Trump defends White House rally, says he'll hold campaign events this week
President Donald Trump, shown Saturday at a White House rally, defended the event Sunday and said he feels healthy enough to hold in-person campaign events this week. Credit: AFP via Getty Images / Mandel Ngan
President Donald Trump on Sunday defended an outdoor White House speech the day before in front of hundreds of supporters and said he has overcome the coronavirus and will resume campaign rallies this week.
In an interview on Fox News, Trump told "Sunday Morning Futures" anchor Maria Bartiromo that: "It looks like I'm immune for maybe a long time, it may be a short time, it could be a lifetime, nobody really knows, so the President is in very good shape to fight the battle."
However, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "The immune response, including duration of immunity, to SARS-CoV-2 infection is not yet understood."
Trump on Saturday spoke from a White House balcony to supporters gathered on the South Lawn. Trump addressed supporters after his doctor, Navy Commander Dr. Sean Conley said he was no longer considered a risk for transmitting the virus.
The President also has rallies planned for the week, including an event in Florida on Monday.
Defending the events, Trump said his doctors said he was "totally free of spreading, there's no spread and there wasn't any yesterday either."
"I was on a balcony, the closest person was probably a couple hundred of feet away. They were down on grass, there was nobody even close to me yesterday."
Trump said he was currently, "not on any medication."
Also on Sunday, White House Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow said on-again, off-again talks about a fifth coronavirus recovery package were back on.
On Tuesday, Trump said the deal was dead, but later in the week appeared to reopen negotiations.
"I don't think it's dead at all," Kudlow told host Jake Tapper on CNN's "State of the Union."
Senate Republicans, however, have expressed concern about the cost of an overall bill, according to news reports.
Kudlow said of Senate Republicans: "I think, if an agreement can be reached, they will go along with it."
Scott Eidler covers Nassau County government and politics for Newsday. Scott has worked at Newsday since 2012 and previously covered municipal government and education.
