President Donald Trump stands on the balcony outside of the Blue Room as he returns to the White House yesterday. Photo / AP
US President Donald Trump has tweeted overnight downplaying the severity of his Covid-19 diagnosis, saying he "feels great" just a day after leaving hospital.
In a slew of posts overnight, President Trump said Americans should treat coronavirus as they do with the flu, saying Covid-19 is "far less lethal", despite the fact he is being treated with a range of medications himself.
He followed those tweets claiming Americans should live with Covid as they do the flu, and used comparisons to argue against closing down the country.
His doctor Sean Conley offered an update on his health this morning, saying that the President displayed no symptoms of Covid-19.
"This morning the President's team of physicians met with him in the Residence. He had a restful first night at home, and today he reports no symptoms," Conley said in the memo.
"Vital signs and physical exam remain stable, with an ambulatory oxygen saturation level of 95-97 per cent. Overall he continues to do extremely well."
#NEW President Trump’s physician Sean Conley releases an update on the President’s condition: pic.twitter.com/quSsWWzJe2
— Greta Wall (@GretaLWall) October 6, 2020
Despite Trump's claims, experts have said Covid-19 is six times more deadly than the flu and is mutating with new strains.
The claims were so outrageous that Facebook removed the post in its entirety.
US political publication The Hill wrote: "Over 209,000 Americans have died of Covid-19 this year, more than in the past five flu seasons combined.
"The annual flu death total has been between 12,000 and 61,000 since 2010, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates.
"The last time that US flu deaths hit an estimated 100,000 was in 1968."
Twitter eventually placed a warning on the tweet, claiming it was "spreading misleading and potentially harmful information related to Covid-19". But the post remained public.
Trump later hit back at the social media giants, taking to Twitter to demand the repeal of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
REPEAL SECTION 230!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 6, 2020
The federal statute currently protects social media companies from liability for the content posted online by their users.
It allows the platforms to remove posts that violate their own standards, as long as they are acting in 'good faith'.
Trump doubled down on his macho image after checking out of hospital on Monday after four days of emergency treatment for Covid-19, pulling off his mask the moment he reached the White House and vowing to quickly get back on the campaign trail.
Shortly beforehand, Trump had tweeted that Americans, who have lost nearly 210,000 people to the virus, have nothing to fear.
Wow. Joe Biden just took a more Liberal position on Roe v. Wade than Elizabeth Warren at her highest. He also wants to PACK our great United States Supreme Court. This is what the Dems will do. Remember as they try changing positions before elections end. GET OUT AND VOTE!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 6, 2020
Biden and Democrats just clarified the fact that they are fully in favor of (very) LATE TERM ABORTION, right up until the time of birth, and beyond - which would be execution. Biden even endorsed the Governor of Virginia, who stated this clearly for all to hear. GET OUT & VOTE!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 6, 2020
Flu season is coming up! Many people every year, sometimes over 100,000, and despite the Vaccine, die from the Flu. Are we going to close down our Country? No, we have learned to live with it, just like we are learning to live with Covid, in most populations far less lethal!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 6, 2020
FEELING GREAT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 6, 2020
I am looking forward to the debate on the evening of Thursday, October 15th in Miami. It will be great!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 6, 2020
A series of made-for-TV moments allowed Trump to squeeze the maximum from his medical discharge, starting by exiting alone from the large gold-coloured front doors of the Walter Reed military hospital just outside Washington.
Live on television, he then walked in a mask to a limousine, giving the thumbs up, before boarding the Marine One helicopter for the quick flight to the White House — which he left on Friday after falling ill.
After landing, he walked up the steps onto the South Portico's stately balcony, demonstratively removed his mask and offered a 23-second salute to the departing Marine One.
With less than a month until Election Day on November 3, polls show Trump trailing Democrat Joe Biden. The president's hospitalisation left him scrambling even harder to catch up.
The return to the White House was minutely stage-managed to show he is physically fit, while a series of striking tweets demonstrated Trump's coming angle of political attack: that he personally beat Covid and will now lead the country to its own comeback.
"Will be back on the Campaign Trail soon!!!" he said in one tweet.
"Don't be afraid of Covid," he said in another, claiming to be feeling rejuvenated after his illness.
The remark startled his rival, who was campaigning Monday in Florida.
"Tell that to the 205,000 families who lost somebody," Biden snapped.
Though he has a highly contagious and potentially deadly virus, Pres Trump is quick to remove his mask, standing on the WH balcony, aware of all the cameras focused on his return to the WH after four days of hospitalization at Walter Reed. pic.twitter.com/T255LkPt0v
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) October 5, 2020
Wear a mask. pic.twitter.com/TSuLuzAXEB
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) October 6, 2020
The former vice president added to his comments later on Monday at an outdoor town hall in Miami, where he criticised Trump for downplaying the importance of masks.
"I would hope that the president, having gone through what he went through — and I'm glad he seems to be coming along pretty well — would communicate the right lesson to the American people: masks matter," Biden said.
That recommendation appeared to go unheeded, as Trump pushed out a new, unfiltered message to Americans: "Don't let it dominate your life — get out there, be careful," Trump said in a tweeted video.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 5, 2020
The 74-year-old Republican's display of bravado came the same day that his own chief spokeswoman tested positive — the latest in a viral outbreak raging within the White House.
And despite his claims to be in good health again, a combination of secrecy, conflicting information from officials and the viral spread among his own circle damaged his credibility.
In a briefing at Walter Reed, presidential physician Sean Conley said Trump is "back" but that he would not be "entirely out of the woods" for another week.
Despite Trump's characteristic claim that Covid-19 should not be of major concern, polls show it is a huge worry for Americans. His widely panned handling of the crisis this year is also reckoned to be the main reason Biden, 77, is surging in polls.
Illustrating the divide between the reality described by health experts and the White House's defiance, Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany became the latest to announce a positive test result Monday.
Other positive cases close to Trump now include his wife Melania, aide Hope Hicks, campaign manager Bill Stepien, two of McEnany's assistants according to US media, and more than half a dozen others from the president's circle.
For months, Trump has given the appearance of trying to wish away the catastrophe and get back to his re-election narrative of a strong economy.
Trump now looks poised to try and claim that in getting quickly out of hospital, he has personally vanquished the virus — and will go on to do the same for the rest of the country.
An unofficial White House-themed gift shop announced Monday it will sell a commemorative coin titled "President Donald J Trump Defeats Covid" for $100.
For all of Trump's determination to reassert himself, he has lost several precious days of a campaign that revolves heavily around his large-scale rallies and image of personal strength.
The day after he announced his positive test, he was to have flown to battleground Wisconsin, ignoring the fact he would gather crowds in one of the nation's worst coronavirus hot spots.
Biden, meanwhile, has maintained his slow-but-steady campaign that has always emphasised health precautions — a pared-back style that Trump calls weakness and mocked as recently as last week.
The upheaval has led to unusual interest in this Wednesday's televised debate between the vice presidential candidates — Republican Mike Pence and Biden's running mate Kamala Harris — who will be separated by a Plexiglas barrier for the event.
- Additional reporting, NZ Herald
US President Donald Trump had angrily berated both sides for violating the ceasefire.