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Donald Trump held his first public event on Saturday since he was diagnosed with COVID-19, as the president of the United States seeks to show the public that he is fit to resume the campaign before the November 3 election.
Trump was not wearing a mask when he addressed a cheering crowd of a few hundred supporters Saturday afternoon from a White House balcony, where he spoke on “law and order” issues in the country.
“I am honored to welcome you. We call this a peaceful protest at the White House in support of the amazing men and women of law enforcement and all the people who work so well with us, ”Trump said.
The speech came after White House physician Sean Conley said the president could hold public events again starting Saturday, 10 days after he tested positive for COVID-19.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say that people infected with COVID-19 can see another 10 days after the first symptoms appeared, as long as their symptoms are improving and there are no had a fever for at least 24 hours without the use of medication.
But public health experts have warned against holding large public events in which parishioners do not wear masks to prevent the possible spread of the new coronavirus, and some observers questioned Trump’s decision to make Saturday’s speech.
Trump returned to the White House on October 5 after receiving treatment for COVID-19 at Walter Reed Hospital. [Alex Brandon/AP]
The nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said Friday that an event held late last month in the White House Rose Garden for Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett , was a “super spread event” believed to have infected numerous people.
“I wasn’t surprised to see a super spreader event under the circumstances. Crowded environment, congregated, without masks. It’s not surprising to see an outbreak, ”Fauci told The Associated Press news agency.
Maeve Reston, a political reporter for CNN, said the White House security protocols did not appear to have changed much since Trump tested positive for COVID-19. An anonymous source told CNN that attendees at Saturday’s event would be subject to temperature checks.
“But when it comes to preventing the spread of the disease, the White House still appears to be disobeying basic public health precautions, and its protocol on Saturday does not look much different than the Rose Garden event on September 26,” Reston wrote.
But Trump on Saturday sought to portray the United States as the victor over the pandemic, saying that COVID-19, which has killed more than 210,000 American citizens to date, is “disappearing” and telling the crowd that it “feels great.” .
“Through the power of the American spirit, I believe that more than anything else, science and medicine will eradicate the virus from China once and for all. We will get rid of it around the world, ”Trump said, using a xenophobic phrase to refer to the new coronavirus.
Little physical distancing
The crowd gathered on Saturday wore blue shirts in support of Blexit, a conservative group co-founded by right-wing commentator Candace Owens that says it aims to lift up minority communities.
“Every day more African Americans and Latinos are leaving behind left wing politicians and their failed ideology,” Trump told the crowd.
“They failed for many years and many decades. Democrats have run nearly every city in the interior of the United States. And I mean, for 100 years their policies have produced nothing but calamities, poverty and problems. “
Trump supporters huddled through the crowd at the White House on Saturday to hear the first public speech by the president of the United States since his diagnosis of COVID-19. [Tom Brenner/Reuters]
While most attendees wore masks, there was little physical distancing during the White House event.
Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett, reporting from Washington, DC, said attendees, some of whom wore masks, while others were not, were squeezed into the crowd.
Meanwhile, Halkett said there has been “no transparency” from the White House about the president’s current state of health, despite Trump’s plan to return to the election campaign in the coming days.
“We really are left with the speculation and the words of the president who insists that it is okay to launch the campaign and that he is back,” he said.
Press to resume campaign
While Saturday’s event was billed as an official White House event, and not a campaign event, the president has been eager to get back on the campaign trail.
He has been unable to travel since returning to the White House on October 5 from Walter Reed Hospital where he was treated for the disease, and had urged his campaign to quickly schedule a rally in a battlefield state, but logistical hurdles they prevented it.
He announced Friday that he would hold a rally in Florida on Monday. Then his campaign said Saturday that Trump would hold an event in Pennsylvania on Tuesday and another in Iowa on Wednesday.
Trump’s enthusiasm for holding rallies, US political analyst Eric Ham told Al Jazeera, reflects an urgent need to “try to close the gap” after recent polls showed Biden widening his lead nationally ahead of the US vote next month.
Poll averages also show Biden holding a substantial lead in some key states on the battlefield, including Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
“What we are seeing is a president with less than 25 days to go … going full blast to try to defend his case,” Ham said.
He’ll be in Sanford, Florida on Monday for a BIG RALLY! https://t.co/TTOlHJT8kr
– Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 9, 2020
Trump’s absence from the election campaign has given Joe Biden a temporary head start, who has continued to meet with voters in key states. It also disrupted the electoral campaign, forcing the cancellation of the second presidential debate, scheduled for October 15.
The former vice president campaigned in Pennsylvania on Saturday for the second time this week. He was also in Nevada and Arizona, two key Southwest states that both candidates are fighting for in elections.
Biden’s campaign also said he had tested negative for COVID-19 on Saturday before leaving for Pennsylvania.
When asked about his opponent’s rally at the White House on Saturday, Biden said he hoped Trump and his supporters were taking security precautions. “They should be socially distant and wear masks,” Biden said, Reuters reported. “It is the only responsible thing we can do.”
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