Trump said he was 'scared of COVID' after testing positive because he knew people who died from it, Jan. 6 filmmaker says

• Trump was "scared of COVID" because he knew people who had died, filmmaker Alex Holder told The Hill.
• Holder said his footage captured Trump family members admitting how sick he was.

Former President Donald Trump was "scared of COVID" after learning that he contracted the virus, British filmmaker Alex Holder told The Hill.

Trump tested positive for COVID-19 in September of 2020 and was admitted to the Walter Reed Medical Center in early October.

Despite being given supplemental oxygen, antibodies, and dexamethasone, which was given to patients at the time with serious cases of the illness, Trump told his supporters "don't be afraid of COVID" days after being admitted.

However, Holder said while filming Trump, the former president said he knew people who had died of the virus and that made him fearful for his health.

"What he said to me was that the reason why he was sort of scared of COVID was essentially because he knew people who had died of COVID, basically he was referring to his friends, he was referring to people he knew personally that had got COVID and that some of them had died," Holder told The Hill.

Holder also said that the family admitted for the first time "how sick he was and how scared they were" that Trump had COVID.

The filmmaker was subpoenaed by the House committee overseeing the investigation over the events of Jan. 6 because of footage he collected as part of a documentary called "Unprecedented" which is set to be released on Discovery+. The film follows Trump and those around him in the months leading up to the Jan. 6 riot.

Footage from the trailer released Thursday includes interviews with Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and former Vice President Mike Pence.