Donald Trump returns to White House and tells America: ‘Don't let Covid dominate’
We watched the presidential helicopter take off from Walter Reed military hospital on Monday night and head the 11 miles due south to the White House.Marine One has never had a stranger mission: take an infected president back home and away from the medical facility that is best equipped to treat him.But this is no ordinary patient, and this is no ordinary time.
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Donald Trump is dramatically behind in the polls and in 28 days could face the ignominy of being a one-term president.He is not going down without an almighty fight, and part of that battle is projecting his return to the White House as evidence of his leadership and patriotism.
And so the president's advisers released a Hollywood-style short movie about his arrival, complete with stirring music.
The President then released a video explaining that Americans should not be scared or daunted by the virus, and that it was time for the country to get back on its feet.
He praised his own leadership.
This virus certainly hasn't attacked his sense of destiny.
There is no doubt that the Trump faithful feel relief that the president is out of hospital.
They are divided on whether the president should now rest and recuperate or immediately hit the campaign trail.
Several of his loyalists told me that they believe he has been politically strengthened by his experience with Covid-19.
This has been a jaw-dropping start to the final month of the campaign.
This is an election like no other.
Can a candidate in the grip of an infectious disease and still on some serious medication really blaze across America looking for votes?The question voters must resolve is whether Donald Trump's behaviour over the last 72 hours shows courage and resilience, or recklessness and complacency on an epic scale.