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Cher calls Trump 'mass murderer' who deserves 'death' for knowingly downplaying Covid-19 threat in the US

On Friday, September 11, the 74-year-old singer posted an all-caps tweet to convey her outburst but quickly realized that her choice of words might not be the most appropriate

After taking to heart the claim made by legendary journalist Bob Woodward in his book, 'Rage', about President Donald Trump knowingly downplaying the threat of coronavirus back in February, Cher could no longer hold back her anger and called the POTUS a "mass murderer" who should be punished with "death" in a now deleted tweet. 

On Friday, September 11, the 74-year-old singer posted an all-caps tweet to convey her outburst but quickly realized that her choice of words might not be the most appropriate. "THERE’S A BLAME 4 KILLING SOMEONE," Cher wrote. "ITS CALLED 'MURDER'. IF YOU MURDER MORE THAN ONE PERSON YOU ARE A MASS MURDERER. THERE ARE MANY PUNISHMENTS FOR DIFFERENT DEGREES OF MURDER. BUT WHEN SOMEONE 'KNOWINGLY 'MURDERS' PEOPLE... THE PUNISHMENT IS DEATH. Trump’s a mass murderer… hhmm.'' However, she soon deleted her tweet. 

But the 'If I Could Turn Back Time' singer did want to point out the wrongdoing carried out by Trump and hence the day after, proceeded to pen a more toned down tweet. "Keep Thinking Why Did Trump Lie. I Mean, I Know Why He Lied, BUT WHEN 10’S Of Thousands Of Ppl Started Dying Why Didn’t His Conscience Kick In & Say To Him…WAIT NOT ONLY ARE U LETTING OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE DIE THINK OF THE LOVED ONES WHO WILL BE CRUSHED 4EVER," she tweeted.

In a series of following tweets the same day, she seemed to be self-reflecting on her initial attack on Trump by contemplating how she had a darker side and how her anger against the president was fueled further after reading reports of Trump withholding funding from the 9/11 first responders' fund. She goes on to apologize for her original tweet and recognize the importance of shame. 

"STATED FACTS ARE BRUTAL. MAYBE TOO BRUTAL. I FEEL I AM A KIND PERSON, BUT I HAVE A 'VENDETTA' SIDE," she wrote in one tweet, adding in a second, SOMETIMES I GO FAR, SOMETIMES TOO FAR BUT AFTER READING TRUMP WAS KEEPING FROM 911 FIRST RESPONDERS FUND IT WAS TOO MUCH. HAVING SAID THAT, I CANT FALL BELOW MY MORAL COMPASS. NO MATTER WHAT."

In another tweet, she said, "LETS TALK…. I MUST TRY TO BE A BEACON OF LIGHT FOR YOU. OBVIOUSLY DIDNT HEAR MY HIGHER ANGELS" Her fourth tweet and last in series said, "I Feel Ashamed SHAME IS IMPORTANT."

We previously reported that in a series of 18 wide-ranging interviews Trump gave Woodward from December 5, 2019, to July 21, 2020, Trump revealed that he had a surprising level of detail about the threat of the virus earlier than previously known. "Pretty amazing," Trump allegedly told Woodward, adding that the coronavirus was maybe five times "more deadly" than the flu.

"I wanted to always play it down," Trump supposedly told Woodward on March 19. "I still like playing it down, because I don't want to create a panic." On February 7, two days after he was acquitted on impeachment charges by the Senate, Woodward spoke to the president. Trump divulged to Woodward that the night before he'd spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping about the virus.

Woodward quotes Trump as saying, "We've got a little bit of an interesting setback with the virus going in China." "It goes through the air," Trump reportedly said. "That's always tougher than the touch. You don't have to touch things. Right? But the air, you just breathe the air and that's how it's passed. And so that's a very tricky one. That's a very delicate one. It's also more deadly than even your strenuous flus."

This admission stands in contrast to his public comments at the time, where he repeatedly insisted that the virus was "going to disappear". In late February, when the US had recorded around 60 cases of infection, Trump told a White House press briefing, "When you have 15 people… within a couple of days it’s going to be down to close to zero. That’s a pretty good job we've done." The following day he said, "It’s going to disappear. One day — it’s like a miracle – it will disappear."