British actor Dominic West has said he hopes Donald Trump testing positive for coronavirus does not “interfere with him being elected out of office”.
The Wire actor added that he “did slightly leap in the air with joy”, when he heard the news.
The US president Donald Trump and first lady Melania have both tested positive for the illness and are in quarantine.
Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2020
Mr Trump announced his diagnosis in a tweet in the early hours of Friday, following a positive test from one of his closest aides, Hope Hicks.
West told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “He said: ‘It is what it is’, and I think the phrase is: ‘What goes around comes around.’
“I just hope it doesn’t interfere with him being elected out of office, that’s all.”
Hope Hicks, who has been working so hard without even taking a small break, has just tested positive for Covid 19. Terrible! The First Lady and I are waiting for our test results. In the meantime, we will begin our quarantine process!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2020
Asked if he thought there was an element of karma in the diagnosis, West replied: “Well an element on schadenfreude, I suppose.
“I’m not a fan of his as you probably tell, and I just hope (Democratic challenger Joe) Biden stays healthy and gets the presidency as quickly as possible. I think Trump is a catastrophe for America and for the world.”
Discussing the impact Mr Trump’s diagnosis could have on his supporters, who believe the virus is a hoax or who refuse to wear masks and social distance, West said: “I don’t know, I’m not sure about an impact on them, hopefully it means they will take it more seriously and realise that huge numbers of deaths in America are not an inevitability and that people need to take this virus very seriously, and hopefully that will be one of the effects.”
West, who is an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust, said the virus has made the work of the charity even more important, saying: “It celebrates helping its one millionth young person this year, and 71,000 helped last year, I think it’s an amazing organisation and Covid has meant its relevance is even more important than it was in 1976 when Prince Charles set it up.
The @PrincesTrust have reached the milestone of helping 1 million young adults.
Prince's Trust ambassador and actor Dominic West tells @adilray and @kategarraway how the Princes Trust are helping young people especially during the pandemic.
Watch GMB 👉 https://t.co/yyUUJmzswF pic.twitter.com/CxPJuyq7CW
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) October 2, 2020
“Covid has affected the young unemployed far more than any other age group. I know that (the trust has) been trying to continue with its online courses and everything else through lockdown by going online and trying to reach vulnerable young people who need support and encouragement they’ve always needed.
“They need it particularly now, and let’s hope that their work can continue and that the horrible effect this virus has had on young people, particularly vulnerable young people, and people like my daughter who is 21 and trying to find work and is trying to stay hopeful.
“I think the trust is a wonderful organisation that can contribute towards that, keeping young people hopeful, keeping their aspirations high, and helping them out to do what they want to do.”
West also offered an update on how filming has been going on an adaptation of Nancy Mitford’s The Pursuit Of Love, written by Emily Mortimer, saying: “We started shooting in August and we’re finishing in a couple of weeks, so we’ve managed to get through it with very rigorous restrictions and no-one, thank god, touch wood, has had the virus or tested positive.
“We’re tested every three days, the crew all have to wear two masks, obviously the actors can’t wear masks as they have to be in front of the camera but it’s worked luckily and we’ve been lucky as well as being very rigorous with watching how, observing all the rules.”