Trump ‘Upbeat and Assertive’ After COVID-19 Diagnosis, Says Senior Campaign Adviser

Trump ‘Upbeat and Assertive’ After COVID-19 Diagnosis, Says Senior Campaign Adviser
U.S. President Donald Trump arrives at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., on the Marine One helicopter on Oct. 2, 2020. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo)
Jack Phillips
10/4/2020
Updated:
10/4/2020

President Donald Trump’s campaign adviser Steve Cortes said on Sunday that the president is “upbeat and assertive as ever” after he was diagnosed with COVID-19.

“He’s doing well ... We spoke to the president yesterday, we meaning senior campaign staff ... He was as upbeat and assertive as he’s ever been,” Cortes said, according to Fox News.

Cortes said that the video that Trump released on Saturday night shows Trump is a “fighter speaking directly to the American people extemporaneously for four minutes,” adding that he is “looking good” and “sounding good and of course most importantly of all we know what his doctor said which is his progress has been incredible.”

Cortes added: “This president is going to recover, we are highly confident of that.”

“There is not one even iota of the president feeling sorry for himself,” Cortes said after speaking with Trump over the phone. “He said we are going to win this campaign. He is still governing actively as President of the United States even from the hospital. We are fully confident that his recovery will be complete.”

It comes hours after White House physician, Dr. Sean P. Conley, released a Saturday night health update for Trump.

“Trump continues to do well, having made substantial progress since diagnosis,” Conley wrote. “This evening he completed a second dose of Remdesivir without complication.”

Conley said Trump is “fever-free and off supplemental oxygen,” spending most of the afternoon working. “While not out of the woods, the team remains cautiously optimistic,” he added.

On Sunday, the plan is to observe in between doses of Remdesivir, he said.

The White House has said Trump will work in a special suite at the medical center for the next few days as a precautionary measure. He had no public events scheduled on Saturday.

Conley said Trump is receiving a five-day course of Remdesivir, an intravenous antiviral drug sold by Gilead Sciences Inc. that has been shown to shorten hospital stays for CCP virus patients. He is also taking an experimental treatment, Regeneron’s REGN-COV2—one of several experimental COVID-19 drugs known as monoclonal antibodies—as well as zinc, Vitamin D, famotidine, melatonin, and aspirin, Conley has said.

In a video address on Saturday, Trump said, “I’m starting to feel good … I just want to be thankful for the support I’ve seen,” he said, adding that he is “most appreciative” of the well-wishes from the “American people.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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