Lara Trump in North Hills: President Trump 'wants to get back out' on campaign trail ASAP

Barely a week after testing positive for covid-19, President Donald Trump is feeling energetic and eager to jump back on the campaign trail, his daughter-in-law said Thursday while stumping in Western Pennsylvania.

Lara Trump, senior campaign adviser and wife of Trump’s son Eric, shrugged off tweets from local Democratic elected officials discouraging the president from visiting the region again as soon as Monday.

“The president would never go anywhere without testing negative multiple times. He’s going to take all of the precautions and listen to the advice of medical professionals,” she told the Tribune-Review on Thursday during a brief appearance before a few dozen volunteers and supporters at the Trump campaign’s field office in McCandless. “So whether it’s coming to Pennsylvania, whether it’s going to a debate in person, that is exactly what the president wants to do — he wants to get back out.

“He’s going to make sure it’s a safe thing for everybody, of course.”

‘Not overly concerned about it’

Personally, after hosting a virtual national prayer for the recovery of President Trump and first lady Melania Trump on Sunday that drew 1.2 million live viewers, Lara Trump said she did not hesitate to resume campaigning this week.

“No qualms to get back out here. I couldn’t wait to get back out,” she said on one of eight stops of the “Women for Trump” bus tour before headlining a larger speaking engagement in New Castle. “Eric and I both had three covid tests in the span of seven days, all negative. Look, I think that this is very important. It’s important to be back out here.”

The 37-year-old North Carolina native married Eric Trump in 2014. She left her job as a television producer at “Inside Edition” to work on the 2016 Trump presidential campaign.

At Thursday’s McCandless stop, she kept a distance from the small audience — most of whom were wearing face masks — while delivering brief remarks in support of clinching a second term for Trump by again winning in Pennsylvania. She then signed autographs and posed for photographs with local volunteers outside an all-pink “Women for Trump” tour bus.

“Obviously, we take precautions. We do wear masks. We are constantly washing our hands, sanitizing our bus,” Lara Trump said. “We’re trying to keep distance from people whenever we are at these events.

“But look, I’m not overly concerned about it. I think like all Americans, what we need to do … and right now it’s really important, really crucial that we spread the message about getting out and voting for the president and vice president and making sure that we get four more years.”

Visit details unclear

The Trump campaign has not provided any official details on a reported visit to the Pittsburgh area planned for Monday — which would mark 11 days since the president fell ill with the coronavirus disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that coronavirus patients should isolate for at least 10 days.

“I feel great. I feel, like, perfect,” Trump said in a video posted Thursday to his Twitter account.

A tweet Wednesday night by White House correspondent Maggie Haberman of The New York Times about a likely Monday presidential visit prompted Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald to fire back on Twitter, “Thanks but no thanks.”

“We have heard he’s coming, but have no other detail or information,” Allegheny County spokeswoman Amie Downs said.

Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto replied on his Twitter account, “I thought those who even were in the presence of covid-19 are to quarantine for 14 days? One sure way that Pittsburgh’s residents can be heard … Vote … like your life depends on it.”

RELATED: Trump coming to Pittsburgh? National reporters say it’s in the works

Expert’s opinion on Trump’s health

Dr. Amesh Adalja, Pittsburgh-based infectious disease specialist, critical care physician and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said that CDC guidelines calling for more than 10 days of isolation time apply to more severe cases of the coronavirus disease, or to people with possible significant exposure and must wait out the incubation period. It can take two days to two weeks to display symptoms after exposure.

“For a moderate case, and I think the president’s case, as best as we can tell, it’s probably, most likely to be a moderate case, is a 10-day isolation period,” Adalja said. “For people who have severe cases, the CDC does recommend 20 days.

“The problem about making these types of determinations is that the president’s medical team have been very opaque about how severe it was, what the oxygen levels were. It’s hard to know exactly where he falls.”

Trump was still contagious with the virus when he was discharged from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Monday after a three-day stay, but the president’s doctors did not immediately disclose a detailed update on his status.

“I walked in, I didn’t feel good. A short 24 hours later, I was feeling great; I wanted to get out of the hospital,” Trump said on Twitter. “I could’ve stayed at the White House, but the doctors said, ‘Because you’re president, let’s do this.’ I said, ‘Fine, you tell me what to do and I’m going to listen.’ These are great professionals, they’ve done a fantastic job.”

Haberman, citing at least three insider sources corroborated by other national reporters, said the president likely would not hold a full-blown, mostly unmasked rally akin to his recent events that drew thousands of people outside airport hangars in Moon Township and outside Latrobe.

“The question at a political rally goes beyond just the president. You have so many people that travel with the president, and the White House is right now, for all intents and purposes, a hot spot,” Adalja said. “At rallies, there’s not social distancing and people are yelling and screaming. … There are ways to campaign that reduce the risk. It’s a matter of what event he chooses to do.”

Also unclear is how the next two planned presidential debates will play out, with Trump refusing to participate in a proposed virtual version of next week’s scheduled debate in Miami.

RELATED: Trump vows not to participate in virtual debate with Biden

In line with Trump’s rush to rebound and resume travel, Trump surrogates have not slowed aggressive campaigning in battleground states such as Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania — which political science observers deem critical to Trump winning re-election. The Nov. 3 presidential election is less than four weeks away, though mail-in voting has begun in Pennsylvania and around the country.

“We fight for every single vote,” Lara Trump said. “We want to work for every vote. We play the game like we’re behind every second until we win.”

Lara Trump’s “Women for Trump” bus tour on Thursday followed a slew of similar “Team Trump” bus tour events in recent weeks.

“We all want to get back to normal life. We all want to know we can safely send our kids to school,” she said. “We all want to know that … America returns to the booming economy and great job environment that we had not too many months ago under President Donald Trump.”

Lara Trump dismissed Biden, often viewed as more centrist and moderate, as a “Trojan horse for the far-left socialists who now run the Democratic Party” and a threat to Pennsylvania and elsewhere via “job-killing regulations.”

“He wants to fundamentally transform this country. Well, don’t we have news for Joe Biden and his far-left Senate candidate now running as his vice president: We don’t want to fundamentally transform America. We love the United States of America. This is the greatest country in the history of the world, we are the beacon of hope for those around the world facing tyranny, communism, oppression.”

In response to Lara Trump’s New Castle event, Nancy Patton Mills, chair of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, issued a statement: “President Trump’s failed, ineffective leadership has left Pennsylvania women behind.

“He’s in court trying to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, which has done more to deliver comprehensive health care coverage and lower costs for women than any legislation in over half a century — and as we saw in last night’s debate, he and Vice President (Mike) Pence still don’t have a plan to protect pre-existing conditions,” Mills said. “He’s also continued to try to enact massive cuts to Medicaid that will leave working Pennsylvania women out in the cold when it comes to health care, including closing women’s health centers. Enough is enough.”

RELATED: Joe Biden Express rolls into Western Pennsylvania for whistle-stop train