Nick Cordero's widow implores Trump to show empathy for families affected by COVID-19

LOS ANGELES -- Amanda Kloots, widow of the late Broadway star Nick Cordero who died from COVID-19, posted a passionate message on her Instagram about comments President Donald Trump made about COVID-19.

"Not everyone's lucky enough to walk out of the hospital after two days," Kloots said. "We saw what this disease can do, so guess what? We are afraid. We are. I still am."

Trump was hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center over the weekend after being diagnosed with COVID-19 on Friday. On Monday when he was released from the hospital, he tweeted, "Don't be afraid of Covid. Don't let it dominate your life. We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs and knowledge. I feel better than I did 20 years ago!"

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Cordero -- a physically fit 41-year-old -- contracted the disease, ended up on a ventilator, lost a leg and eventually died. He spent 95 days at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He and Kloots have one child together, Elvis, who was born in June 2019.

Kloots implored the president to take a more empathetic approach, saying his comments were "hurtful" and "disgraceful."

"It's real for the people who went through it, it's real for the families, it's real for the wives. It'll be real for Elvis one day when he actually understands what happened to his dad," she said. "Have some sympathy to the Americans. You are our leader. Have some empathy to the people who are suffering and grieving."

Watch the video above for a full report from Rob Hayes.