Trump Restarts Campaign Travel Trailed by Virus, Sagging Polls
President Donald Trump returns to the campaign trail Monday after declaring himself “in great shape”.
(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump returns to the campaign trail Monday after declaring himself “in great shape” following his bout with coronavirus, with a rally in Orlando kicking off at least four straight days of political events.
“I’ve been tested totally negative and I’m going to be out in Florida tomorrow working very hard because this is an election we have to win,” Trump said Sunday afternoon during a virtual event with evangelical supporters. “This is the most important election of our lives.”
The president is then expected to travel to Pennsylvania on Tuesday night, visit Iowa on Wednesday, and go to North Carolina for an event Thursday afternoon. The jam-packed itinerary underscores the extent to which Trump is hopeful that resuming his signature rallies can help reverse polling trends that show him falling further behind Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
Biden holds a 54%-42% lead among likely voters, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released Sunday, and Trump’s diagnosis further cemented voters’ unease about his handling of the pandemic, which has rocked the U.S. economy and left more than 214,000 Americans dead. Two-thirds of registered voters say the president failed to take appropriate precautions against the virus, 62% distrust his comments about the disease, and 73% say they’re worried that they or an immediate family member will contract Covid-19.
That underscores the risk for Trump as he resumes large-scale campaign events where social distancing and masks have been scarce, particularly since his doctors have provided only limited updates on his condition since he was released from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center last week. Trump also is setting out in a nation where the number of coronavirus cases is creeping higher, with more than 50,000 new infections reported each of the past four days.
Despite the president’s claim of being virus-free, his physicians and White House staff notably have not said that he is currently testing negative for the virus. Nor has his medical team disclosed when Trump last tested negative before doctors detected a coronavirus infection on Oct. 1.
On Sunday, Trump’s campaign was rebuked by Anthony Fauci, the federal government’s leading infectious disease expert, who said a television commercial being run in key swing states took his words praising Trump out of context without his permission.
Trump dismissed concerns that he posed a risk to rally-goers in an interview Sunday with Fox News, though events throughout his campaign have been marred by subsequent coronavirus outbreaks among attendees. More than two dozen staffers and associates of the president have been diagnosed with coronavirus in recent days.
“The doctors, the White House doctors, as you know, are the best,” Trump said. “And they said totally free of spreading. There is no spread.”
Twitter Disclaimer
Trump even pitched his recovery from the virus as a political asset, claiming that unlike Biden, he was now “immune” to the deadly disease. The president’s repetition of that claim on Twitter prompted the social media network to add a disclaimer to his post.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last month that it has “limited information about reinfections with the virus that causes Covid-19.” It said there were no confirmed reports of reinfection within three months of initial infection, suggesting that recovery from the novel coronavirus may be like other similar diseases that offer some level of immunity.
Concern over the potential risk posed by the president prompted the Commission on Presidential Debates to announce that it would make the second contest between Trump and Biden -- slated for Oct. 15 -- a virtual event. But Trump said he would only participate in an in-person contest, scuttling one of the few remaining marquee events before Election Day.
Instead, Biden is expected to hold a town-hall event of his own Thursday night on ABC News. Trump’s campaign has not yet said how he will spend Thursday evening, though White House spokeswoman Alyssa Farah said last week she expected the president to provide “counterprogramming.”
Test of Strength
The president’s aggressive schedule will be a test of his strength after his battle with coronavirus, and Trump himself acknowledged last week that he was still contending with some symptoms. On Saturday, he emerged from the White House to speak from a balcony to hundreds of supporters -- but spoke for less than 20 minutes -- notably less than at rallies before his infection, when he would regularly speak for almost two hours.
Trump spent most of last week behind closed doors, interacting directly with only a small cadre of staff who wore personal protective equipment. He kept up a public presence through a marathon slate of interviews with conservative commentators that seemed designed to underscore his stamina.
The president’s physician said advanced diagnostic tests had determined there was no evidence of actively replicating virus and that Trump met CDC criteria “for the safe discontinuation of isolation.” The president’s doctor also said he had been “fever-free for well over 24 hours and all symptoms improved” in a short memo on his health released Saturday night.
“The president is in very good shape to fight the battles,” Trump said in his Fox News interview on Sunday.
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