Donald Trump Jr. updates on father's condition after COVID diagnosis

President's eldest son tells 'Tucker Carlson Tonight' how Trump's illness will impact presidential campaign

Oct. 2, 2020 – This is a rush transcript from “Tucker Carlson Tonight " October 2, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST: Good evening and welcome to TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT. Just a few hours ago, the President of the United States was taken by helicopter to the Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

We learned late last night as you know that Donald Trump and his wife, Melania have tested positive for the coronavirus. Today, the President began showing symptoms of that, including a fever. White House doctors pushed him to go to a larger facility for treatment.

Before he left the White House this afternoon, the President taped this message.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to thank everybody for the tremendous support. I'm moving to Walter Reed Hospital. I think I'm doing very well. But we're going to make sure that things work out. The First Lady is doing very well.

So thank you very much. I appreciate it. I will never forget it. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: How sick is the President tonight? Sick enough to go to the hospital. How much will we read into that? How concerned should we be?

We're going to spend the rest of this hour doing our best to find out.

We'll speak to a number of people who are close to the First Family including the President's son.

But we're going to start tonight with our White House correspondent, Kevin Corke who joins us from outside Walter Reed. Hey, Kevin.

KEVIN CORKE, FOX NEWS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Tucker, good evening.

There are three major angles on this story. Obviously, there's the health angle. There's also the governance angle. And yes, there is a political angle to this story.

First, the health angle. As we all have heard throughout the afternoon, the White House felt like out an abundance of caution, it was important to get the President here. Doctors have said this gives them an opportunity to work in a facility that they're used to working in if they need to give him something say intravenously like remdesivir or something like that. They will have the facility already set up.

There is as I've also mentioned, the governance angle to this. Yes, there is a huge office suite here specifically for the President of the United States. In fact, we also know that the President -- let me take this out of my ear for just a second there, Tucker. We also know that the President can continue to do the work for the American people. In fact, within the hour, I saw that he approved an emergency declaration for the State of New York.

So the business of the people does continue.

Yes, there is also the political angle to this. What happens moving forward? We do know that right around the end of the 14-day quarantine, the President is supposed to be taking part in another Town Hall debate with the former Vice President, Joe Biden.

We heard from the campaign today that they are considering some changes to the format; perhaps that will move forward, perhaps not. We simply don't know.

But right now everyone is wondering, how is the President of the United States? We do know, based on what we've heard from his doctors that he is resting comfortably. He has been feeling some symptoms, but as you also played there in the video, he seems to be feeling fine and he is hoping to recover quickly.

One last thing, I can tell you this, Tucker, we also saw on Twitter, a number of world leaders express their support for the President and the First Lady. Among them, Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister of the U.K. As you know, he also is recovering from COVID-19 -- Tucker.

CARLSON: Kevin Corke for us outside Walter Reed in Bethesda, Maryland.

Thank you, Kevin.

The White House physician said today that the President has received an experimental antibody treatment from the biotech company, Regeneron. He is also taking zinc, vitamin D, daily aspirin as well as a cocktail of other drugs.

So what do we know as of tonight, as of right now about the President's condition? We do know the White House has extensive medical treatment facilities, but he has been moved to a hospital. What does that tell us, if anything?

Dr. Marc Siegel is a FOX News medical contributor. He has been following this since the beginning and he joins us tonight. Doctor, good to see you.

DR. MARC SIEGEL, FOX NEWS MEDICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Tucker, I have to tell you that over the years, I watched people in terms of how they respond to illness when I'm treating them, and COVID-19 is no exception to that. I've been watching my patients recover from it.

I'm very heartened today to see how the President is responding to begin with, with cheer, with strength, with courage, and maybe we can get some national healing out of this. That would be really great, wouldn't it?

Now in the hospital, we all know that he is taking monoclonal antibodies, Regeneron's product, early studies seem to show that it boosts your immune response and decreases the amount of virus. We know that people with low amounts of vitamin D don't do as well. So he is taking vitamin D.

We've heard and looked at some studies that show that zinc helps. More zinc decreases the amount of virus in your body.

Also aspirin, we've had a lot of blood clotting problems with COVID-19, which I've talked to you about. The fact is that he is on an aspirin. It looks like a lot of careful consideration went into this.

Now what is he doing in the hospital? You know, people are worried about that. But as Kevin just said, it's a big suite and it's a matter of a precaution. He may in fact be doing quite well.

But why would we want to observe him? We want to see what his oxygen level is, Tucker. We want to see that his heart rate is okay. And I mentioned already, we want to make sure no blood clotting is forming and no inflammation is going on.

All of that is a matter of precaution. It is not a sign of a severe illness. It may very well still be a mild illness and a precautionary one.

But the whole country is looking here and I am hoping that both sides of the political aisle will say, not criticism, not anything, but the President is standing up against illness. Let's all be with him and wish him and pray for a very rapid recovery -- Tucker.

CARLSON: Amen. So you've treated coronavirus patients. You've watched this disease since it first landed here in the United States. Tell us the typical course of it in a man the President's age. At what point will we know he is on the upswing or the downswing?

SIEGEL: So that's a really important question, and his age of 74. You know, even at the age of 74, about 95 percent get full recoveries. You know, less than five percent die from this, even in his age. A little bit on the overweight side, that concerns me, but he doesn't have other pre-existing conditions, which is great.

He doesn't have diabetes. He doesn't have renal failure. He doesn't have heart -- known heart disease or lung disease, all of which bodes well here.

