President Donald Trump has returned to the campaign trail less than two weeks after testing positive for coronavirus.
He told thousands of supporters, many not wearing masks, that he could give them “a big fat kiss”, at a rally in the battleground state of Florida.
His rival, Joe Biden, speaking in Ohio, accused the president of “reckless behaviour” since his diagnosis.
The two presidential candidates are scrambling to secure votes with three weeks until the 3 November election.
Opinion polls suggests Mr Biden has a 10-point lead over Mr Trump nationally. However his lead in some key states is narrower – as is the case in Florida, where the Democrat is 3.7 points ahead, according to an average of polls collated by Real Clear Politics.
In his first stump appearance following his Covid-19 diagnosis and recovery, a re-invigorated Mr Trump returned to his campaign’s familiar themes and lines of attack against Mr Biden.
He touted stock market growth, the establishment of the US Space Force and his successful confirmation of two conservative Supreme Court justices to the bench – with a third nominee, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, before the Senate this week – as major achievements.
Before a crowd of several thousand he denounced plans to prolong shutdowns supported by Democrats and sought to question Mr Biden’s mental acuity.
Referring to his own recovery from Covid-19, he said at one point: “They say I’m immune – I feel so powerful. I’ll walk in there and kiss everyone. I’ll kiss the guys and the beautiful women, I’ll give you a big, fat kiss.”
Though reinfections of the virus remain rare scientists are still questioning how much immunity can be built up to the virus
