A number of pastors in the US have responded in prayer to the news that President Donald Trump has tested positive for Covid-19. Trump revealed the news in a tweet early Friday morning, noting that First Lady Melania had also tested positive.
"We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately," Trump said. "We will get through this TOGETHER."
In response, prominent California pastor Greg Laurie said he was praying for God's intervention and healing" for the first couple.
Franklin Graham, a prominent evangelical leader and President of Samaritan's Purse, tweeted: "Early this morning, President @realDonaldTrump and First Lady @MelaniaTrump announced that, like many other Americans, they have tested positive for the coronavirus. Please join me in praying especially for them, that they would have a quick recovery."
Rev. Johnnie Moore, President of the Congress of Christian Leaders and commissioner with the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), asked God to touch the presidential couple with "healing grace".
"Give them a speedy recovery," he prayed.
Republican Senator and committed Christian Marco Rubio added that he was "praying for a full and speedy recovery" for the President and First Lady.
The prayer support hasn't only arisen from those who back the president politically, however, with 'The Resistance Prays — a group intent on "equipping progressive Christians to #RESIST Trumpism" — issuing a statement insisting that Christians are called to pray for those with whom they disagree:
Trump's political opponent in this year's presidential election, Joe Biden, tweeted out that he would be praying for the first family.
Pastor Eugene Cho, a vocal critic of President Trump, also sought to bridge the political divide by urging believers to cover the first couple in prayer:
"May we put aside partisan politics and genuinely lift up the President and FLOTUS in prayer," he wrote. "Pray that many might be compelled to take this pandemic more seriously. May we also lift up so many in our nation and world that have been impacted by the pandemic. Lord, in your mercy."