Donald Trump Jr. Slammed on Twitter Over HIV Comment

As if enough trash isn't already polluting our oceans, Donald Trump Jr. decided to open his Twitter app to add more to the pile. Like father, like son.

Yesterday, the Jr. responded to an old tweet from the LGBTQ+ outlet Queerty where they posted a story titled"What you stand to lose by not having sex with people with HIV."

"Well I can think of one thing," he wrote in a quote tweet. The original post was made on November 17.

While Trump did not expand on the tweet, many took it to infer something stigmatizing about people living with HIV.

The article, written by Queerty editor David Hudson, discusses that exact stigma and type of misinformation surrounding those who are living with HIV.

\u201cWell I can think of one thing.\u201d
— Donald Trump Jr. (@Donald Trump Jr.) 1574538947

"If someone is HIV positive, knows their status, is on effective medication and has consistently had an undetectable viral load, they cannot pass on the virus," Hudson wrote. "PrEP is also widely available in the US and several other countries to prevent people from acquiring HIV. And condoms are also, of course, widely available."

Antiretroviral therapy can make it hard for the virus to make copies of itself and spread throughout the body which can bring the viral load to such low levels that blood tests cannot detect it. Once the viral load is down to an undetectable level, overwhelming research shows there is no risk of transmitting it to someone else. Undetectable = Untransmittable. PrEP, short for "pre-exposure prophylaxis," and condoms also reduce the possibility of HIV infection.

People on Twitter criticized Trump Jr. for reinforcing HIV stigma and spreading misinformation.

\u201cI lived through a time when people with HIV were shunned, ostracized and persecuted. \n\nSome people thought they had a death sentence when diagnosed and took their own lives. \n\nAnd your comment, @DonaldJTrumpJr\nIs embarrassing, juvenile & DESPICABLE. \n\nWe will not go backwards.\ud83d\udcaa\u201d
— Peter Morley (@Peter Morley) 1574545358

\u201c@dueckman123 @blondenews @DonaldJTrumpJr PrEP is shown to be over 99% effective for protection. Used in tandem with condoms it\u2019s 99.99% https://t.co/HXzUzkg7aG\u201d
— Donald Trump Jr. (@Donald Trump Jr.) 1574538947

\u201cWhen the world has come so far in combatting stigma around HIV - and it now impossible to pass on HIV when one is on treatment - this comment is stunningly retrograde and dangerous\u201d
— Olivia Alabaster (@Olivia Alabaster) 1574586413

\u201cI'm not going to retweet Donald Trump Jr's trash opinions, but for the people in the back:\n\nYou can have sex with an HIV+ person and not contract HIV. People who are undetectable cannot transmit HIV. Also, google PREP and condoms.\u201d
— jake\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83e\udd1d\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@jake\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83e\udd1d\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1574540617

\u201c@DonaldJTrumpJr you pile of stale shit. Tweeting anti-science stigma flared nonsense just DAYS before World AIDS Day. I truly think there\u2019s a special place in hell waiting for you.\u201d
— Donald Trump Jr. (@Donald Trump Jr.) 1574538947

\u201c@DonaldJTrumpJr @NotGeauxGabby May your decisions in life meet you on the other side. \n\nYou will not shame HIV positive folks and those who died you racist\u201d
— Donald Trump Jr. (@Donald Trump Jr.) 1574538947

\u201c@DonaldJTrumpJr @SpeakerPelosi can teach you a few things, @DonaldJTrumpJr on why YOUR comment is completely IGNORANT. Here she is from 1987 educating people on HIV & AIDS. She's been an advocate for over 30 years. You are an embarrassment! This is truly SHAMEFUL!\n\nhttps://t.co/o0FcxX7Qaj\u201d
— Donald Trump Jr. (@Donald Trump Jr.) 1574538947

\u201c@DonaldJTrumpJr Your comment is 100% part of the problem by strengthening Stigma which the entire world, the entire world, is rallying to destroy because it is literally possible, within our lifetime, to end HIV/AIDS. This ignorant drivel is all you have to offer? You\u2019re on the wrong side.\u201d
— Donald Trump Jr. (@Donald Trump Jr.) 1574538947

\u201cWe\u2019re days away from the 31st WORLD AIDS DAY and the President\u2019s son is typing anti-science stigma inducing bull shit. There\u2019s a special place in hell waiting for you junior.\u201d
— ACT UP NY (@ACT UP NY) 1574551059

"When the world has come so far in combating stigma around HIV - and it now impossible to pass on HIV when one is on treatment - this comment is stunningly retrograde and dangerous," Independent editor Olivia Alabaster tweeted.

Jason Rosenberg, an HIV activist, called Trump Jr. out for tweeting dangerous stigma days ahead of World AIDS Day. "You pile of stale shit. Tweeting anti-science stigma flared nonsense just DAYS before World AIDS Day. I truly think there's a special place in hell waiting for you," he wrote.

World AIDS Day #WAD2019 is on December 1. The theme for the 2019 observance is "Ending the HIV/AIDS Epidemic: Community by Community". Since 1988 the day has been dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection and mourning those who have died.

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Donald Trump Jr. Slammed on Twitter Over HIV Comment

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