9:47 p.m. ET, October 6, 2020
Olympic runner whose grandfather died from Covid-19 says she felt "disrespected" by Trump's tweet
Olympic runner Kara Goucher, whose grandfather died from Covid-19, told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Tuesday she felt "disrespected" by a tweet from President Trump telling people not to be afraid of coronavirus.
Goucher spoke with Cooper on "Full Circle" before her grandfather passed Tuesday.
"Fight on Papa. Tonight surround by my sister, mother, myself, and with my other sister on the phone, my grandfather passed away in peace. He would be overwhelmed with the support he has received from you all. Thank you,"
she said in a tweet.
Goucher's grandfather was diagnosed with Covid-19 on Sept. 24 and in the past few days had taken a turn for the worse. She told Cooper her grandfather was "losing his battle with coronavirus" and was "suffering greatly."
In a tweet Monday, Goucher responded to Trump's message, "As my grandfather lies in a bed struggling to take his last breaths due to Covid, I’m not sure I’ve ever read anything more offensive or tone deaf in my life."
Goucher told Cooper she "just felt really disrespected" by Trump's tweet.
"I felt like my grandfather was disrespected, I felt like all of the people who have been suffering from this were disrespected and ... it just felt so tone deaf," she said.
She went on to say that she feels that people have lost "compassion a little bit."
"His life has value and he's contributing to my life and so many other lives and you know, I am happy for the people who have beat coronavirus. I think that's wonderful, but we need to stop making this political. This needs to be about compassion and about caring for your fellow citizens and doing what's right to protect other people because this is loss that shouldn't be happening," Goucher said.
Watch: