Donald Trump has been widely criticized for being slow to respond to the pandemic.
Washington:
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday the capture of the coronavirus was a “blessing from God” that exposed him to experimental treatments that he promised to become free to all Americans, in his first video post since leaving of the hospital.
Trump, eager to revitalize his struggling re-election campaign, has repeatedly emphasized how well he has felt so far in his recovery from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. It was not clear if he still tested positive for the virus.
“I think it was a blessing from God that I grabbed it. It was a blessing in disguise,” Trump said, adding that his use of the drug from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc allowed him to find out firsthand just how point that could be effective.
Trump, who has been widely criticized for being slow to respond to the pandemic that has killed more than 210,000 Americans and puts his own staff at risk by discouraging the use of masks in the White House and on the campaign trail, also cited drugs Similar of Eli Lilly and Co.
“I want to get what I have for you. And I will make it free,” Trump said.
His video message followed assurances from the White House that the 74-year-old president was back in the Oval Office on Wednesday, learning about the economic stimulus and Hurricane Delta talks, just two days after his exit from the Walter Reed military hospital.
A White House official said Trump entered the office from the rose garden to avoid walking the hallways of the White House and possibly exposing others to the coronavirus.
Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who briefed Trump on personal protective equipment, said the White House is keeping access to the Oval Office extremely limited.
Trump had been in his residence at the White House since his dramatic return to video of Walter Reed in a helicopter on Monday night.
Trump, who faces Democrat Joe Biden in the November election, has shown no symptoms of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, his doctor Sean Conley said in a statement.
“He has now been fever-free for over four days, symptom-free for over 24 hours, and has not needed or received additional oxygen since the initial hospitalization,” Conley said.
Eager to campaign
Despite his illness, Trump has been looking for ways to get his electoral message across and curtail Biden’s lead in battlefield states, advisers said. His video message seemed to be a step in that direction.
A speech to senior voters is planned for Thursday, they said.
Vice President Mike Pence’s debate with Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris in Salt Lake City will take center stage in the campaign on Wednesday evening.
Helpers say Trump is eager to get back on the electoral track and insists on moving forward with the next debate on October 15 in Miami, but Biden said on Tuesday he would not participate if Trump was not exempt from it. virus.
The new free medicine claim came the day after Trump abruptly ended talks with Democrats over a new round of stimulus for a pandemic economy, with both sides far apart on the amount. money to spend on a deal.
Biden and the top Democrat in the U.S. Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, accused Trump of abandoning Americans in need.
“The president has turned his back on you,” Biden said in a Twitter message.
With layoffs in key industries increasing day by day and threatening the fragile recovery, Trump on Tuesday urged Congress to move quickly in funding of $ 25 billion for passenger airlines, $ 135 billion for small businesses and deliver $ 1,200 stimulus checks to Americans.
But White House officials downplayed the likelihood of any kind of stimulus going through before the election on Wednesday.
Trump’s willingness to have Justice Amy Coney Barrett upheld in the vacant Republican-controlled Senate Supreme Court seat ahead of the election may also be in doubt, as three Republican senators infected with the virus may not be able to vote.
Costly absence
A wave of White House infections among Trump’s top lieutenants and press officers has left the West Wing struggling to find its feet. At least 19 people close to Trump have tested positive.
Trump described himself as a man who overcame the disease and came out stronger, telling Americans not to be afraid of COVID-19.
The latest Reuters / Ipsos poll, conducted Oct. 2-6, found 38% of adults approved of Trump’s handling of the coronavirus, while 56% said they disapproved.
In a stinging editorial, the New England Journal of Medicine accused US leaders of an astonishing degree of failure in the COVID-19 crisis that “made it a tragedy.”
Advisers say Trump wanted to talk about other issues instead of the virus at this point in the campaign, to put pressure on Biden. Opinion polls show Trump has gone down to double digits and Biden with significant leads in many swing states.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