But he came in with the initial symptoms of fatigue -- reported fatigue, fever, and some cough. That's very classic. But what I'm going to be looking for over the next several days is, do those things get worse? Those symptoms get worse? Does the fever get worse? Does the fatigue get worse?

How are his lungs doing? How is his breathing? And again, his heart and his kidneys? And his brain also, but the major organs of the body, how are they doing? And how is his breathing going?

That's what we'll be watching, and also his courage to fight illness, which we're already seeing on display -- Tucker.

CARLSON: Right. I mean, I don't think anyone is surprised by that. So by Monday, you think we'll have a better sense of how this illness is progressing?

SIEGEL: Yes, because as we've talked about here extensively, this is not one illness. It's two illnesses. Illness, number one is the virus. Illness number two is the damage it can do in terms of inflammation in the lungs, and the other side effects.

We should be able to know by about Monday or Tuesday, whether those complications are kicking in or not and that's why he is there for precautionary purposes. We should be able to tell by the beginning of next week. We'll still want to see him monitored closely for days after that.

But by the beginning of next week, we'll see which direction.

CARLSON: Good. Thank you for clarity on that.

SIEGEL: I am optimistic.

CARLSON: Dr. Siegel, great to see you.

In just a few moments, we'll be joined by the President's oldest son, Don, Jr. Of course, across the world tonight, people are praying that we will learn good news about the President's condition.

Over at CNN, however, we are told again and again that the President deserved the sickness that he got and they trotted out the usual hacks to explain why he deserved it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: A lot of people have been put in jeopardy by the President's behavior, and now we have learned, of course, this morning that one of those people is the President himself.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: But he just couldn't get over the fact that in his mind, the mask equals weakness equals I'm not on top of this virus.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: So perhaps a bit of a shock this morning for Americans, but not necessarily a surprise.

HARWOOD: It is also the most vivid possible demonstration of the incompetence and the irresponsibility of the administration.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: In large part, it is his own their dereliction is partly to blame for this. He chose to go out to rallies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: Imagine. He just announced he was infected. He just got to Walter Reed. He deserved it. They didn't wait long.

Of course millions of Americans had been diagnosed with the coronavirus.

Probably people you know, probably people in your family. We can say that.

Hundreds of thousands have died.

CNN's expert panelists are saying, they all deserved it. They must have been. They were careless. They were derelict in their duties.

If there was a lesson from the coverage of this, it's a very familiar lesson. The media class is willing to attack the rest of the country if they think it will hurt the President they despise it. If they think it will give them more political power.

And of course, it wasn't just the media. In fact, the official message of the Democratic Party is the Donald Trump had it coming.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): We all receive that news with great sadness. I always pray for the President and his family that they are safe. I continue to do so more intensified.

This is tragic. It's very sad. But it also is something that again, going into crowds, unmasked and all the rest was sort of a brazen invitation for something like this to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: Raised an invitation. He asked for it. He was dressed provocatively. That's what Nancy Pelosi just told you. Many other Democrats are echoing that sentiment.

Rick Leventhal has been following this reaction from the Democratic Party.

He joins us tonight to explain more -- Rick.

RICK LEVENTHAL, FOX NEWS SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Tucker. There are a lot of people wishing the President and First Lady well on Twitter, sending thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery, but no surprise, the haters are not holding back, actually saying they hope the First Couple die.

And Twitter says, it is immediately removing those messages because they violate policy. Here's one from former Obama staffer, Zara Rahim, who shared this and then apparently self-deleted a post reading, "It's been against my moral identity to tweet this for the past four years, but I hope he dies."

Then there Steve Cox, an independent candidate for California's 39th District who posted numerous tweets wishing death on the President and then wrote, quote, "By 'I hope they both die,' I was talking about Trump and Biden, not Melania. She seems nice."

And former Elizabeth Warren staffer, Max Berger wrote, "Trump has destroyed millions of lives, he deserves none of our sympathy."

Some Twitter users have compiled a library of mean tweets wishing the worst on the President and there are too many of them to count, Tucker.

In a statement, Twitter says, "Content that wishes, hopes or expresses a desire for death or serious bodily harm or fatal disease against an individual is against our rules." And Twitter says, "It will reprioritize the removal of content when it has a clear call to action that could cause real world harm." That's a quote.

Meanwhile, the President's tweet announcing he had the virus was his most popular ever, at last count, tallying, 1.7 million likes -- Tucker.

CARLSON: Unbelievable. Rick Leventhal. Thank you.

LEVENTHAL: Sure.

CARLSON: If you find yourself rooting for someone's death, anyone's death, it's time to pause and take stock of how your own soul has rotted. We're all going to die in the end. And trust me as we do, we're going to regret thinking things like that about other people.

We actually debated whether or not to put that on the air tonight. It's so ugly in general. Our view is don't put things on TV that are that ugly, but we felt we should because it is everywhere today, and we want you to know why.

There are some who are rooting for the President's demise and the Vice President's demise so that Nancy Pelosi might become President. That sounds insane. And it is, but they put it on MSNBC anyway. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: This is a very serious health threat. You are second in line for the presidency. Has the White House contacted you about the continuity of government?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: CNN had a similar message today.

So this is political opportunism, obviously, but it's more than that. It is spiritual sickness, hatred -- festering hatred has driven these people bananas. Truly.

