Washington: US President Donald Trump said he felt like a "Superman" after his experimental COVID-19 treatment and boasted about his new immunity to the disease which has claimed the lives of 2,16,000 Americans.
Trump, who tested positive for COVID-19 on October 1 and was admitted to a military hospital for three nights and four days, declared himself cured after he was treated with an experimental antibody drug cocktail.
White House doctors have now cleared him for holding election rallies.
Holding his second rally since contracting coronavirus, Trump told a crowd of his supporters packed onto an airport tarmac in Johnstown, Pennsylvania that he felt like 'Superman' after the treatment.
Trump was briefly forced to pause his re-election campaign after he tested positive for COVID-19 and he returned to the campaign trail from the battleground state of Florida on Monday.
Addressing his supporters in Pennsylvania, another battleground state, Trump, 74, thanked the doctors that treated him.
"All I know is I took something, whatever the hell it was, I felt good very quickly. I don't know what it was, antibodies, antibodies. I don't know. I took it, I said I felt like superman," Trump said.
Read more: Trump tells Florida supporters he feels 'powerful' and wants to 'kiss everyone'
"Then I said, let me at 'em. Nah, and I could've been here four or five days ago. It's great, we have great doctors. I want to thank the doctors at Walter Reed and Johns Hopkins, and--great doctors," he said.
Trump said, that "one great thing about being president if you're not feeling 100 per cent you have more doctors than you thought existed in the world. I was surrounded with like 14 of them. Where are you from? I'm from this one. Where are you from? I'm from Johns Hopkins, I'm from Walter Reed. But what great, talented people. They did a great job."
Boasting about his new immunity to the disease, Trump said he can kiss everyone in the audience.
And now I'm immune they tell me. I'm immune. I could come down and start kissing everybody. I'll kiss every guy--man and woman. Man and woman. Look at that guy how handsome he is. I'll kiss him. Not with a lot of enjoyment but that's okay, the president joked.
Trump also did an informal poll of the crowd and asked his supporters who have had the virus. A lot of people, a lot of people, Trump said, and added those people are now immune.
Trump said he could have stayed in the basement of the White House or maybe the top floor of the White House.
"I could have done that. But I'm the president of the US. I can't do that. I gotta get out and I have to meet people and I have to see people. And I know it's risky to do that. But you have to do what you have to do. I'm the president. I can't sit in the basement and say let's wait for this thing out. I'm not gonna do that," he said.
Also read: Trump throws masks at supporters in Florida rally
(With inputs from PTI)
