As compared to Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, the incumbent president of the United States, Donald Trump, can deal with the pandemic better as he has "firsthand experience" himself, the Trump campaign suggested.

Trump's firsthand experience with Covid-19 is going to change his messaging on the pandemic

Speaking in an interview with Fox News on Monday, Oct. 5, director of press communications for the Trump campaign Erin Perrine was asked by Fox anchor Sandra Smith if Trump would "change his messaging" after having contracted Covid-19.

Perrine responded that having Covid-19 will change the way Trump speaks of the virus.

She said: “Firsthand experience is always going to change how someone relates to something that’s been happening." She added:

"The president has coronavirus right now. He is battling it head on, as toughly as only President Trump can.

And of course that’s going to change the way that he speaks of it because it will be a firsthand experience.”

Trump campaign: Biden does not have the same firsthand experiences as Trump

When asked why Trump has prioritised issues such as "law and order" and the economy for his campaign over the pandemic, Perinne responded by saying he has talked about the coronavirus as well.

"He's talked about it all," she said.

"And listen, he has experience as commander-in-chief, he has experience as a businessman, he has experience now, fighting the coronavirus as an individual. Those firsthand experiences, Joe Biden, he doesn’t have those.”

Similarly, a senior adviser to the campaign Mercedes Schlapp had said earlier that Trump's experience with Covid-19 will help him "talk from the heart of how Covid has impacted him, has impacted his family and his staff".

Perinne's answer was ridiculed on social media by Biden supporters:

The Trump campaign is now attacking Biden for...not contracting coronavirus.

“He has experience — now — fighting the coronavirus as an individual. Those firsthand experiences, Joe Biden, he doesn’t have those." pic.twitter.com/Qk0Qc8l6q9

— Tim Hogan (@timjhogan) October 5, 2020

Biden mocked for wearing masks

Trump has previously mocked Biden for wearing masks in public, saying at the nationally televised debate with Biden that he "could be speaking 200 feet away and he shows up with the biggest mask I've ever seen".

Another campaign adviser for Trump has also echoed the same point, saying Biden has used masks as a "prop", and that he "can't just say hidden in [his] basement the entire time", NBC News reported.

Biden has mostly avoided crowds and held virtual events on his campaign trail.

Trump says he has learnt a lot about Covid

Trump has referred to his personal experience with Covid-19 in a video released on Oct. 4 when he was still receiving treatment at Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre -- he has since returned to work at the White House.

Referring to his experience as "a very interesting journey", he said he has "learnt a lot about Covid" by "really going to school".

"This is the real school, this isn't the 'Let's read the book' school, and I get it, and I understand it," he added.

pic.twitter.com/0Bm9W2u1x7

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 4, 2020

Trump accused of downplaying the virus

Audio clips of a series of interviews Trump did with journalist Bob Woodward from Dec. 5, 2019 to July 21, 2020 had earlier indicated that the president knew more about the virus earlier on than he let on publicly.

For instance, while he said on Feb. 7 that Covid-19 was "more deadly" than "even your strenuous flus", he continued to publicly compare the virus to a flu, telling reporters at a Feb. 26 press conference to "view this the same as the flu".

Trump also said on March 19 that towards the pandemic, he wanted to "always play it down" as he did not want to "create a panic".

At a press conference a day after the interview, Trump denied that he was putting "a positive spin on things" when asked if "his impulse" of doing so might be giving Americans "a false sense of hope and misrepresenting", before calling the reporter who asked the question "terrible".

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Top image via Fox News.