Waving Off Risks, Trump Touts Law And Order In Comeback Speech

WASHINGTON, DC — Standing above a crowd of people wearing T-shirts proclaiming they "back the blue," President Donald Trump delivered a campaign rally-like speech on law and order during his first public appearance since testing positive for COVID-19 nine days ago.

The president wore a mask as he walked out for the speech but took it off to make his remarks. He received an enthusiastic response from hundreds of supporters of the black conservative “Blexit” movement, founded by controversial political commentator and activist Candace Owen. Most wore masks but did little to observe social distancing guidelines.

"I'm feeling great," Trump said, adding he was thankful for their good wishes and prayers as he recovered.

The president addressed the large crowd against the guidance of public health officials, and even as the White House refuses to declare that he is no longer contagious.

Billed as “a peaceful protest for law & order,” the White House insisted the event on the South Lawn was an official event and not a campaign rally. Regardless, Trump used the address to make broadsides against the Democratic ticket of former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris.

He also used it as an opportunity to downplay the virus.

"It's going to disappear, it is disappearing," Trump said.

He continued to tout the efficacy of treatments he received since testing positive for the virus, claiming that “through the the power of American spirit, more than anything else, science and medicine will eradicate the China Virus once and for all, we’ll get rid of it.”

READ MORE: At White House Event, Trump Tells Supporters He's 'Feeling Great'

Saturday's event comes two weeks after a Rose Garden event that has since been labeled a "superspreader" event.

More than two dozen people linked to the White House have contracted COVID-19 since attending the Sept. 26 event announcing Judge Amy Coney Barrett as Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court.

District of Columbia virus restrictions prohibit outdoor gatherings larger than 50 people, although the rule has not been strictly enforced, according to AP. Masks are mandatory outdoors for most people, but the regulations don’t apply on federal land

Following Saturday's appearance, Trump is planning to hold Monday rally in Sanford, Florida. The rally originally was scheduled to be held Oct. 2, the day after he tested positive.

On the eve of President Trump's planned return to in-person events and campaigning, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi moved forward Friday with plans to question the president's fitness for office under the 25th Amendment.

Trump continued a campaign to control the narrative of his health with a scheduled appearance Tucker Carlson's Fox News show Friday for an on-air medical evaluation by the network's medical expert, Dr. Marc Siegel. The program airs at 8 p.m. Eastern Time.

He also called into the Rush Limbaugh show for a radio “rally” with the conservative talk host.

Limbaugh started what he described as a “mega, MAGA rally” by praising Trump as the “strongest, most unwavering” leader, The Associated Press reported. Limbaugh also called it “breathtaking” the difference between the Trump he knows and how he’s portrayed in the media.

Meanwhile, as questions swirled about president's health and the efforts under the 25th Amendment to evaluate his ability to lead the country and ensure a continuity of government, Vice President Mike Pence abruptly canceled campaign events in his home state of Indiana, where he also planned to vote, and returned to Washington on Friday.

His reasons for stepping away from public campaigning, coming weeks before the Nov. 3 election when he and Trump are trailing the Biden-Harris team in the polls, were not immediately clear.

"Nobody's sick. There's no positive tests," Pence spokesman Devin O'Malley said. "The VP is planning on traveling on Saturday and Monday. We'll have more information on the vice president's schedule next week soon."

The extraordinary move by Pelosi and House Democrats to establish a commission to assess the president's ability to lead the country and ensure a continuity of government is authorized under the 25th Amendment, passed by Congress on July 6, 1965, and ratified by the states on Feb. 10, 1967. Article 4 allows for the removal of a president who is deemed incapacitated by any kind of illness, including a mental illness, or an injury.

Pelosi insisted at a news conference at the Capitol Friday that the move wasn't a political attack on the Trump but was inspired by the need for greater congressional oversight of his White House.

“This is not about President Donald Trump — he will face the judgment of the voters,” Pelosi said.

