CNN reports:
A defiant President Donald Trump resumed public events Saturday with a divisive speech at the White House, where he potentially put lives at risk once again, just nine days after he revealed his own Covid-19 diagnosis. After being sidelined from the campaign trail for more than a week, Trump leaned into his law-and-order message in a speech threaded with falsehoods that was clearly a campaign rally disguised as a White House event.
Trump claimed that if the left gains power, they’ll launch a crusade against law enforcement. Echoing his highly inaccurate campaign ads that suggest that Democratic nominee Joe Biden would defund 911 operations and have a “therapist” answer calls about crime, Trump falsely claimed that the left is focused on taking away firearms, funds and authority from police.
The Associated Press reports:
The president addressed the large crowd even as the White House refuses to declare that he is no longer contagious and against the guidance of public health officials. The White House insisted the event on the South Lawn was an official event and not a campaign rally.
But Trump used the address to make broadsides against the Democratic ticket of former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris.
Before the speech, White House officials said they had no information to release on whether the president was tested for COVID-19, meaning he made his first public appearance without the White House verifying that he’s no longer contagious.
Trump begins his first post-coronavirus diagnosis speech by telling his adoring fans at the White House, “we gotta vote these people into oblivion. Into oblivion. Gotta get rid of ’em. So bad for our country.” pic.twitter.com/RtH7O8jYY7
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 10, 2020
“I was in that hospital, I was watching down over so many people” — Trump pic.twitter.com/5n3Eq5VrVN
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 10, 2020
Trump falsely claims the coronavirus is “disappearing,” then suggests the situation in the US isn’t that different from elsewhere, saying, “very big flareup in Canada.” Canada had about 2,500 new coronavirus cases on Friday, whereas the US had more than 58,000. pic.twitter.com/gzeHPZ2O6O
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 10, 2020
Trump on mail voting: “I think we’re gonna swamp ’em by so much hopefully it’s not gonna matter, and we have law enforcement watching.” pic.twitter.com/sW4CsHXWC5
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 10, 2020
“I have done more for the black community than any president since Abraham Lincoln. Nobody can dispute it. Nobody can dispute it. Nobody can dispute it.” — Trump’s material is unchanged pic.twitter.com/E8EnpYhuOi
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 10, 2020
Covita is holding another rally at the White House. pic.twitter.com/AvF1pZCPGc
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) October 10, 2020
Mussolini Covita invited 2000 people and 400 people showed up. Just like the small showing outside Walter Reed. And the Tulsa rally. I wonder is how much they were paid to be there. pic.twitter.com/rG7yjvyhKU
— ANGRY NAVAL OFFICER?
(@BlueGhost40_) October 10, 2020