On CNN today, Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy, who sits in the United States Senate, proved the point better than we ever could. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): If President Trump can't be out there on the campaign trail for the next two weeks, then he is going to rely on his surrogates and unfortunately, one of his surrogates is Vladimir Putin.

So you are likely going to see this campaign ramped up by Russia over the next few weeks to try to substitute for the President's absence on the campaign trail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: I'm sorry. Again, we apologize even for playing garbage like that.

The President of the United States is in the hospital, with a life threatening illness. He seems to be fine, but you don't know.

And that buffoon is on television saying Vladimir Putin is one of his surrogates. Probably some teenage assistant wrote that for him and he thinks it is clever. We put that on the air because we want you to know what they're saying as the President was flown to Walter Reed tonight.

What does it even mean by the way? Mark Steyn joins us tonight to decode what they're saying. As always, the clearest thinker we know. Mark Steyn, great to see you. What is this?

MARK STEYN, AUTHOR AND COLUMNIST: Well, just -- I hadn't heard that thing from Chris Murphy until he played it just now, Tucker. That is absolutely ridiculous. The idea that Trump is in the hospital, so his surrogate, Putin, will have to do more interference.

Just to get back to reality -- we have a life --

CARLSON: Can I just say, and I mean this -- I would rather live in a country run by Putin than by Chris Murphy, I'll tell you that. I mean it.

I'd rather live in a country run by anybody than someone like Chris Murphy.

Truly. Sorry.

STEYN: Oh, no. If Chris Murphy is in the line of succession, I'm on the first plane out of here because it's over.

What's actually happened is that the real colluders, the real interferers, the Chinese Communist Party has managed to impact three of the G-7 leaders.

CARLSON: Exactly.

STEYN: They put my old chum, Boris in the Intensive Care Unit and he has never been the same since. He is permanently damaged. They put the Prime Minister of Canada's wife -- she's had this thing, and now we have the President of the United States.

So that's three sevenths of the G-7. That's a pretty impressive strike rate from the real strategic threat this country, while Chris Murphy is talking about his clapped out stupid, four-year-old Russia conspiracy that in fact has nothing to do with anything real anywhere on the planet.

CARLSON: That is a really deep point. And I have to ask you, I wasn't expecting to go here. What do you mean -- so you worked -- for our viewers who don't know, you wrote with, worked with as a journalist with Boris Johnson who currently runs Great Britain. He is Prime Minister. What do you mean he's never been the same since? What were the effects of it on him?

STEYN: Well, I think one of the things I urged particularly is that when Boris first was diagnosed, he stayed in 10 Downing Street, and he carried on tweeting and he carried on doing these little Skype videos, and he overworked, which wound up putting him in the hospital with more severe symptoms.

But he came out a changed man, and in fact, his Ministry is changed. The entire government of the United Kingdom is kind of listless and hasn't properly convalesced from his illness. And my concern here, by the way, this is a remarkable series of events. The story has been moving through the day.

But if Boris has anything to go by, even when you get over the COVID, and let's not forget that the President is 20 years older than Boris. Even when you get over the COVID, you can't then immediately go back on the campaign trail and be working 24/7.

I'm concerned that Boris is the model here that effectively the President will be out of combat from now until November the 3rd, and that's amazing.

That actually is the October surprise to end them all.

CARLSON: So we have evidence, there's real scientific evidence from scientists. We don't know this definitively, but we are not going to dismiss it, that this virus emerged from a Chinese government lab in Wuhan, China -- in Central China.

And yet, we seem to have this kind of weird gentleman's agreement never to mention that. We're never to mention Chinese culpability in this scourge.

Why do you think that is?

STEYN: Well, I think what -- I think for a start, there are real penalties to be made for annoying the Chinese. The Chinese actually invaded India in May, while we were all in lockdown, nobody noticed it. But they actually got into a shooting war with India.

What they've done in Hong Kong is basically a big "up yours" to Boris.

They've threatened the Australians.

They are on the rise. They're actually doing this every day.

The Chinese government newspaper was gloating within hours about the President and the First Lady's diagnosis, and yet this buffoon who is one of the 300 million Americans, who one of 100 from 300 million people who gets to sit in the United States Senate thinks this is something to do with Putin.

I mean, this is Orwellian, the fact that we've actually got a rampant China threatening all manner of countries, boasting about how it flies into Taiwanese airspace when American Cabinet officials are there, just to tell them who's really boss, and Chris Murphy thinks, "Ha-ha-ha. The President being taken to the hospital is just a great opportunity to dust off the old four-year-old Putin jokes." Pathetic.

CARLSON: We've been so up in our own butts in this country, so inwardly focused, that we're missing -- and I don't want to overstate this, because I don't want to be hysterical, but effectively a massive expansion of Chinese hegemony around the world.

I don't want to say Chinese takeover of the world, but I mean, that's where moving it seems like.

STEYN: NO, absolutely. We are like the beginning of the "Godzilla" movie where there's a strange indentation in the ground and where we are all standing around in it saying, "What's going on?" And then the camera pans up and you realize it's a giant footprint.

CARLSON: Right.

STEYN: And the giant footprint is China's. So when you're like this buffoon, Murphy, and you're doing your four-year-old Putin gags, you're actually wasting valuable time in public discourse for a -- and this is again, my worry, because actually the President, you know, really the whole rise of China was a bipartisan racket in Washington.

And President Trump personally, was the one who actually put it on the front burner and addressed it. And my concern is that actually, there wasn't a single question about China at that debate a couple of days ago, and my concern is that with the President in the hospital, there's not going to be any more talk about China.