Trump and his team quickly declared it a political stunt. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell both dismissed it as "absurd" in appearances on Fox News and in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, respectively.

Pelosi has been raising questions about Trump's fitness for office in the four days since he was discharged from Walter Reed Medical Center, where he was treated for COVID-19 with experimental drugs the speaker said could affect the president's judgment.

It remains unclear how serious Trump’s illness is. Pelosi said Trump needs to tell Americans more about his health and when he contracted COVID-19 to better track others who may have been exposed. So far, more than two dozen cases have been traced to the Rose Garden event.

READ MORE: Pelosi Unveils 25th Amendment Bid, Questioning Trump’s Fitness To Serve

Trump, who said he feels "perfect" a week after his diagnosis, is eager to return to the campaign trail. He's planning a rally in Florida Monday after receiving medical clearance to do so from his doctor.

“I’m feeling good. Really good. I think perfect," Trump said during a telephone interview with Fox Business Thursday, stopping on occasion to clear his throat. “I think I’m better to the point where I’d love to do a rally tonight. I don't think I'm contagious at all."

Dr. Sean Conley, Trump's physician, said in a statement Thursday that the president "has responded extremely well to treatment."

By Saturday, Conley said, “I fully expect the president’s return to public engagement.”

Conley, who has previously acknowledged providing the public with a rosy view of the president’s condition to satisfy his patient, according to The New York Times, contradicted his own timeline for the president upon his release from a three-day stay at Walter Reed Medical Center this past weekend.

At a news conference earlier this week, Conley said doctors wanted to “get through to Monday.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says individuals can discontinue isolation 10 days after the onset of symptoms, which for Trump was Oct. 1, according to his doctors.

Conley said that meant Trump could return to holding events on Saturday, AP reported.

The president has not been seen in person since returning to the White House on Monday. His staff continues to decline to share when Trump last tested negative for the virus, which would help pinpoint when he was infected.

Strategic communications director Alyssa Farah said that information was Trump's “private medical history.”

Trump's plan for rallies comes after he said he wouldn't participate in the Oct. 15 presidential debate after organizers announced it would take place virtually because of the president's coronavirus diagnosis.

"I'm not going to do a virtual debate," Trump told Fox Business News after the Commission on Presidential Debates announced the changes.

Trump's refusal prompted the Commission on Presidential Debates on Friday to cancel the event entirely, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

The nonpartisan committee originally made the decision to move to a virtual event "to protect the health and safety of all involved with the second presidential debate," AP reported.

While Biden's campaign indicated it would move forward with the change, Trump's campaign berated the decision.

"For the swamp creatures at the Presidential Debate Commission to now rush to Joe Biden's defense by unilaterally canceling an in-person debate is pathetic," Bill Stepien, Trump campaign manager, said in a statement. "The safety of all involved can easily be achieved without canceling a chance for voters to see both candidates go head to head. We'll pass on this sad excuse to bail out Joe Biden and do a rally instead."

Trump's campaign and the White House are drawing up plans for Trump to continue campaigning this coming week, eyeing a visit to Pennsylvania and Michigan ahead of what was to have been next Thursday's debate.

The Biden campaign said the former vice president will now hold his own town-hall event next Thursday, according to a report by The Hill. Kate Bedingfield, Biden's deputy campaign manager, said Biden "will find an appropriate place to take questions from voters directly."

The Biden campaign is also calling for changes to the format of the final debate, planned Oct. 22. Next week's debate — which was supposed to be the second out of three — was originally designed as a town hall-style event between Trump and Biden.

Questions still swirl around the overall state of the president's health.

Earlier this week, Trump tweeted in a new round of videos that his diagnosis and the experimental antibody treatment he received may be a "blessing in disguise" in the nation's battle against the pandemic.

Trump promised swift approval of the drug for broader use and free distribution, even though he doesn't have the power to order that himself.

"I want everybody to be given the same treatment as your president, because I feel great," Trump said in a video from the Rose Garden. "I feel, like, perfect."