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'I'm Feeling Great': President Trump Speaks At First Public Event Since Hospital Visit

(CBS) -  Immediately removing his mask, President Donald Trump spoke to hundreds of people gathered on the White House lawn on Saturday.

It was his first public speaking appearance since he was hospitalized for the coronavirus.

"First of all, I'm feeling great. I don't know about you. How is everyone feeling?" President Trump said to a cheering crowd.

The exact progress of his recovery remains a mystery, but the President painted a somewhat optimistic picture of the COVID-19 fight.

"Science, medicine will eradicate the China virus, once and for all. We'll get rid of it all over the world," President Trump said. "It's going to disappear. It is disappearing. Vaccines are going to help, and the therapeutics are going to help a lot. "

During his speech, the President compared his record on race relations to a past chief executive.     

"I have done more for the black community than any President since since Abraham Lincoln. I say it. Nobody can dispute it," said Trump.

As for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, he campaigned in Pennsylvania, hammering Trump for how he has handled the virus nationally.

"When [President Trump] was told 100,000 people were dying, you know what he said? He said, 'It is what it is'. Well, it is what it is because he is who he is. More than 7.5 million Americans have been infected and counting," Biden said.

President Trump says he will soon take his campaign on the road, holding a rally in Florida on Monday just outside Orlando, with the election just over three weeks away.

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