Donald Trump says he has overcome the coronavirus – and you can, too.
In his video message from the White House, a mask-less Trump tells the American public: “Don’t be afraid of it. You’re going to beat it.”
And so the president’s message in the final weeks of his re-election campaign takes shape. He contracted the coronavirus because he was an out-front leader and he “had to do that”.
“Nobody that’s a leader would not do what I did,” he said.
It is a message almost messianic in its undertones – one that the rest of his party is amplifying. The president has suffered and overcome, and will lead the nation to a promised land beyond the virus.
New York Post columnist Miranda Devine, quote-tweeted by the president, said Mr Trump would return to the campaign trail as an “invincible hero”. Georgia Senator Kelly Loeffler tweeted out a video of Mr Trump tackling a virus-headed antagonist.
There is political and personal risk for the president, of course. He could experience a relapse or long-term medical difficulties. Americans who have lost loved ones to the disease may find his words and actions ill-considered or offensive.
The president, however, seems determined to turn his recent weakness into a strength.