hopkins University some 7.4m people have now tested positive for coronavirus in the US and the death toll has reached 209,737.

The Lincoln Project, a Republican political action committee that is aiming to prevent the reelection of Mr Trump, replied: “So, the 7,000 constituents of yours who died of COVID-19 are weak?”

Political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen echoed the committee's argument, and asked Ms Loeffler: “In other words, Kelly Loeffler believes that the 210,000 Americans who died were just weak.”

While the writer and creator of The Wire, David Simon, tweeted: “This is not merely moronic, which we expect of you.

“This is submoronic, a category reserved not merely for the worst and most thoughtless grifters in the United States Senate, but for random lost souls requiring legal interventions and institutionalisation.”

Ms Loeffler also attracted criticism last Friday, when she said that China needs to be held “accountable” for Covid-19, following the announcement of Mr Trump’s positive test result.

“Remember: China gave this virus to our President @realDonaldTrump and First Lady @FLOTUS. WE MUST HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE,” Ms Loeffler tweeted.

In response to Ms Loeffler’s tweet, New York State Assembly member Yuh-Line Niou tweeted: “This is real. This racism is disgusting and unacceptable. Call it out folks.”

Multiple Republican officials have been criticised for repeatedly called for action to be taken against China in the last few months, and for blaming the pandemic on the country.

Mr Trump has repeatedly attempted to blame the country for the virus, which is believed to have originated in Wuhan, China, and has referred to it as the “China virus” and “Wuhan flu”.

Concerns have been raised that the president using the phrases could lead to a rise of harassment and mistreatment of Asian Americans, according to NBC News.

Speaking about Mr Trump’s language earlier in the year, former US president Barack Obama reportedly said: “I don’t want a country in which the president of the United States is actively trying to promote anti-Asian sentiment and thinks it’s funny.”

He added, according to The Hill: “I don’t want that. That still shocks and p***es me off.”