Trump's newest acting White House chief of staff self-quarantines after coronavirus exposure

Retiring Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), President Trump's newest acting White House chief of staff, is the latest Republican to self-quarantine after coming in contact with a coronavirus patient.

Meadows interacted with the person at last month's Conservative Political Action Conference. This person tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus on Saturday night, and is now receiving medical care in New Jersey. Meadows announced on Monday evening he will be quarantined until Wednesday, and this is merely a precautionary measure, as he tested negative for COVID-19.

On Sunday night, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) both announced they had come in contact with the coronavirus patient at CPAC and would spend the rest of the week quarantined in their homes; Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) did the same on Monday afternoon. All of them said they are not showing any symptoms of COVID-19.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Several of these politicians have spent time with Trump in recent days. Cruz was in the White House last week to discuss immigration with the president, while Collins accompanied Trump to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta on Friday. Meadows also attended a White House meeting last week, and Gaetz was with Trump on Air Force One Monday afternoon when the congressman learned he too had interacted with the coronavirus patient at CPAC.