President Donald Trump announced he had tested positive for the coronavirus early Friday morning after holding a Supreme Court nomination ceremony last Saturday for Judge Amy Coney Barrett and attending his first presidential debate against former Vice President Joe Biden in Cleveland on Tuesday.
Will getting the deadly virus change the president’s attitude concerning wearing a mask and social distancing during this epidemic? That is a question only he can answer, now that his actions have put the lives of his wife, Melania, his staff, lawmakers and others at risk.
Trump has refused to abide by the rules put out by his own White House task force on coronavirus and the same directives put out repeatedly by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). And the number of people testing positive for the virus who traveled with or attended events orchestrated by the president is astounding.
The number of positive tests reflects just how quickly and how far the highly contagious virus has spread among the president’s top aides, and other officials. The list is growing by leaps and bounds, a real-life lesson in epidemiology that all of us can learn from.
The fallout in positive coronavirus cases
White House aide Hope Hicks, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, was just one of a number of people who flew on Air Force One with Trump and a gaggle of other aides to the presidential debate on Tuesday. Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel tested positive on Wednesday.
President Trump’s campaign manager Bill Stepien tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, the campaign confirmed. Stepien is the latest official close to Trump to contract the virus. Stepien also traveled with Trump aboard Air Force One last Tuesday. He is experiencing “mild flu-like” symptoms and is quarantined at home.
Others who traveled with the president included New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), senior campaign adviser Jason Miller, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani. All of these people tested negative for the virus on Friday.
Former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, who attended the Rose Garden nomination ceremony and helped with debate prep sessions, announced Friday that she had tested positive. Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel also tested positive this week, though it was not publicized until Friday.
But here it is – Saturday – and CNN is reporting that Governor Chris Christie reported he has tested positive for COVID-19 on Twitter. “I just received word that I am positive for COVID-19,” Christie wrote. “I want to thank all of my friends and colleagues who have reached out to ask how I was feeling in the last day or two. I will be receiving medical attention today and will keep the necessary folks apprised of my condition.”
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who helped President Trump prepare for the first presidential debate earlier this week, has tested positive for Covid-19, he announced on Twitter October 3, 2020
“No one was wearing masks in the room when we were prepping the president during that period of time,” said Christie. “And the group was about five or six people, in total.”
Three Senators – Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) – Mike Lee (R-Utah) – and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), have reported positive coronavirus tests either Friday or Saturday.
The White House press corps didn’t escape the fallout from the coronavirus outbreak in the White House. The White House Correspondents’ Association released a statement on Friday saying that three White House journalists tested positive for COVID-19 today.
According to the statement, “Given these positive cases, the president’s diagnosis and positive cases among other members of the White House staff, a number of White House journalists are self-isolating pending diagnostic testing.”
White House positive tests this week:
President Donald Trump
First lady Melania Trump
Hope Hicks
Bill Stepien
Ronna McDaniel
Sen. Mike Lee,
Sen. Thom Tillis,
Sen. Ron Johnson,
Three White House reporters
One White House staffer
Kellyanne Conway
President of Notre Dame— Nate The Lawyer (@BroadyNate) October 3, 2020
Going on as before
To say the president’s illness has affected his re-election campaign would be an understatement, and his allies are quick to address that situation, wanting Trump to remain in public view despite the illness, according to Politico.
“I think it’s important … that the president be visible, however, that he be on the phone, that he be on television, that he gets out on the Truman Balcony, if he can, because it’s important that people see him and know that he’s there,” Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s former chief of staff, said in an interview on Fox Business on Friday.
Personally, I think that Mulvaney was very crude in his remarks. No matter what anyone’s political bent may be, the president has a deadly coronavirus infection and he is at high risk of some serious complications. Right now, he should be in all our prayers that he make a swift recovery, then we can talk politics.