CARLSON: Right. Oh white supremacy, BLM, yes. And we're missing the transformation of the world, which is transforming to our disadvantage, which will be the central fact of our grandchildren's lives, but we're just kind of acting like it's not happening because like, something happened in Louisville.

STEYN: Absolutely.

CARLSON: I mean, this is embarrassing. We're embarrassing ourselves.

STEYN: No, no, no. Absolutely. And as I said, three G-7 governments have been hit at the various highest level, three out of seven. That's a hell of a strike rate for the Chinese.

CARLSON: Yes, it's time to break the spell of narcissism and wake up. There is a rest of the world out there.

I really appreciate your sounding that call, Mark Steyn. Good to see you.

STEYN: Thanks. Thanks a lot, Tucker. Thank you.

CARLSON: Well, as promised, Donald Trump Jr. is here with an update on his father's condition. Don, first of all, thanks for coming on. We're really sorry about this. What can you tell us about your father's condition right now?

Don Trump, can you hear me?

We're going to go back to Mark Steyn really quick as we try and debug our audio here.

So Mark, the one thing that nobody has mentioned here is sort of like the effect on the presidential race of this. And we don't know that. You can kind of see it going in either direction. I don't want to speculate too much. But we are effectively a month away.

What do you think this does to the race? I can see it from both ends.

STEYN: Well, you know, what's interesting is he is a man in his early 70s, and as people have been saying, he is a little bit overweight. There have been people of his age around the world who have had this thing and just taken a couple of weeks off.

And that's why I think a lot of people who think this might just be a mild case will be a little rattled by the scenes of the helicopter on the South Lawn taking off for the Medical Center. And I wonder about, you know, putting aside the President's health for a moment, I wonder if just the optics of that might actually rattle people a little bit more than you might wish to do.

I'd certainly be interested to hear what Don, Jr. has to say about that and the reasons for it, but it's very different.

I can't recall that situation, the drama of it with any other world leader who has been afflicted by this thing. That is something new and abundance of caution is the catchphrase of the day. But I'm not sure whether the optics won't actually alarm a lot of the President's supporters.

And so Don, Jr. I hope will be able to reassure us on that point.

CARLSON: I hope so, too. Mark Steyn, thank you.

STEYN: Thank you.

CARLSON: We are going to have Don, Jr. back in just a minute, audio fix. As you may have heard, Corey Lewandowski with the President at that now famous fundraiser in Minnesota yesterday. He says he is now self-isolating out of an abundance of caution, though he has not yet tested positive for the virus, we hope he never does.

Corey Lewandowski is a senior adviser to the Trump campaign. We're happy to have him on tonight. Corey, thanks so much for coming on.

So, first, since you were there, physically there, how did the President seem on Thursday?

COREY LEWANDOWSKI, SENIOR ADVISER TO THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN: Well, look, Tucker, let me just talk you through how it works at these private fundraisers. First, in order to gain access, every person has to produce a negative COVID test. That's a protocol that's in place regardless of the homeowner. You're the host of the event or somebody working at it. That's the first thing.

Secondly, there was rope and stanchion up everywhere, and so there was no one who was getting in close proximity to the President. Even when he went to take pictures with people, they were standing eight or nine feet apart, and you can see that in the pictures that those recipients would have had the opportunity to take.

So there was an abundance of caution, even in those confines where everyone in the room had a negative COVID test. So that's very, very important.

Look, the President was very upbeat. He seemed very happy. He was talking about the debate performance from a few nights beforehand. And I can tell you, there was no indication whatsoever that he was fatigued or tired in any way, shape, or form.

CARLSON: I mean, the idea that he says -- and this is not -- I'm not running interference for Trump, I'm running interference for the entire country. We all go outside. We all go to the grocery store.

You know, we're not super spreaders. The idea that anybody who emerges from his basement is Typhoid Mary, and putting everyone at risk is a lie, and we should not allow that lie to stand. Period.

You know, none of us want to be captive. So how is he doing? How is he doing now? I mean, I just have got to be honest you, obviously, we're rooting for him, not because we like him, but because he's a human being.

Okay.

But he went to Walter Reed. Maybe it's not a big deal. Maybe it is. I mean, what's the truth?

LEWANDOWSKI: So the truth is, I've had the chance to speak with Chief of Staff Meadows tonight about the President's current situation. Look, they took the President there out of an abundance of caution and knowing the President the way that I do, knowing that he is a warrior, a fighter, and for the seven years I've known him, I've never seen him spend a day in the hospital other than his routine physicals since he's been the President.

I can tell you, I'm sure he didn't want to go. But the experts have said --

CARLSON: I've heard that.

LEWANDOWSKI: That once you have the coronavirus, the faster you treat it, the faster you recover. The more quickly they can combat this virus, the better it is for everybody.

So they moved him to Walter Reed probably against his own wishes, but he succumb to the advice of the medical professionals around him to ensure that he can recover as quickly as possible and continue to fight for America.

CARLSON: So I heard something recently from -- I think, someone who would know, which is kind of heartening and it goes to the question of preexisting conditions. As far as -- according to someone I spoke to, the President only takes a daily aspirin. That's it.

He's not on any long term drugs, statin drugs, or you know, that 74-year- old men are on a lot of different pills, typically. He is not on any, is that true?

LEWANDOWSKI: To the best of my knowledge, it is true, Tucker. And I can tell you as someone who has stood by this President for the better part of six years now, he outworks people who are 40 years younger than him.

