Trump boasts at Florida rally of feeling ‘so powerful’

Bloomberg

President Donald Trump returned to the campaign trail, boasting at a rally in Florida that he felt “so powerful” after his recovery from Covid-19 that he wanted to walk into the audience and “kiss everyone.”
“I am so energised by your prayers and humbled by your support,” Trump said at the outdoor rally at the Orlando Sanford International Airport, where there was little social distancing though some spectators wore masks. “Twenty-two days from now we’re going to win this state, we’re going to win four more years at the White House.”
The crowd at one point broke into a chant of “we love you” as Trump renewed his attacks on his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden. “Now they say I’m immune. I feel so powerful. I’ll walk into that audience,” Trump said.
Hours earlier, his doctor said Trump had tested negative for Covid-19 on consecutive days.
In a memo released by the White House, Sean Conley, the president’s physician, said the tests, along with guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, informed the conclusion that Trump “is not infectious to others.”
Trump’s trip to Florida was part of an effort to reverse his slide in polls in the key swing state. Biden is leading Trump in Florida by 3.7 percentage points in a RealClearPolitics average of nine polls taken since late last month — a reversal of fortune for the president in a state he narrowly won in 2016.
The Florida event, along with three others planned this week, threaten to advance the spread of the coronavirus, Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease expert, warned in an interview on CNN.
The virus hit the Sunshine State especially hard and has contributed to the president’s declining popularity. His decision to resume large-scale rallies risks reinforcing perceptions that he’s been cavalier about a disease that has killed 215,000 Americans and sent the economy into recession.
Trump sought to energise the crowd by highlighting the partisan battle over his nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.
“A lot of people said I was elected because of the Supreme Court,” Trump said. “but if it is true, it is more true now than it was four years ago.”
The president and his campaign aides believe Barrett’s confirmation hearings can be a turning point with just three weeks until Election Day, activating conservative and religious voters who care deeply about the composition of the high court.
Biden holds a 54%-42% lead nationally among likely voters, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.