Saying ‘I’m immune,’ Trump prepares for return to rallies
President says he’s healthy, prepares for Fla. campaign rally
WASHINGTON— President Donald Trump on Sunday declared that he was ready to return to the campaign trail despite unanswered questions about his health on the eve of a Florida rally meant to kick off the stretch run before ElectionDay.
His impending return comes after the White House doctor said he was no longer at risk of transmitting the coronavirus but did not say whether Trump had tested negative for it. The president insisted he was now “immune” from the virus, a claim that was impossible to prove.
“I’m immune,” Trump said on FoxNewsChannel’s “SundayMorning Futures.”
In a memo released Saturday night by the White House, NavyCmdr. 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 was no longer considered a transmission risk.
But sensitive lab tests — like thePCRtest cited in the doctor’s statements — detect virus in swab samples taken from the nose and throat. Some medical experts had been skeptical that Trump could be declared free of the risk of transmitting the virus so early in the course of his illness. Just 10 days since an initial diagnosis of infection, there was no way to know for certain that someone was no longer contagious, they said.
His return to full-fledged rallies will be Monday in Sanford, Florida, a comeback that comes with the president trailing Democratic rival Joe Biden in the polls. The Trump campaign and White House has not indicated that any additional safety measures will be taken to prevent the transmission of the virus among those traveling on Air Force One, at the event site or at rallies scheduled for Pennsylvania and Iowa later in theweek.
Campaign officials have signaled that Trump will be traveling nearly every day the rest of the campaign, and sometimes making more than one stop.
And with the virus again dominating the national discourse, the Trump campaign has released an ad featuring Dr. Anthony Fauci praising the president’s leadership — but the nation’s leading infectious disease expert on Sunday objected to being included.
“The comments attributed to me without my permission in theGOPcampaign ad were taken out of context,” Fauci said in a statement, adding that he was talking broadly about public health officials’ response to the pandemic. “In my five decades of public service, I have never publicly endorsed political candidates.”
On Sunday, Trump asserted in a tweet that he had “total and complete sign off from White House Doctors” to fully return to the campaign trail, insisting he can no longer spread the disease to others and was impervious to getting sick again.
That’s far from certain, andTwitter later flagged his tweet with a fact-check warning.
While there’s evidence that reinfection is unlikely for at least three months even for those with a mild case of COVID-19, few diseases leave people completely immune for life. Antibodies are only one piece of the body’s defenses, and they naturally wane over time.
“Certainly it’s presumptuous to say it’s a lifetime,” said Dr. Albert Ko, an infectious disease specialist and department chairman at the Yale School of Public Health.
As to whether Trump could still be contagious, Ko said the White House appeared to be following CDC guidelines for when it is appropriate to end isolation after mild tomoderate cases of COVID-19. But Ko cautioned that those who have had severe cases of the diseases should isolate for 20 days. He noted that Trumpwas treated with the steroid dexamethasone, which is normally reserved for patients with severe COVID.
Dr. Marc Lipsitch, an infectious disease expert at the Harvard School of Public Health, said the doctor’s letter does not provide enough information to be assured that Trump is no longer infectious to others. He noted that Trump’s use of steroids could prolong viral shedding so the CDC’s 10-day standardmay ormay not apply.
“It is a judgment call,” he said.
The White House memo followed Trump’s first public appearance since returning to the White House after being treated for the coronavirus at a military hospital. Hundreds of people gathered Saturday on the South Lawn for a Trump address on his support for law enforcement from a White House balcony.
Trump took off a mask moments after he emerged on the balcony to address the crowd on the lawn below, his first step back onto the public stage with just more than three weeks to go until ElectionDay.
With bandages visible on his hands, likely from an intravenous injection, Trump spoke for 18 minutes. He appearedhealthy, if perhaps a little hoarse, as he delivered what was, for all purposes, a short version of his campaign speech.
“I’m feeling great,” Trump told the crowd, before declaring the pandemic, which has killed almost 215,000 Americans, was “disappearing” despite signs of surging cases in several states.