WASHINGTON, Oct 10 — President Donald Trump, still recovering from a bout with Covid-19, says he wants to hold a pair of campaign rallies this weekend — while refusing to confirm whether he’s tested negative since his diagnosis a week ago, United Press International (UPI) reported.
In an interview Thursday with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Trump said the rallies could be held in the key swing states of Florida and Pennsylvania.
“I think I’m going to try doing a rally on Saturday night if we can, if we have enough time to put it together”, Trump said.
“But we want to do a rally in Florida, probably in Florida on Saturday night, might come back and do one in Pennsylvania on the following night.”
Florida and Pennsylvania are considered two primary battleground states for the November 3 election and have been visited multiple times by both campaigns in recent weeks and months.
Trump was hospitalised a week ago after announcing he’d tested positive for the virus and returned to the White House three days later. While under doctors’ care, he has received the antiviral drug remdesivir and an experimental antibody cocktail from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.
Trump’s physician, Dr Sean Conley, said Thursday the president would be able to return to public engagements by Saturday.
Asked if he has tested negative, Trump refused to answer directly.
Well, what we’re doing is, probably the test will be tomorrow, he said. The actual test, because there’s no reason to test all the time.
A White House spokeswoman on Thursday also refused to disclose when Trump last tested negative for Covid-19, telling reporters that the doctors would like to keep it private.
Administration officials have consistently refused to disclose the date of Trump’s last negative test — information which could be used to determine where and when he may have picked up the coronavirus and who may have been exposed afterwards.
A number of campaign and White House officials have tested positive over the past week, including Trump and first lady Melania Trump, press officer Kayleigh McEnany, adviser Stephen Miller, Republican Party Chair Ronna McDaniel, aide Hope Hicks and former adviser Kellyanne Conway.
Thursday, Trump refused to participate in the next presidential debate with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden after the Commission on Presidential Debates announced the two would have to appear remotely, due to Trump’s diagnosis and the ongoing threat of Covid-19.
Trump said it’s a waste of time, ridiculous and said he didn’t think he was contagious.
Biden, other Democrats, some Republicans and medical officials have repeatedly criticised Trump and his administration for downplaying the threat of the pandemic, and say Trump’s refusal to debate and plans for new rallies when there’s substantial doubt that he’s free of the disease are yet more clear examples of how he’s negligently handling the crisis.
Biden has called for the final debate, scheduled for October 22, to be a town hall event — in which the candidates are questioned by voters — so that Trump can’t escape accountability to the American people.
— Bernama
