Greetings from Sanford in central Florida. 31 degrees Celsius. 87 degrees Fahrenheit. Three hours to go until Trump lands here at the airport.
At today’s Trump rally in central Florida, the first after his hospitalization with Covid-19, masks are exceedingly rare and social distancing is nonexistent.
In downtown Sanford, not far from today’s Trump rally: the local Biden campaign office. Closed this Monday, a federal holiday.
Trump will presumably keep his distance from his supporters here in Sanford. They are not keeping any distance from each other though. Saving grace: the rally is being held outside.
The pastor on stage here in Sanford says Trump won’t be stopped by “the bug, the virus, and the lies.”
He adds that coronavirus is “done.”
Florida congressman @mattgaetz (“I’m a Donald Trump Republican”) on stage now here in Sanford, mentioning that the media are wearing masks, though he does say it’s OK.
Kimberley Guilfoyle is on stage here in Sanford. Her tone is no different to the one that was made fun of at the Republican Convention. Quote: “This is a President that is literally brokering peace in the Middle East.”
Trump says Biden would “delay the vaccine.”
“These people are the sickest stuff in the whole world”, says Trump, pointing at us.
“That vaccine will end the pandemic”, says Trump to a largely mask-less crowd here in Florida.
“Hey, have I taken care of Florida?”, Trump asks in battleground Seminole County.
Bottom-left in this photo: the likes of @mattgaetz, @GovRonDeSantis, and @kimguilfoyle without masks.
Trump just mentioned the large crowd here in Sanford, and it really is. Thousands are out here on the airport tarmac. A reminder, for me, of the Trump crowd sizes in the weeks running up to the 2016 election.
Lots of new material in Trump& #39;s speech aimed specifically at the large Latino population in the area. Trump mentions Colombia and Nicaragua, for example.
I just saw a Secret Service join in the YMCA dance after Trump left the stage, albeit for a split second.
I thought I saw this from a distance when Trump walked in. He really did throw masks into the rally crowd.
The Trump campaign announces he will be back here in Florida this Friday, this time in Ocala, before heading on to Macon in Georgia.