Trump to hold rally in crucial Florida electoral state on Monday, campaign said (File)
Washington:
U.S. President Donald Trump will deliver a public speech at the White House on Saturday for the first time since testing positive for Covid-19, and will also hold a rally in Florida next week to revive his re-election campaign stumbling with only 25 days to go.
Wiped out of the campaign trail by being hospitalized for three nights last week, the president is in the midst of a frantic attempt to catch up with soaring Democratic challenger Joe Biden.
During a prolonged media blitz on Friday, he falsely claimed that Covid-19 now has a cure.
He also revealed that he was told he was on the verge of death at the worst of his battle with the virus, which has killed more than 210,000 Americans and severely reduced his chances of winning a second term on November 3.
Saturday’s speech, which a senior administration official said would be on Trump’s favorite theme of “law and order”, will give him a chance to dispel lingering doubts about his health. The crowd will be on the South Lawn of the White House, as the president rises from the balcony, the official said, confirming the US media information.
And on Monday, Trump will take another big step forward by hosting a rally in Sanford, in the crucial electoral state of Florida, according to his campaign.
The events come despite lingering questions about Trump’s illness last week and how much of his recovery has been cured, with White House officials refusing to answer basic questions, including when the president contracted the virus for the first time and if he has since tested negative.
“Better than a vaccine”
Trump gave a marathon interview to right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh on Friday in which he said the experimental Regeneron antibody cocktail he had taken as part of the therapeutic treatment was “a cure.”
It’s “a total game-changer” and “better than a vaccine,” he said.
In fact, there is no cure and still no approved vaccine for the coronavirus.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that he is feeling well and he has been supported by statements from presidential doctor Sean Conley.
But in his interview with Limbaugh, Trump first suggested he was close to death, without the therapeutic drugs.
“I’m speaking to you today because of this. I could have been a bad victim,” he said, referring to his friends who died from Covid-19.
Trump said the doctors later told him, “You were going through a very bad phase.”
“You know what that means,” the president said.
According to Conley, Trump is now fit for a “safe return to public engagement” from Saturday.
Battle for attention
Trump has attempted to fill the void left by his enforced absence from the election campaign by making consecutive appearances on friendly media.
He spoke at length twice on Fox on Thursday and was scheduled to return to Fox’s Tucker Carlson Tonight Friday night, appearing from the White House where he was scheduled to undergo what the network described as an on-air “medical assessment” , conducted remotely by Fox. contributor Doctor Marc Siegel.
Biden, however, is already picking up the pace of travel, with a stop in Nevada on Friday after visiting Arizona on Thursday.
Polls show Biden topped major demographic groups, including women and the elderly, prompting analysts to increasingly talk about a possible landslide victory.
Trump’s biggest responsibility – overwhelming public dissatisfaction with his handling of the coronavirus crisis – has returned as the campaign’s main issue thanks to the president’s own infection.
Adding to the pressure, Congressional Democrats who control the House of Representatives have unveiled plans for a commission to investigate the physical and mental condition of a president for the job – a move clearly intended to hit Trump.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said it was time to examine Trump’s “dissociation from reality.”
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
