Mother of Jamain Stephens blasts Trump's statements about covid

The mother of Jamain Stephens, the California University of Pennsylvania defensive lineman and former Central Catholic High School standout, has confirmed that her son died of complications of covid-19. Kelly Allen made the statement about her son’s Sept. 8 death Tuesday on MSNBC.

At the time of Stephens’ death, Central Catholic High School stated that he died of complications from covid-19. But the following day, the school amended the statement to say that it did not have official confirmation of the cause of death.

Any doubts that Stephens died of covid-19 were erased by Allen’s later statements. She also did an interview with The New York Times.

In the MSNBC interview, she went on to express her frustration with President Trump, whose tweets about his covid diagnosis have made it sound like he’s been dealing with a minor inconvenience.

Trump announced early Friday morning that he tested positive for covid-19, went to Walter Reed Medical Center that night and returned to the White House Monday evening. On Monday night, he tweeted, “Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life,” even as the White House outbreak continued to spread and the American death toll reached 210,000.

“I feel taunted,” Allen said Tuesday during an interview with MSNBC host Ayman Mohyeldin. “To see the devastation that the coronavirus has had on over 200,000 people, no other country has experienced the devastation and loss that the U.S. has. And to think that the president had an opportunity to mitigate the losses a lot earlier on. It sickens me to see that he would announce that he has coronavirus and then you’re doing that, what a victory lap?

“I felt taunted as well as I’m sure the other families that were impacted must feel the same way. It felt like a slap in the face.”

This is her second time appearing on the program to discuss her son’s death.

Stephens, a 20-year-old business major at Cal. U., died Sept. 8. He grew up in Pittsburgh and was the son of former Steelers offensive tackle Jamain Stephens.

“I can’t stress how important it is to listen to the medical professionals that are telling us how to protect themselves,” said Allen. “Everything that (Trump) said, everything that he does contradicts what the scientists say, what the medical professionals say.”

"Leave the science to the scientists ... it sickens me that this is political."

Kelly Allen, mother of 20-year-old Jamain Stephens who died from coronavirus, on Trump falsely claiming that the virus affects 'virtually nobody' young. pic.twitter.com/8O5QQRlSkf

— MSNBC Live with Ayman Mohyeldin (@AymanMSNBC) September 22, 2020

Cal. U. athletic director Karen Hjerpe called the 6-foot-3, 355-pound Stephens a wonderful student who had “a smile on his face every time you saw him. His personality was contagious, and he made such a positive impact on everyone he met.”