Getty A rally outside Walter Reed.
Impromptu rallies broke out outside Walter Reed Medical Center in support of President Donald Trump, who is battling a COVID-19 infection at the military hospital.
That came as conflicting reports emerged on October 3 about the president’s health. The president did record a video from Walter Reed in which he said he was feeling better but indicated he wouldn’t know for sure if he was out of the woods for a few days.
“Incredible to see the love and support for @realDonaldTrump outside Walter Reed. I was just speaking to my father and know he loves and appreciates all of you!” the president’s son, Eric Trump, wrote.
The video shared by Eric Trump shows people holding American flags, pro Trump signs and Trump flags outside the hospital.
Incredible to see the love and support for @realDonaldTrump outside Walter Reed. I was just speaking to my father and know he loves and appreciates all of you!
CNN’s DJ Judd wrote on Twitter, “It appears that Gavin McInnes, founder of the Proud Boys, is here at Walter Reed Medical Center— supporters on site starting chanting ‘Gavin! Gavin!’ as he arrived. Trump’s shoutout to the group during the debate bolstered the Proud Boys.”
It appears that Gavin McInnes, founder of the Proud Boys, is here at Walter Reed Medical Center— supporters on site starting chanting “Gavin! Gavin!” as he arrived. Trump’s shoutout to the group during the debate bolstered the Proud Boys: t.co/gGx7QdtCQM
Here’s what you need to know:
More Videos of the Impromptu Pro Trump Rally Circulated on Twitter
The scene outside Walter Reed Medical Center tonight #Trump #WalterReed #Trump2020
More videos emerged of the scene outside Walter Reed.
In a new video from Walter Reed, Trump, on the evening of October 3, called Walter Reed the “finest in the world. I came here, wasn’t feeling so well. I feel much better now. We’re working hard to get me all the way back. I have to be back because we still have to make America great again. We’ve done an awful great job of that… I think I’ll be back soon. Look forward to finishing up the campaign the way it was started… this was something that happened. It’s millions of people it happened to all over the world. I’m fighting for them all over the world… we’re going to beat this coronavirus or whatever you want to call it.”
He cited drugs that are “miracles…coming down from God. I just wanted to tell you I’m starting to feel good.”
He said it would be the “real test” over “the next couple of days.” He said he was “so thankful for all of the support I’ve seen.” He said he appreciates what’s been said by the American people, “almost a bipartisan consensus.” He said he wouldn’t forget it. He also thanked the leaders of the world. “I just didn’t want to stay in the White House.” He said he was given that alternative.
White House Chief of Staff @MarkMeadows just came out of Walter Reed
“I had to be out front,” said Trump. “This is America. This is the United States. This is the greatest country in the world… I can’t be locked up in a room upstairs..we have to confront problems. As a leader you have to confront problems… so that’s where it is. I’m doing well. I want to thank everybody. Our first lady is doing very well.”
Walter Reed MAGA Flash Mob
He said she has great respect and love “for our country.”
He said she was “slightly younger than me” and indicated that Melania “is handling it statistically like it’s supposed to be handled.” But “I’m also doing well.” He said over the next few days “we’re probably going to know for sure.”
There Was Controversy Over the Timeline of Trump’s Illness
How sick is President Trump? That’s not completely clear.
“The president’s vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care,” Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said on October 3, according to The New York Times. “We’re still not on a clear path to a full recovery.” Sources told The New York Times that “the president had trouble breathing on Friday and that his oxygen level had dropped, prompting his doctors to give him supplemental oxygen.” His doctor said Saturday he didn’t need oxygen now but didn’t clarify whether he ever add, The Times reported.
Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett tested negative for the COVID-19 virus, but the term “Rose Garden Massacre” is trending online because a number of people who attended her nomination press conference now have COVID-19, including President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, and the president of Notre Dame University, John Jenkins.
TMZ, using the headline “Rose Garden Massacre,” reported that the event “was ground zero for what is increasingly looking like a super-spreader COVID event.”
According to TMZ, the list of people with COVID-19 who attended the event also includes Senator Mike Lee, Senator Thom Tillis, Kellyanne Conway, and Hope Hicks. TMZ reported that “almost no one was wearing masks or social distancing.” The Guardian reported that at least seven people who attended the event now have coronavirus. The two senators, who are both on the Senate Judiciary Committee that will hear the nomination, did not wear masks at the event, according to Guardian. Lee has “symptoms consistent with longtime allergies,” and Tillis doesn’t have symptoms.
Another person at the event with COVID-19 is former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. An unnamed journalist at the Rose Garden event also has coronavirus, according to ABC News.
To be sure, it’s not clear when all of those people got COVID-19, where, and from who. However, concern grew that coronavirus might have spread at the press conference, which was held September 25. The timeline of when President Trump came down with the virus is in dispute; his doctor initially said in a press conference on October 3 that the president was 72 hours into his diagnosis, but the White House later clarified that the president tested positive on Thursday October 1. “This morning while summarizing the President’s health, I incorrectly used the term ‘seventy two hours’ instead of ‘day three’ and ‘forty eight hours’ instead of ‘day two’ with regards to his diagnosis and the administration of the polyclonal antibody therapy,” the president’s doctor, Sean Conley, later said. “The President was first diagnosed with COVID-19 on the evening of Thursday, October 1st and had received Regeron’s antibody cocktail on Friday, October 2nd.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says of COVID-19: “The estimated incubation period is between 2 and 14 days with a median of 5 days.”
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