President Donald Trump checked out of hospital Monday after four days of emergency treatment for Covid-19, pulling off his mask the moment he reac
President Donald Trump checked out of hospital 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.
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-colored 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 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 hospitalization 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!!!. Don’t be afraid of Covid,” he said in another, claiming to be feeling rejuvenated after his illness,” he said in a series of tweets.
The remark startled his rival, who was campaigning Monday in Florida. “Tell that to the 205,000 families who lost somebody,” Biden snapped.
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.
