White House medical team reportedly links Trump's infection to Barrett event

Amy Coney Barrett is nominated to the Supreme Court in the Rose Garden.

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

published 7 October 2020

President Trump is reportedly believed to have picked up COVID-19 at the nomination event for Amy Coney Barrett.

Trump, along with dozens of West Wing staffers, Republican senators, and outsiders, gathered in the Rose Garden on Saturday, Sept. 26, for Barrett's formal nomination to the Supreme Court. Many lawmakers later gathered with Barrett inside the White House. White House medical staff have since traced that event to the arrival of COVID-19 in the White House, people familiar with the matter tell Bloomberg.

The White House claims Trump didn't test positive for COVID-19 until Oct. 2, the Friday after the Barrett event. But it won't say when Trump last tested negative for the virus, raising questions of whether he was actually tested regularly, and just when he actually became infectious with the disease. Trump went on to fly on Air Force One later Saturday, which is the last time New York Times reporter Michael Shear was near him, and where Shear believes he may have contracted the virus. Trump also attended a Gold Star Family event on Sunday, Sept. 27, debated Democratic nominee Joe Biden in Ohio on Tuesday, Sept. 29, and then traveled to campaign events in Minnesota and New Jersey. The White House seemingly hasn't been contact tracing people possibly exposed to the virus at these events.

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Trump aide Hope Hicks was the first in the West Wing to test positive for COVID-19 last week, at least according to the White House. Trump reportedly showed symptoms of the virus before testing positive Friday.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.