Trump’s Friday Florida rally nixed, Miami debate in doubt after president’s COVID test
President Donald Trump’s positive coronavirus test forced the cancellation of a Friday rally in Central Florida and threw a debate in Miami with Democratic nominee Joe Biden into question.
Trump announced on Twitter early Friday morning that he and First Lady Melania Trump had contracted COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. By the evening, concerns about the president’s health had grown serious enough that Trump flew from the White House to Walter Reed Hospital.
“President Trump remains in good spirits, has mild symptoms, and has been working throughout the day,” said White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany. “Out of an abundance of caution, and at the recommendation of his physician and medical experts, the President will be working from the presidential offices at Walter Reed for the next few days.”
Trump’s physician, Dr. Steven P. Conley, wrote in a memo to McEnany that the president has received a dose of an experimental antibody cocktail made by Regeneron, in addition to zinc, vitamin D, melatonin, aspirin and a generic version of the heartburn medicine Pepcid.
“I think I’m doing very well,” Trump said in a video he posted Friday night to Twitter that showed him standing up and talking to the camera. “But we’re going to make sure that things work out.”
Trump’s illness disrupted the presidential campaign during the home stretch to Election Day on Nov. 3. Before the president tested positive, Trump’s campaign had a full menu of events in the state, which Trump likely must win to be reelected.
But the White House on Friday quickly revised the president’s schedule, which had previously included an evening rally at an airport in Sanford in Central Florida. Bill Stepien, Trump’s campaign manager, announced that all other events featuring the president and his family would either be postponed or conducted virtually for the time being.
“This is one heck of an October surprise,’’ said Jim Kitchens, an Orlando-based Democratic pollster who has been working on campaigns in the Midwest.
Biden, meanwhile, said Friday in Michigan that he’d tested negative twice since learning of Trump’s diagnosis. He continued to campaign, though his campaign intended to pull negative ads about Trump, according to the Associated Press.
“We will continue to pray for the health and safety of the president and his family,” Biden tweeted.
Biden is still expected to travel to South Florida Monday, when he’s scheduled to participate in an outdoor town hall hosted by NBC at the Perez Art Museum Miami. But it remained unclear Friday evening if Trump’s illness would force the cancellation of an Oct. 15 town hall debate with Biden in Miami at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts.
The Commission on Presidential Debates, which sponsors the events, did not respond Friday to requests for comment.
The Centers for Disease Control’s website lays out a timetable that could put Trump in the clear for a Miami appearance if he recovers quickly. The agency states people who tested positive for COVID-19 with symptoms “can be with others” if 10 days have passed from the time symptoms first appeared, including at least 24 hours without a fever or fever-reducing medication.
Johann Zietsman, CEO of the Arsht Center, said the facility hasn’t reserved other dates if the Oct. 15 event must be postponed.
He said Friday morning that the debate commission hadn’t called since news broke of Trump’s positive COVID test, so there was no word on any contingency plans that may be in the works from debate organizers. With the debate set to be the first live event at the Arsht since it closed at the start of the COVID crisis in March, there’s plenty of room on the calendar if a later date is needed, he said.
“They can shift the dates if that’s going to make a difference,” Zietsman said. “Our schedule is very light.”
He also said he’s not aware of technical barriers if the Commission on Presidential Debates wanted to consider allowing the candidates to appear on video before the Arsht audience. The Miami debate is planned to unfold as a town hall, with 36 undecided voters asking questions of Biden and Trump.
But he said any sort of remote-video arrangements wouldn’t involve the Arsht Center, which provides the theater but not the equipment.
“They bring in an extensive amount of video technology,” he said. “We are just the venue.”
Tampa Bay Times Political Editor Steve Contorno and Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau staff writers Ana Ceballos and Mary Ellen Klas contributed to this report.
This story was originally published October 2, 2020 at 9:02 AM.
