By the time the sun rose on Walter Reed medical center in suburban Washington on Sunday, a small but diverse group of 15 supporters had gathered by the gate, waving Trump banners towards the passing drivers, whose reactions ranged from a honking horn to a middle finger and curses.
By evening, the gathering of the faithful had swollen to several score and their patience and resolve was rewarded by a slow drive-past by the first patient himself, determine to show his followers he was undimmed by his brush with virus, whatever the cost to the Secret Service men obliged to sit in his hermetically-sealed armoured car.
Ann and James Wass had been there since before dawn and had been unperturbed by the negative reactions in this solidly Democratic neighbourhood. They had come to pray for Donald Trump and were inviting everyone who passed to do the same, whatever their religious inclination.
They were not wearing masks because they were outdoors, the Wasses said, despite the close proximity to their fellow Trump fans.
“Some people get sick, some people don’t get sick,” Ann observed. The president would pull through despite his age, she predicted, because he did not smoke or drink and got regular exercise, though she did concede “he is a tad overweight”.
By nine, the sunlight was illuminating the smooth green lawns that slope up to the imposing art deco tower of the US navy hospital. The Wasses, however, had been there since six, arriving from their Maryland home when, as James put it, “the moon was doing a nice dance in the western sky”.
Source: US Politics - theguardian.com
