Social media is questioning if US President Donald Trump is really as symptom-free as his physician says after coughing and appearing hoarse on Fox News.
Trump, who was diagnosed with COVID-19 last Friday and spent the weekend in hospital, was speaking to Sean Hannity about his performance in debates in 2016 when he began to cough.
"Last time I had a big problem, they oscillated my mics when I had the one debate. We had three debates with Hillary [Clinton] and I think the first debate…" Trump said.
As he was saying this, his voice became more and more hoarse, before he finally coughed. The line then went silent for nearly five seconds. As it sounded like Hannity was about to say something, Trump returned, saying "excuse me".
A dry cough is one of the most common COVID-19 symptoms.
The moment has many on social media questioning if the President is as well as his medical team says he is.
The section of the interview was shared on Twitter by Vox journalist Aaron Rupar.
"Yikes. Trump's voice is extremely hoarse and at one point gave out," Rupar said.
That tweet quickly received hundreds of likes and retweets.
"He really does not sound well," said one person.
"Short of breath, right on schedule," said another.
"That cough was really bad. He's still sick," added a third.
Many suggested that when Trump went silent, it could have been because his mic was turned off to allow him to cough.
"He just muted the phone and coughed," said one user.
"I think he hit mute for a coughing fit," another said.
"Pretty clearly muted his mic there so he could cough and recover," another user wrote.
There have been questions over the last few days about Trump's health and if the White House is being transparent, especially considering the President could be returning to public engagements this weekend.
On Wednesday, his physician Dr Sean Conley said he was reporting no symptoms and was continuing to do "extremely well". A day later, Dr Conley said the President was still "symptom-free".
Trump has said on repeated occasions since he left hospital on Tuesday that he is feeling great. However, he and his team continue to refuse to say when his last negative test was.
