San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Event marks Trump’s return to campaign
WASHINGTON — PresidentDonald Trumpheld his first public event since contracting the coronavirus, gathering a crowd of hundreds of supporters at the White House on Saturday despite providing no evidence he no longer was infectious.
The White House doctor said Saturday night that Trump no longerwas at risk of transmitting the virus.
In a memo released by the White House, Navy Cmdr. Dr. Sean Conley said Trump met the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria for safely discontinuing isolation and that by “currently recognized standards,” he no longer was considered a transmission risk.
The memo did not declare Trump had tested negative for the virus.
It marked the beginning of what aides have described as a triumphant return to campaigning for reelection after his hospitalization— and a sign the virus that rocked Trump’s campaign and infected much of the West Wing has not changed his combative and defiant approach to governing.
“We’re starting very, very big with the rallies, and with our everything,” Trumptold the crowded group of conservative activists while standing on a balcony. “Because we cannot allow our country to become a socialist nation.”
After being confined to theWhite House andWalter ReedNational MilitaryMedical Center since his Oct. 1 positive test for the coronavirus, Trump is scheduled to begin a frenetic stretch of
rallies up through Nov. 3.
On Saturday, Trump’s campaign announced rallies in Pennsylvania and Iowa on Tuesday andWednesday, respectively, following a previously announced rally in Florida on Monday.
The president said Friday on Fox News that he had been tested for the virus but did not know if he still was infected.
The White House has not released the resultof that test, andit has provided only limited information about Trump’s health sincehewas released fromWalter Reed on Monday.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment Saturday about Trump’s status.
WhileTrumphas beenisolated in the White House, his Democratic rival Joe Biden has been campaigning across the country.
Before traveling to Pennsylvania on Saturday, Biden announced that he again had tested negative for the coronavirus.
Asked if Trump should be holding political rallies sosoonafter contracting the virus, Biden said Trump first should ensure that “he is not a spreader.”
He also criticized Trump for failing to follow public health guidelines at crowded events.
“I think it’s important that he make it clear to all the people that they should be sociallydistanced, they can be on the lawn, that’s fine,” he said before traveling to Erie, Pa., for an event. “But in fact, they should be socially distancedandwearingmasks. That’s the only responsible thing to do.”
Although the attendees at Saturday’s White House event were distanced fromTrump, social distancing among the crowd neither was encouraged nor enforced.
Trump walked to the lectern wearing a mask before quickly taking it off to address the crowd from the balcony.
While itwas billed as an official event — the White House schedule listed it as a “peaceful protest for law& order”— Trumpopened his remarksbytelling the groupto vote his opponents “into oblivion.”
Trump repeatedly attacked Biden by name inwhatwas a highly political stump speech that railed against opponents he described as “the radical socialist left” and “communists.”
The crowd responded with chants of, “Four more years!”
Speaking from the balcony of the building where he’s under isolation, Trump continued to downplay the pandemic.
“It’s going to disappear,” he said, repeating a line he first uttered in February. “It is disappearing.”
In reality, the coronavirus appears to be resurgent in much of the country, with an average of almost 50,000 cases each day over the past week.
More than 900 Americans died of the virus Friday.
Trump’s continued denial about the coronavirus — even after contracting it himself and suffering serious symptoms — has raised concerns amongmany Republicans that he’s making a grave political miscalculation just over three weeks before Election Day.
Several GOP leaders have sought to persuade the president to make amoremeasured and focused closing argumentabout the pandemic and other issues that matter to voters.
Republican lawmakers and officials within Trump’s own administration have criticized the president for failing to put forward a coherent message about the virus.
“We’re not articulating a vision for where we’re going or even articulating what we’ve done,” said one senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Saturday’s event on the South Lawn had a celebratory mood, as several hundred people crowded
in front of the WhiteHouse balcony.
While photos from the event showed many attendees wore masks, there were also several unmasked individuals in the crowd.
Trump’s campaign has said his upcoming rallies will take place at airports in Sanford, Fla.; Johnstown, Pa.; and DesMoines, Iowa.
The campaign didn’t announce any additional safety measures.
Convinced that theexperimental treatment he received is a “cure” for the coronavirus, Trump has shunned calls to reinforce the importance of public health measures such as maskwearing, social distancing and hand-washing.
In recent days, Trump has turnedhis focus towardturbulent negotiations between Democrats and Republicans over a massive economic relief proposal.
Trump upended the talks Friday, claiming hewanted to spend even more money than the proposals put forward by each party.
During his 18-minute speech Saturday, he talked about supporting law enforcement, building a borderwall, securing a coronavirus vaccine, combating alleged voter fraud, supporting criminal justice measures and signing a yet-to-be-released health care plan.
He did not mention the economic relief package.