Thread by @politico

President Donald Trump surprised his supporters this afternoon with a drive outside of Walter Reed Medical Center, in Bethesda, Maryland, where he has been hospitalized with Covid-19 since Friday politi.co/34mQs9z

The masked president was captured on video waving from inside a black SUV in his presidential motorcade, which passed by cheering people on the street who were standing close to one another, many of them not wearing masks politi.co/34mQs9z

On Sunday afternoon, hundreds of Trump supporters congregated outside of Walter Reed hospital, handing out water and snacks and flying every brand of MAGA flag to show support for a president recovering from #Covid19
politico.com/news/2020/10/0…

MAGA Country had gathered to celebrate and pray for its leader — an impromptu festival-meets-vigil for its venerated, living saint.

“Trump was sent from God!” declared one poster
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After hours of listening to their cheers on Sunday, Trump emerged from his isolation chamber to greet them.

He rolled past in his motorcade, waving from the window of his massive armored SUV, offering blessings from a hermetically sealed popemobile politi.co/34xO0gG

As the crowd grew larger and louder on Sunday, police put up barricades to keep it from spilling into the streets.

Religious leaders have called on the nation to pray for Trump. And the gathering was, in a way, the spiritual center of his rattled base politi.co/2F6fwsQ

In the days since Trump’s #Covid diagnosis was announced, his followers and allies have pinned their hopes on his well-cultivated image of robust health and spiritual fortitude.

Here's a shot of the scene today, where some have traveled even across the country to show support