By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News
U.S. President Donald Trump told supporters on Saturday that he was “feeling great” during his first public appearance since coming down with Covid-19. The event, held on the White House lawn, was officially called a “peaceful protest for law and order.”
Sounding more like a political rally than a protest, a few hundred people wearing red caps chanted “Make America Great Again” and “Four more years.” Trump touched on many regular campaign messages as he spoke from the building’s balcony — without a mask.
Following the “law and order” theme, which the Republicans have been pushing for weeks in response to the widespread looting and violence at Black Lives Matter protests throughout the country, the president said, “We’re on the side of right” when it comes to law enforcement.
He bashed his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, who has shown more understanding for the demonstrations, and ranged over several issues on which the two part ways, including Biden’s economic plans for the country, which Trump called “beyond Socialism – Communist, that’s about right.” He then enumerated his own pre-pandemic economic successes,[ and said that coronavirus was “disappearing,” a term jumped on by the media since there are currently tens of thousands of new cases a day in the U.S.
Although medical personnel would not comment on the president’s condition before the event, White House staff released a memo that his physician, Dr. Sean Conley, wrote Saturday evening in which he said Trump was not contagious.
“This evening I am happy to report that in addition to the President meeting the CDC criteria for the safe discontinuation of isolation, this morning’s COVID PCR sample demonstrates, by currently recognized standards, he is no longer considered a transmission risk to others.”
Everyone who came to the demonstration-rally was given a temperature check and had to fill out a short questionnaire before being allowed in. Pictures showed most were wearing masks, but there seemed to be no social distancing among the flag-waving, cheering crowd.
The event was partly organized by BLEXIT, an organization founded by Conservative black activist Candace Owens in 2018. She told ABC news that its purpose is “educating minorities about conservative principles.” This would, in her eyes, encourage blacks and Latinos to support the Republican party.
“We stand in unapologetic, stark contrast to leftist ideologies that have destroyed our communities for decades,” she said. Saturday’s event “is about supporting law enforcement in minority communities.”
