Trump Friend Stanley Chera Dies, President Offers Condolences

Ambulances are seen in a file photo in Brooklyn, New York City, on April 2, 2020. Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

President Donald Trump responded to the death of his real estate developer friend, Stanley Chera, who reportedly died of COVID-19.

“My deepest sympathies go out to Frieda Chera and the family of the late, great, Stanley Chera, one of Manhattan’s most brilliant real estate minds. Stanley was charitable, kind, and a wonderful friend. He will be truly missed!” Trump wrote on Twitter on Monday.

Media reports over the weekend said Chera, 78, died from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus after he was hospitalized weeks ago. His family later confirmed his death.

Trump said in a press briefing recently that Chera was hospitalized after contracting the virus. “I have some friends that are unbelievably sick. We thought they were going in for a mild stay. And, in one case, he’s unconscious—in a coma. And you say, ‘How did that happen?’” Trump said of Chera.

Chera was the founder of Crown Acquisitions, according to The Real Deal, which first reported his death.

Haim Chera, one of Stanley’s three sons, told the news outlet that his father was “giant hearted, champion of the underprivileged, and needy.”

“Compassion for all as equals,” he wrote in a text to the website on Monday. “Captain of the team for the correct and just, not the popular.”

Last November, Chera introduced Trump at the Veterans Day parade in New York City, adding that he was the first sitting president to attend the event.

Federal Election Commission records show that Chera donated more than $400,000 to Trump’s campaign in 2016, NBC News reported.

The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Party’s coverup and mismanagement allowed the virus to spread throughout China before it was transmitted worldwide.