“You go tell people I’m watching this coverage [reporting he’s taken a turn for the worse].
“I feel I could get out of here right now. But they’re telling me there can always be a backstep with this disease. But I feel I could go out and do a rally.
“I am the president of the United States. I can’t lock myself in a room. … I had to confront [the virus] so the American people stopped being afraid of it so we could deal with it responsibly.
“We have made tremendous progress on treating this disease. Fatality rates are very low compared to [the beginning].
“I’m going to beat this.
“Then I will be able to show people we can deal with this disease responsibly, but we shouldn’t be afraid of it.
“If I had handled it any other way, I would have created more panic, more fear in the American people.
“We are making great progress on dealing with this disease and making better progress with the economy than anyone had the right to expect.”