Fresh out of the hospital, Trump downplays COVID-19 by comparing it to flu

President Trump on Tuesday again sought to downplay COVID-19 by comparing it to the flu, even though his team of doctors said the virus had serious effects on him after he contracted it.

"Flu season is coming up! Many people every year, sometimes over 100,000, and despite the Vaccine, die from the Flu," Trump wrote on Twitter. "Are we going to close down our Country? No, we have learned to live with it, just like we are learning to live with Covid, in most populations far less lethal!!!"

Twitter later put a label on the president's tweet that said: "This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about spreading misleading and potentially harmful information related to COVID-19. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public's interest for the Tweet to remain accessible."

COVID-19 has killed more than 210,000 Americans, according to the Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering. The deadliest flu season in recent years was 2017-2018, when it killed an estimated 61,000 people, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Many flu seasons have been lower. In the 2015-2016 season, 23,000 people died of the virus. 

"Doctors and scientists are working to estimate the mortality rate of COVID-19, but at present, it is thought to be substantially higher (possibly 10 times or more) than that of most strains of the flu," a Johns Hopkins University fact sheet reads.

In a video Trump released on Monday evening, after he returned to the White House, Trump offered an upbeat take.

"I just left Walter Reed Medical Center, and it's really something very special — the doctors, the nurses, the first responders — and I learned so much about coronavirus," Trump said. "And one thing that's for certain, don't let it dominate you. Don't be afraid of it. You're gonna beat it. We have the best medical equipment; we have the best medicines — all developed recently — and you're gonna beat it."

"I went, I didn't feel so good, and two days ago, I could have left two days, two days ago I felt great, like better than I have in a long time," Trump said. "I said just recently, 'better than 20 years ago.' Don't let it dominate. Don't let it take over your lives. Don't let that happen."

"We're the greatest country in the world," Trump continued. "We're going back, we're going back to work, we're gonna be out front. As your leader, I had to do that. I knew there's danger to it, but I had to do it. I stood out front; I led. Nobody that's a leader would not do what I did, and I know there's a risk, there’s a danger, but that's okay. And now I'm better, and maybe I'm immune, I don't know."

"But don't let it dominate your lives," Trump said. "Get out there, be careful. We have the best medicines in the world, and it all happened very shortly, and they're all getting approved, and the vaccines are coming momentarily. Thank you very much — and Walter Reed, what a group of people."