President Trump raved about his health and the size of the crowd greeting him Friday afternoon at Ocala International Airport.
Air Force One touched down at about 4 p.m. much to the joy of a cheering crowd which lined up for nearly a mile about five hours before the 1 p.m. opening of the doors for the event held on the airport tarmac.
The mostly maskless crowd was ecstatic when Trump finally stepped off the plane to the patriotic sound of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.”
When Trump got a good look at the crowd, it was clear that he was pleased.
“That’s fantastic. What a crowd!” Trump said.
He immediately assailed the assembled news media, but had a request for them.
“Turn the cameras around. Can you show the crowd?” said Trump, who added that the media was probably going to lie about the number of people who attended the event.
The heat and brutal sun took its toll on the members of the crowd. EMS attended to many of the people who suffered from heat exhaustion.
Trump, who two weeks earlier had been helicoptered to Walter Reed Army Medical suffering from COVID-19, was the picture of health when he took the stage in Ocala.
He pointed out that adviser Hope Hicks, who tested positive days before Trump, was traveling with him. He called Hicks to the stage, but she appeared to be bashful. Undaunted, Trump encouraged the crowd to chant, “We want Hope!”
When she finally stepped to the podium, which was adorned with the presidential seal, she offered a little Coronavirus humor.
“We can share a microphone now,” quipped Hicks, who appears to have recovered from the virus that has killed nearly 16,000 Floridians.
Trump reported that his 14-year-son Barron and First Lady Melania Trump are doing fine. He who spoke for 90 minutes without even a sip of water and bragged about his own health.
“I don’t know what the hell they gave me, but I feel great,” Trump said.
He promised that the same medicine he received during COVID-19 treatment will be made available to “everybody who needs it.” He said he had signed an emergency declaration to make that happen.
Despite what the polls may indicate, Trump predicted a big victory on Election Day, but admitted he needs the help of Florida’s voters.
“We will have a red wave the likes of which they have never seen before. We will win Florida and we will win the White House for four more years,” Trump said.
The crowd interrupted Trump with chants of “Four more years.”
It wasn’t enough.
“Why don’t you drive them crazy and chant ’12 more years?’”