You know, the staff has always said, "Hey, sir, can you slow down? Can you not do so much?" You know, there is no question when you're a member of the press corps or you're the general public, you see how hard this President works.

No president has been able to accomplish more in his first four years than this President because he just continues to fight every single day. Look, it's something special when you have a politician, a person like Donald Trump, they have a different gear than everybody else. You see this with the great athletes. They rise to a different level than all of their competitors. That's what Donald Trump does when he fights for this country.

CARLSON: He's got a -- he's got quite a life force. I mean, you can feel it through the screen even. I think that's right.

Corey Lewandowski. Thanks for coming on tonight.

LEWANDOWSKI: Thank you, Tucker.

CARLSON: So we have fixed Donald Trump, Jr.'s audio problem. We're a TV network. We can do that. We're going to talk to him right after the break.

See you in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CARLSON: Donald Trump, Jr. is here with an update on his father's condition. Don, thanks for joining us. First, we're really sorry about this news. Have you spoken to your father since he was diagnosed? And how is he?

DONALD TRUMP, JR., EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, TRUMP ORGANIZATIONS: You know, I spoke to him this morning. You know, obviously, he is taking it seriously. But really, it is you know, business as usual with my father.

You know, I've known him for a long time.

I'm 42 years old. I don't know that I've ever seen him sick. I don't know that I've ever seen him actually have the flu or anything like that. So you know, he is obviously taking it seriously. But he's a fighter. I know he is still working. I know, he was speaking with various senators about the stimulus package today. He is going to take seriously, but if anyone could beat this, he could beat this.

CARLSON: So do we have any sense of how long he'll be staying there? Or is that unknowable?

TRUMP, JR.: You know, it's unknowable. I know, they're bringing them to Walter Reed, not for anything in particular, other than just to have an abundance of caution for the leader of the free world, so they are going to have him there, so that he can be under more close observation than they could do under the White House.

But he wasn't brought over there, unlike some of the conspiracy something or anything more than just that -- abundance of caution.

CARLSON: Right. I mean, it makes sense. I mean, he's the -- and by the way, I've no independent detail, but he is the President of the United States, of course, they're going to want to give them the best medical treatment they possibly can, just prophylactically.

So what effect does this have on the work that he is doing running the country and on his re-election campaign?

TRUMP, JR.: Listen, obviously, I love him on the road for the campaign.

That's something that he does so well. He loves that. He feeds off of that.

The enthusiasm is very palpable.

As it relates to running the free world, I don't think it changes anything.

I mean, he is a worker. He has always been a worker. Tucker, for the last few months, when I speak to my father, it's usually after midnight and he is still in the Oval Office. He is working, whether it's boosting the economy, getting that going, again; whether it's dealing with COVID during the crisis, my father has always been a worker.

He doesn't sleep much and he works hard, and he's going to keep fighting.

That's -- you know, that's what he's going to do right here, right now for the American people. So nothing is going to take a backseat. Obviously, he can't do the public appearances that he would otherwise be doing.

Right now, he is going to take that very seriously, but he is going to be out there. He's going to be working hard. As I mentioned, he is speaking with senators. He just wants to be in the action. That's the way he is.

I know, Ivanka and Jared tested negative earlier. I tested negative earlier as well, since we were in proximity with him on Tuesday. So the rest of the family seems to be holding up great, which is, you know, also good news.

You know, we look forward to sort of letting that incubation period go through and also getting back to work.

CARLSON: So, this has been floating around on a pretty wide scale since March, and your dad has been pretty much out there since March. He hasn't been hiding anywhere. He's been talking to people, a lot of people and doing a lot of big rallies. Here, he gets it a month before the election.

It's a little weird. How did he get it, do you think?

TRUMP, JR.: You know what? I don't know. The reality is, you know, the protocols around my father are pretty amazing. Like, you know, Kimberley got it earlier this summer. And the only reason we knew she actually had It was because we were getting in proximity to him, so literally anyone who is in that close proximity is tested each and every day.

You know, so you know, if he can get it, probably anyone can, you know, for better or worse, but, you know, I know that took really extensive protocols, and it didn't seem to matter.

So I'm not sure where that would have come from, or who, but you know, the reality is, this is something that can spread.

CARLSON: How is Hope doing? Hope Hicks? His adviser --

TRUMP, JR.: She is doing well also. I just texted her earlier to check in on how she is doing. And, you know, sort of, like all of those in the sort of, you know, inner circle of the Trump family, you know, just really wants to get back at it, obviously, taking it very seriously, wants to be in the game, and they're still going to be working from wherever they're quarantining, and, you know, again, for an abundance of caution, and just looking to get back on the road and get back out there fighting for the American people.

CARLSON: So you haven't said a partisan word, and you're a pretty political guy, and not afraid to hold back. You haven't said anything like that in the three minutes we've been talking now, and I don't want to bait you into saying things you don't want to say.

But some of the reactions have been, you know, outside the bounds of, I would say, even political attacks. Are you able to filter those out?

TRUMP, JR.: You know, I'm pretty good at that. You know, I fight pretty hard. I got that gene from the Trump family. But, you know, I think there's a time and a place for all of that.

You know, obviously, you take it personal. I mean, some of the stuff is pretty, pretty disgusting. But I've also had people who, you know, I know are not on our side, even people in the media who have reached out, you know, and it seemed, at least genuinely sympathetic and understanding.

