THE WORLD TODAY

First Lady has to cancel rally due to Covid effects

PRESIDENT Donald Trump has boasted about his magnificent recovery from his bout with Covid- 19, but perhaps he should have taken it easy on the braggadocio because his wife Melania most certainly has not fully recuperated.

The First Lady contracted the virus at the same time as her husband and being just 50 and in much better state fitness- wise than the 74- year- old President, it was expected that she would recover quickly but that has not proven to be the case.

In a potentially crucial blow to Trump’s campaign with just a fortnight to go to polling on November 3, the First Lady was forced to announce yesterday that she would not be accompanying the President to a crucial rally of his supporters in Erie, Pennsylvania, one of the key ‘ battleground’ states in this year’s election.

Melania Trump is seen as a major asset in the President’s campaign to defeat his Democrat opponent Senator Joe Biden and the bombshell news that she is suffering after- effects of Covid- 19, principally a “lingering cough”, will undermine Trump’s whole stance of machismo in the face of his mishandling of the pandemic.

He had hoped to move the debate on from the pandemic, but his wife’s continuing sickness puts the spotlight back on his weakest point, not least because the rally was to have been the First Lady’s return to the campaign.

It is not certain whether she will be able to attend the television debate tomorrow night.

The First Lady’s chief of staff Stephanie Grisham said in a statement: “Mrs. Trump continues to feel better every day following her recovery from Covid- 19, but with a lingering cough, and out of an abundance of caution, she will not be travelling today.”