Coronavirus Covid-19: Charmed star Holly Marie Combs slams President Donald Trump over grandfather's death

The actress has hit out at the president for her grandfather's death from coronavirus. Photo / Getty Images

Actress Holly Marie Combs has hit out at US President Donald Trump as she grieves her grandfather's death from coronavirus complications.

The former Charmed and Pretty Little Liars star, 46, publicly tweeted Trump to explain that her grandfather, a Trump voter, died a day after his 66th wedding anniversary at the age of 89.

"My grandfather died today. He voted for you," Combs tweeted. "He believed you when you said this virus was no worse than the flu. He believed every lie you muttered and sputtered. He died today from COVID-19 one day after his 66th wedding anniversary. You're a disgrace to the human race."

My grandfather died today. He voted for you. He believed you when you said this virus was no worse than the flu. He believed every lie you muttered and sputtered. He died today from Covid-19 one day after his 66th wedding anniversary. You’re a disgrace to the human race.

— Holly Marie Combs Ryan (@H_Combs) April 27, 2020

Combs tweet was in response to an assertion from Trump that he had "never said the pandemic was a hoax! Who would say such a thing?"

With well over a million confirmed cases and more than 61,000 coronavirus deaths, the United States has quickly emerged as the new epicentre for the deadly virus. It now has more than four times as many confirmed coronavirus cases than the next most coronavirus-plagued country, Spain.

Trump had spent months publicly downplaying the severity of the situation, at one point insisting it would go away by itself "like a miracle". More recently, as the crisis has worsened, the US leader suggested people ingest bleach in an effort to eradicate the virus – incredibly dangerous advice he later insisted was "sarcastic".

Trump yesterday said China will be held "accountable" for the coronavirus pandemic and that the US is "doing a very serious investigation" into the origins of the outbreak, suggesting it could have been "something other than incompetence".

Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Trump insisted China could have prevented the outbreak, saying there had been "so much unnecessary death in this country".

"It could have been stopped and it could have been stopped short," he said. "The whole world is suffering because of it."