So, you know, that leads me to believe -- it makes me feel reasonably good about where things are. Some of this stuff is way below the belt. It's not worth acknowledging that. That's okay, that's -- you know, whatever it is, people can decide what that is.

Obviously, as a son, as a family member, as an American, it is upsetting.

But, you know, it is what it is in this world, I guess these days.

CARLSON: Yes, it is -- it is what it is. So I assume this -- and again, I have to ask you a political question, I assume this changes the debate schedule, right? Or do we know?

TRUMP, JR.: You know what? I don't actually know. Obviously, you know, so much of it depends on when he can get back at it. I imagine that's in 10 to

14 days, whatever it may be. I'll defer to the White House doctors on the details of that.

For me, I did cancel my stuff that I had planned for the weekend. We were doing a big bus tour with Jorge Masvidal around Florida, the UFC fighter, talking to Hispanics around the state and had a bunch of other events for Sunday and Monday and Tuesday.

Basically, I'm going to take a week off, you know, until Tuesday, you know, get tested again then. That's basically the incubation period, as told to me by the White House doctors. If I'm clear again on Tuesday night, I'm going to get back to work and fight.

CARLSON: Yes. The timing of all this is very -- and I am sure, you know, nothing to it. But it is pretty weird.

Don, Jr. Great to see you tonight. Thank you.

TRUMP, JR.: I'm not going to get conspiratorial on that one. But yes, it's definitely in close proximity.

CARLSON: No, I am not a conspiracy guy. I was just noting. It is -- it's a little strange. But anyway, thank you so much for coming on. Thank you. I appreciate it.

Well, so what is the best way to assess the President's condition right now given the pretty small set of facts that we have about what's going on? Dr.

Marty Makary is Professor at Johns Hopkins University and someone we go to, to answer questions like that. He joins us tonight.

Doctor, thanks so much for coming on. So how would you, given what we know and the huge amount that we don't know, how would you assess where the President is tonight?

DR. MARTY MAKARY, PROFESSOR, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: Well, Tucker, in Medicine, we talk about the Eyeball Test. And with the Eyeball Test, the President looks pretty good.

He looks strong. His gait is strong. His speech is normal.

This is not a guy with a hacking cough. This is not a guy who is dealing with undulating pain or some intractable problem.

This is somebody who has that classic low viral load symptom, fatigue and some low energy and you feel like he got the wind knocked out of you. You know, you might feel like it's the end of the day at five or six o'clock in the day, instead of later at night. That's kind of the low viral load symptoms that we're seeing.

And let's be optimistic. You know, there's a lot of good things to be optimistic about. The statistics are on his side. The survival rate is very good. It is 99.4 to 99.5 plus. Best case scenario, let's think about the best case scenario. He gets better in a couple of days and a week from Saturday, a week from Sunday, he is back to his normal healthy self. I think that's very feasible.

CARLSON: So you think it is? I mean, the mortality risk seems low, at least statistically, it is very low. You wonder about the after effects. He obviously has, as almost everyone has ever been elected President does like enormous, almost superhuman reserves of energy.

But how long, how tough is the recovery? How long does it take a person his age typically to get back up to fighting strength?

MAKARY: Well, typically people that go to the hospital are there about four or five days and there's a wide range, and of course, he is going to the hospital at a time when he may not have to go, but we, doctors, we like calm. We don't like the idea of a rush to the hospital at the last second and even though it's a one in a hundred chance that there might be a need to go to the hospital quickly, they would rather just sort of have him recover and quarantine in a hospital.

I think, you know, we've got to think about what we're learning. We're learning about how we've been oddly complacent about seasonal flu deaths each year. You know, we're watching asymptomatic spread here in a couple of cases.

And, you know, the country is benefiting from the example of how basic precautions can help and so I think there's a lot of benefits to what we're seeing here with his humility to go to the hospital, listen to the doctors, and to take that step.

CARLSON: Right. Let me ask you a broader question about the coronavirus I've been wondering today. Do you feel that we know a lot about it? I mean, as a physician, you're treating a patient with coronavirus, do you feel confident you understand the course of the disease? What its effects are going to be? Like, do we really feel like we have a handle on what this is at this point?

MAKARY: No. No, we don't. Look, it's good to have some degree of humility around a virus we have not yet fully understood, and there are some things that are very clear. We now understand viral shedding. We now understand asymptomatic community transmission. We understand cardiac and neurological effects. We understand the long term effects.

But you know, there's some things that still don't make sense. Why does Egypt have almost no coronavirus cases with no masks? Is it because they're mostly an outdoor society? Why is it that most of Asia has been able to contain and have very limited outbreaks? So there are some things that don't make sense.

Right now, we're watching a big second wave in Europe, but the mortality is very low. Two recent studies suggested it's because of low viral load -- that is, people are not getting affected with a big dose of the virus, like you know, being in an elevator that's been crowded or congested, or a conference room or somebody has been hacking and coughing.

People are getting a low amount of virus and on average, they're starting with a lower load of virus. They're fighting it more early. So we're learning a fair bit. And I think that it's good to have some degree of humility around a virus.

Now, we're getting the case fatality rate down to almost seasonal flu levels and I think once the therapeutics with the monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies come out, those trials will show that we can get that mortality down to seasonal flu levels.

CARLSON: Without a vaccine?

MAKARY: Without a vaccine. And remember, we were told HIV was going to be solved with a vaccine, it turned out it was therapeutics. China has already said that they're probably not going to vaccinate their whole population, only high risk individuals.

