Tue 13 October 2020:
Donald Trump took center stage again Monday in Florida, vowing that he is in “great shape” with 22 days to go until he faces Joe Biden in the election.
“I went through it and now they say I’m immune,” Trump told a cheering crowd in Sanford, near Orlando, few of whom wore masks.
“I feel so powerful. I’ll walk in there, I’ll kiss everyone in that audience. I’ll kiss the guys and the beautiful women, just give you a big fat kiss.”
Seniors were among the crowd, who chanted “USA” and “We love you”, at the rally outside Orlando on Monday night.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maintains that the highest risk events during the pandemic are “large in-person gatherings where it is difficult for individuals to remain spaced at least 6ft apart and attendees travel from outside the local area” – a description which more or less sums up a rally.
Although the rally was held outside, where the virus is less likely to spread, attendees’ lack of social distancing and masking at Trump events has raised concerns.
“Oh, do I like Florida,” Trump told the crowd. The state could play a crucial role on November 3.
The president brushed aside poll numbers, saying: “Four years ago we had the same thing. We are going to lose Florida, they said four years ago.”
“Twenty-two days from now, we are going to win this state, we are going to win four more years in the White House!” he added.
He also lauded his nominee for Supreme Court justice, Amy Coney Barrett.
Tested Negative
Earlier on Monday White House physician said US President Donald Trump has tested negative for the coronavirus “on consecutive days,”, the first disclosure that Trump has tested negative for the virus since he revealed his diagnosis earlier this month.
Dr. Sean Conley, in a brief memo shared hours before Trump was scheduled to host a reelection campaign rally in Florida, said that the president’s latest Covid-19 results came from an antigen test from Abbott Laboratories.
The announcement came as Trump travelled to Sanford, Florida to take part in his first campaign rally since becoming infected with the coronavirus.
Conley added that the negative tests and other clinical and laboratory data “indicate a lack of detectable viral replication.”
He did not say when Trump was tested, but the medical team had determined that, based on the data and guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “the president is not infectious to others,” Conley said.
Trump announced on October 2 that he had tested positive for the disease caused by the coronavirus. He was admitted to Walter Reed military hospital that night and released on October 5.
During the weekend, Trump addressed groups of supporters who crowded onto the White House lawn from a balcony.
Critics have faulted Trump for failing to encourage supporters at campaign events, and even White House staff, to wear protective masks and abide by social-distancing guidelines.
