Wife of Covid-19 victim uses late husband's obituary to take aim at Trump's pandemic response

A grieving wife has used her late husband's obituary to slam Donald Trump over the president's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Stacey Nagy, 72, wrote a six-paragraph eulogy in Texas' Jefferson Jimplecute newspaper to her 79-year-old husband David, who died on July 22 after contracting Covid-19.

As well as paying tribute to her husband, Mrs Nagy also took aim at Mr Trump and Texas Governor Greg Abbott for their response to the coronavirus crisis.

"Family members believe David's death was needless," the obituary reads.

"They blame his death and the deaths of all other innocent people, on Trump, Abbott and all of the other politicians who did not take this pandemic seriously and were more concerned with their popularity and votes than lives."

"Also to blame are the many ignorant, self-centered and selfish people who refused to follow the advice of the medical professionals, believing their 'right' not to wear a mask was more important than killing innocent people.

"Dave did everything he was supposed to do, but you did not ... Shame on all of you, and may Karma find you all!"

Speaking to BuzzFeed news, Mrs Nagy said her husband had suffered from a range of underlying medical conditions that increased his risk of becoming severely ill from Covid-19, including diabetes, heart problems, and early signs of dementia.

As the pandemic gathered steam in the US, the couple tried to take every single precaution to stay safe, she added. But, unfortunately, their efforts were to no avail.

"We were married for 20 years and now I'm not with him," Ms Nagy said. "It's just been devastating for me ... he didn't need to die. Had people been following the recommendations, things would have been different. But people don't."

Mrs Nagy also revealed she was aware the obituary she penned had been circulating widely on social media, but admitted she had not been sure what the reaction to it would be.

"I didn't do it to make people like it," she said. "I did it because I was pissed off and I wanted people to know the ones that refuse to wear a mask, that they are the killers and they are to blame, not just for Dave's stuff but for all these people.

"He's not the only husband to die. There's been thousands of other husbands and wives and fathers and mothers and brothers that have died."

She added: "If he saw the responses we're getting for the obituary and my fighting for him, I think he would be pretty proud of me, I really do.

Obituary

"I think he's smiling right now because I'm fighting for him and all the other 'hims.'"

The US is currently battling the world's worst coronavirus outbreak and has recorded more than 4.7m infections to date.

More than 155,000 people have meanwhile died nationwide from Covid-19 since the virus was first identified in the country in January.

Mr Trump has been widely denounced for his handling of the pandemic, with critics accusing the US president of attempting to downplay its severity and reacting too slowly to the crisis.

Mr Abbott, a Republican, has meanwhile come under fire from some quarters for resisting calls from local leaders for more than two months to force everyone in Texas to wear masks before finally changing tack and issuing a statewide order making them mandatory in counties with more than 20 coronavirus cases at the beginning of July.

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