Texas Tech University Professor Richard Wigmans told his colleagues in an email last week that he might “reconsider” his atheism if President Donald Trump died after contracting the Wuhan coronavirus.

According to a report by Campus Reform, Texas Tech Professor Richard Wigmans has come under fire this week for an email he sent to faculty members in which he suggested that he would reconsider his lack of faith in God if President Trump contracted the Wuhan coronavirus and died.

Wigmans, who focuses his researches particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology, is referred to on his faculty profile as “the world’s foremost expert on calorimetry” for particle physics experiments. Calorimetry refers to the measurement of the amount of heat that is released or absorbed during a chemical reaction.

“I am personally an atheist, but if #45 would die as a result of this virus, I might reconsider,” Wigmans wrote in the email.

In a short comment to Campus Reform, Wigmans claimed that his email is being misinterpreted. “This is a statement about myself, not about someone else…I have distributed some emails to my colleagues in which I provide a scientist’s perspective on the available COVID-19 data, and use the observed trends to make some predictions.”

When asked directly if he hoped that President Trump would die from the virus, Wigmans blurred the line further. “I have not expressed such a wish,” he said.

Skyler Wachsmann, chairman of Young Conservatives of Texas at Texas Tech, condemned Wigmans for his distasteful remark. “Implying that the President would enjoy for supporters of political opponents and for the elderly to suffer from this virus is disgusting, as is his comment expressing hope that President Trump would die from the Coronavirus,” Wachsmann said.

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