CARLSON: Yes, some of the vaccine talk seems misleading to me. I agree with that. Dr. Makary, thank you. That was really interesting. Appreciate it.

MAKARY: Thank you, Tucker.

CARLSON: Well, you probably saw the tape, the President walked on to Marine One, the presidential helicopter, on his own, just a couple of hours ago.

We are told he is doing fairly well. He is staying at least overnight at the hospital.

So what are the procedures in place for the President at Walter Reed? Rick Leventhal has looked into all of this and joins us tonight with an update.

Hey, Rick.

LEVENTHAL: And Tucker, Walter Reed has presidential quarters set up like Air Force One. It allows the President to carry out his duties while he recovers from his illness.

But if his condition deteriorates, the 25th Amendment to the Constitution would then provide the guidance. It was passed after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The 25th Amendment allows the President to declare himself unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office, and if he were to make that call, he'd sent a written note to the Senate President Pro Tem, Republican Chuck Grassley and to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Mike Pence would assume the duties of the presidency.

And when he felt up to it, Mr. Trump would write another note declaring that he was back. You might be surprised to learn both Presidents Reagan and George W. Bush used the amendment before planned surgeries.

But if Trump falls severely ill and can't write a note himself, his Cabinet would meet and vote to confirm he is unable to discharge his power and duties. And again, VP Pence would assume the Oval Office.

If Pence was for some reason, also physically unable, then Speaker Pelosi would be next in line for the job. And if she can't do it, Senator Grassley becomes President and then the Secretary of State and the Treasury Secretary -- all of this has never happened of course.

Our Chad Pergram reports, by the way that multiple sources tell him there's been no discussion yet on executing the 25th Amendment if the President is unable to handle his duties on a temporary basis.

But again, we saw him walk onto Air Force Two and he seems like he's okay and we're all obviously hoping that remains the case -- Tucker.

CARLSON: Rick Leventhal, thanks so much.

LEVENTHAL: Sure.

CARLSON: Well, one of the Members of Congress who knows the President best is one of the newest Members of Congress. That would be Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida, and he joins us tonight to discuss all of this.

Congressman, thanks so much for coming on. First, I'm going to hit you with something that just happened. Apparently, Chuck Schumer, the Senate Minority Leader has just tweeted that it would be quote, "irresponsible,"

given the President's illness, for the Senate to move forward with confirmation hearings for Amy Coney Barrett. What would the President's coronavirus infection have to do with the Supreme Court nomination, do you know?

REP. MATT GAETZ (R-FL): Yes, Chuck Schumer might need to check his checks and balances. I think it's the Senate Judiciary who does the work of these confirmation hearings and the President wouldn't necessarily need to be there.

Tucker, I've traveled with the President frequently. I'm familiar with the testing and other coronavirus protocols that are around the Oval Office and Air Force One, and what I can tell you is that if this virus can get into the Oval, into the body of the President, there is no place where it could not possibly infect one of our fellow Americans.

And that's why it's so important to continue executing on President Trump's strategy to allow our country to open up, but then to ensure that we protect the vulnerable because there is no lockdown that can be a panacea to save everyone from everything and this is proof positive that's the case.

So I hope that in a matter of days or weeks, we're not talking about how Trump survived the coronavirus, but maybe how the coronavirus survived Trump. He is the hardest working man I have ever met. He is one of the strongest, and I wish him all the best.

CARLSON: Well, that's -- it's such a smart point. I mean, if the President can get this virus, that it tells you a lot about our ability to protect ourselves from it.

I mean, how many people watching have college age kids who are suffering through the restrictions, the draconian restrictions colleges are imposing who got COVID anyway? So it just tells you maybe we should spend more time working on therapeutics to help people once they're infected? Why does that occur to no one?

GAETZ: Well, it has occurred to the administration. It is why there's been so much work on therapeutics. It's one of the reasons why in America, we have one of the strongest survival rates against coronavirus in the world.

In fact, I think it is the strongest, even for someone in their 70s like President Trump is, the survivability rate somewhere around 95 percent. So very strong. Again, the answer is not to hunker down, shut down, hide under your bed and hope that the virus won't ever find you.

The answer is to ensure that we live our lives, protect the vulnerable, and then recognize the critical importance of making sure that we continue to make progress on those therapeutics so that we continue to become more and more survivable against the virus.

CARLSON: I'm so glad that you said that. It's such an obvious point. I wish I'd said it first. But you did. What do you notice? So I mean, you're politically astute. I think it's fair to say, what do you what do you assess the political reaction? I mean, how do you assess it? What do you make of how Washington responded to this news?

GAETZ: Well, whether it's the President of the United States or a beloved family member, we would always want to show empathy for someone who in a moment is a little ailed or ill or in need of, maybe a weekend off to recover.

And instead, what we've seen is vitriol, hatred, some of the things are so disgusting that people are willing to post online and social media, literally hoping that someone die. I can't imagine there's any person I've disagreed with politically that I would wish that outcome on.

And I just wish that when the President does resume his campaign activities and his other activities that we will be right back to winning again, for the American people. I can tell you talking to a number of White House officials, business as usual at the White House and the President is still making the decisions.

It's one of the reasons he is so charming to the country is because he is in command. He is in control. And he has made very clear that even from his offices at Walter Reed that will continue to be the case.

CARLSON: Yes. And you're right about the vitriol. We could have spent the entire hour tonight. I was almost tempted just airing the crap, the garbage, the hate that was online and I thought, nope, we don't want to make the country uglier, but it was definitely out there as you well know.

Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida. Great to see you tonight. Thank you for that.

GAETZ: Good to see you.

CARLSON: An update from Walter Reed, we're taking fewer commercial breaks tonight to get in all the news. Also this hour, a major new drug to treat the coronavirus is nearing F.D.A. approval. You will hear about it first right here on this show in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CARLSON: Welcome back. I want to bring you now a FOX News Alert. We just got this from a source at the White House. This is what they're saying about the President. "We are very optimistic here at the White House. The President is an excellent health. He is in excellent spirits. We anticipate a complete return to the campaign trail very quickly. The future of the country is at stake." End quote.

Right now, our own Kevin Corke is standing by live at Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda for an update on what's going on there. Hey, Kevin.

CORKE: Hey, Tucker. As you can imagine, the President is inside resting comfortably, and as you've heard him mention and other White House staffers mentioned, they feel very optimistic about his prognosis, but obviously there will be many tests moving forward.

Still, there has been a great deal of outpouring of support, frankly, from world leaders across the globe. Let me share just some of the wishes that we received throughout the day beginning with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Bibi writing this, "Like millions of Israelis, Sara and I are thinking of President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump and wish our friends a full and speedy recovery."

This also from the U.K.'s Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who as you know was hospitalized with COVID this spring, he said, "My best wishes to President Trump and the First Lady. Hope they both have a speedy recovery from coronavirus."

Very interesting, also, we've been getting reports that the President has also received, Tucker, well wishes from Kim Jong-un of the Hermit Kingdom in North Korea -- Tucker.

CARLSON: I guess evidence he is still alive, supposedly. Kevin Corked for us outside Walter Reed. Thanks a lot.

Well, Dr. Cameron Durrant is the CEO of Humanigen. That's a biopharmaceutical company working on a drug that soon could become the first F.D.A. approved pharmaceutical to treat coronavirus. He joins us right now. Doctor, great to see you. What is this drug? And what does it do?

CAMERON DURRANT, CEO, HUMANIGEN: Well, Tucker, lenzilumab or Lenz treats cytokine storm, and cytokine storm is the cause of the harmful inflammation that we see in patients with COVID and it is the inflammation that kills people, not the virus itself.

CARLSON: Interesting. So when the organs of the body start to shut down, the lungs cease to work, that's the cause of it -- that's the result of inflammation, correct?

DURRANT: That's correct. So ordinarily, the body and the immune system, think of it like having a gas pedal and a brake pedal, and when it gets overstimulated, it's like having a foot on the gas pedal and keeping it on the gas pedal. What Lenz does is it helps alleviate that pressure by putting a foot on the brake.

And we've seen data, very exciting data, Tucker, published from the Mayo Clinic that showed that in patients that receive lenzilumab, those patients had an 80 percent reduction in risk of ventilation or death, and those patients on average, left the hospital after five days, which was less than half the period of time, 11 days, for those patients that didn't receive Lenz, including patients in the ICU.

CARLSON: The longer you stay in the hospital, typically the longer lasting the effects will be and the worst the outcome. So that's quite an advancement.

So when will this, do you believe become available to patients?

DURRANT: Well, we're at the final stretch, Tucker, of conducting a Phase 3 clinical study. We hope to have those data in front of the F.D.A. before the end of this year, and you're absolutely correct about your comment around being in the hospital for a long period of time.

Just yesterday, there was a publication of a patient who was in his 70s. He had been on the ICU for three months, he received Lenz, and just two weeks later, he was discharged home. A remarkable story.

CARLSON: It is remarkable, and we are profoundly hopeful that it's everything that you say it is, and we can get it soon.

Thank you very much, Dr. Durrant for joining us tonight.

DURRANT: Thank you, Tucker.

CARLSON: But before we go to that, let me go back to Mark Steyn for just a moment to close out the hour, having had maybe the most interesting six minutes of TV I have done in a while earlier in the show.

So Mark, you've been watching all of this, and I just want you to sort of put a bow on it for us as we go out tonight.

STEYN: Well, I was shocked by some of these people actively urging on the death of the President. I'd advise the President to pay no attention to it.

But I think for these people, if you're hoping -- if you live in a free society and you're hoping your political leadership dies, you've actually flown the coop of self-governing societies, and you should seriously be looking at yourself in the mirror, and actually wondering whether you're fit to live in a responsible self-governing society.

The Deputy Premier of the State of Victoria in Australia was doing Trump detergent jokes, and the next time I'm down under, I'm happy to sock him in the jaw. These people have lost it.

CARLSON: I mean, we do have an election in a month. So if you don't care for the current leadership, you can exercise your democratic right and vote against it. Well, I mean, I wonder why that doesn't occur to anyone.

STEYN: Well, I think because there's a political bloodlust in the air and actually just filling in a voting ballot doesn't satisfy it for these guys.

But it's a sickness, and if you're actually doing this kind of stuff in public, on the internet, you should think about what it says about you, not what it says about the President and the First Lady.

CARLSON: That's right. It says your soul is rotten. Never root for anyone's death. All of us will die in the end and you will regret it. I think that's absolutely right.

STEYN: Absolutely.

CARLSON: Mark Steyn, great to see you tonight. Thank you so much for that.

We're out of time. We will be back Monday.

We hope that you spend the weekend with the ones you love remembering what matters, which is always your family and your dogs.

Sean Hannity is next. Have a great weekend.

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