White House medical team reportedly links Trump's infection to Barrett event
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.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
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.
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.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
-
‘No one is exempt from responsibility, and especially not elite sport circuits’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Businesses are caught in the middle of ICE activitiesIn the Spotlight Many companies are being forced to choose a side in the ICE debate
-
Leadership: A conspicuous silence from CEOsFeature CEOs were more vocal during Trump’s first term
-
EU and India clinch trade pact amid US tariff warSpeed Read The agreement will slash tariffs on most goods over the next decade
-
Israel retrieves final hostage’s body from GazaSpeed Read The 24-year-old police officer was killed during the initial Hamas attack
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
Maduro pleads not guilty in first US court hearingSpeed Read Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores pleaded not guilty to cocaine trafficking and narco-terrorism conspiracy
