Donald Trump dances his way back into his campaign, says 'I feel powerful'

via the new daily

Just 11 days after revealing that he had been positive about COVID-19, US President Donald Trump resumed his feverish re-election campaign with a massive rally in Florida.

Mr. Trump flew to Orlando Sanford International Airport on Air Force One on Tuesday (Australian time).

The ensuing rally unfolded with all the trademark patriotism and energy for the crowd of thousands, many without masks and all waved US flags or Trump merchandise.

With his new exit song, The Village People's YMCA, ringing over the loudspeakers, the President did what had become his trademark dance, pumping his fists almost in time to the beat as the crowd rugged.

Having been confirmed that White House doctors had tested negative for coronavirus before leaving Washington, Mr. Trump looked and behaved as he had fully recovered, showing no signs of persistent infection.

He even joked that he was healthy enough to plunge into the crowd and give voters “ a big fat kiss.

"I'm feeling so powerful.

"I'm going to walk into that audience. I'm going to walk in there, I'm going to kiss everyone in that audience. I'm going to kiss the guys and the beautiful women, everybody. I'm just going to give you a big fat kiss, "he said.

Boisterous and bellicose, his voice perhaps a touch of scratch, Mr. Trump thanked the audience for his good wishes and declared that he was no longer contagious as he embarked on a frenetic final stretch of the campaign.

He's been holding out for an hour, eager to get his struggling campaign back on track with only weeks left before the November 3 election day.

"Under my leadership, we're delivering a safe vaccine and a quick recovery like no one can believe," said Trump.

"If you look at our upward path, no country in the world has recovered the way we've recovered."

And while he was hospitalized and struggling with the virus only a week ago, Mr. Trump's message to COVID-19 has remained unchanged since his diagnosis: the pandemic is a thing of the past, even as hundreds of people in the US continue to die every day.

Mr. Trump insisted that after receiving experimental medication and other VIP treatment, he felt great and was glad he no longer needed to worry about an infection because he is now "immune."

Top US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said that those recovering from COVID-19 are likely to be immune for some time, but there are cases of people getting reinfected weeks or months later.

On Monday, Mr. Trump returned to his usual lines of attack, slamming Democrats as "committed and unhinged and out of vengeance" and hyping "tremendous progress" in the treatment of viruses.

He promised that the US third-quarter economy would be "record-setting" and claimed that, if it won in November, "normal life" would resume, while rival Joe Biden would delay the COVID vaccine and destroy the economy with a "draconian" lockdown.

In the run-up to the election, Mr. Trump is pushing to correct a stubborn deficit in national and battlefield state polls as he continues to spread misinformation about the virus that he spent months downplaying.

This includes Florida, which is seen as crucial to his chances of re-election.

In 2016, Mr. Trump beat Hillary Clinton's Democratic rival in the state by just over 112,000 votes.

Some recent polls have suggested a close race in Florida, while others have Mr. Biden ahead of us.

 

Publish : 2020-10-13 08:20:00

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