In an astonishing development towards an already historic election year, President Trump tested positive for the coronavirus A month before election day, the news raises questions about what could happen if the president does not cannot fulfill the powers of office or stand for re-election
So far the White House has said Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, who also tested positive, had « mild symptoms » and would be quarantined Vice President Mike Pence has tested negative, said officials, and the White House insists they have a plan in place to ensure the continuity of government Several other people in Trump’s personal orbit have tested positive, including his closest aide Hope Hicks and the head of the RNC It is not known when and where they contracted the virus and the White House has refused to elaborate Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said on Friday he expected there to be more positive cases within the administration
The political impact is impossible to know, but the Trump campaign has announced the postponement of all scheduled events with President Trump has consistently downplayed the risk of the virus and sadly continued to hold large in-person rallies where masks to bypass transmission of the virus were rarely used, contrary to messages from public health officials – and sometimes in defiance of state and local ordinances In the first presidential debate on Tuesday, Trump even made fun of Joe Biden for wearing a mask (Members of the Trump family and campaign were seen sitting at the debate without a mask) Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris were tested negative, their campaign announced on Friday
Below you’ll find everything we know about the fallout from Trump’s diagnosis, which came hours after predicting that « the end of the pandemic is in sight » (Updates will appear in order reverse chronological)
The president will be spending « the next few days » at Walter Reed Medical Center, where he will be admitted for COVID-19 treatment, the White House announced:
As a precaution, and on the recommendation of his doctor and medical experts, the president will work from Walter Reed’s presidential offices for the next few days
Intelligencer contributor Jeff Wise explains the possible timelines for Trump’s illness, noting that Trump could be sidelined for weeks, even in a mild case, and in the worst-case scenario:
There is little that hospitals can do to cure the disease; drugs like remdesivir only offer a moderate reduction in recovery time What drugs can do is lessen the effects of complications such as pneumonia, septic shock, cardiac arrhythmia, and secondary infections during that the immune system fights the virus
Take, for example, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who contracted COVID-19 on March 27 Like Trump, it started with a persistent cough and fever Ten days later Johnson was hospitalized and two days he was later transferred to intensive care In all, he spent seven nights in the hospital, followed by two weeks recovering at home, without work.If Trump follows a similar trajectory, he will be back around November 2
But if his symptoms are severe, he could recover for months and for every 1,000 people in the mid-70s or more who contract COVID-19, 116 will die
There has been nothing from Trump since he announced he had COVID-19, which is extraordinarily out of character, as David Graham points out in the Atlantic:
Trump was scheduled to participate in a conference call – perhaps ironically, on « supporting COVID-19 for vulnerable seniors » – early this afternoon, but Vice President Mike Pence appeared in his place, saying from the first couple: « They are both fine right now and will stay in the White House »
The longer Trump stays out of sight, the less anyone will believe Pence’s word The President has made such a regular presence in American life, tweeting through every controversy, every hour, and never missing a chance to weigh in – that the approximately [16] hours of silence (to date) feel monumental…
Even when Trump is in his personal quarters he tends to tweet incessantly He rarely sleeps long Many reports have said he enjoys sitting in bed watching TV and tweeting If the President is bedridden , he doesn’t use it for his normal hobby
Our colleagues at Vox have detailed Trump’s agenda over the past week, including numerous photos of where he was and who he was with, often in close contact
Aaron Blake of the Washington Post recaps what Trump said Thursday night, hours before announcing his positive test for COVID-19, saying that « it is clear that Trump was laying the groundwork to explain how he would explain the positive Hicks test or his « :
« You know it’s very difficult, when you’re with soldiers, when you’re with airmen, when you’re with Marines, and I’m with – and the cops, » Trump said. « I’m so much with them And when they come here it’s very hard to say, stay back, stay back It’s a tough situation «
Trump then turned to his own test and to Hicks « So I just took a test and we’ll see what happens I mean, who knows? But you know her very well She’s fantastic And she did a great job «
« But it’s very, very difficult when you’re with the military or … law enforcement, and they come up to you, they want to hug you, and they want to kiss you, because we really did a good job for them, « said Trump » And you get closer, and things happen «
WHCA emails reporters to let them know that a THIRD member of the press has tested positive « The individual was at the White House on Saturday in the rose garden and on Sunday in the pool vans and the city briefing room The person started to experience minor symptoms late Wednesday «
A growing outbreak of coronavirus in the White House has left members of the media scrambling to find out if they too are infected
Three journalists working at the White House tested positive on Friday, according to a series of White House Correspondents Association notes. A White House staff member who sits in the « lower press » area of the West Wing has also received a confirmed positive result on Friday morning
Journalists and White House spokespersons work together in cramped premises, often meeting the definition of close contact So White House journalists are now largely concerned about who has been denounced
The news is particularly frustrating because, as Stelter notes, “throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the (WHCA) has taken a more proactive stance than the Trump administration and has encouraged journalists to take common sense precautions while covering administration »
It’s hard to discern much from the doctor’s statement, but Trump has received new intravenous antibody therapy:
Trump « received a single 8 gram dose of Regeneron’s polyclonal antibody cocktail, » says WH doctor https: // tco / 32vp5hSo7X
In an early stage clinical trial involving 275 Covid-19 patients, those who received the investigational Regeneron treatment had lower levels of the virus in the bloodstream seven days later compared to patients who received a placebo, the company said in a statement …
The Regeneron treatment, which contains a mixture of two very potent antibodies against the coronavirus spike protein, « rapidly reduced viral load and associated symptoms in patients infected with Covid-19 », George D Yancopoulos, Scientific director of Regeneron, said in the statement « The greatest benefit of treatment was in patients who had not developed their own effective immune response »
Trump’s inability to hold rallies, even for a brief period, will hamper a campaign that has been defined by his large in-person rallies, even during the pandemic The second presidential debate, now scheduled for October 15, is in doubt And Trump’s positive test will strengthen scrutiny of vice-presidential debate scheduled for next week
Officials from the Presidential Debates Commission declined to comment on what the president’s diagnosis means for the timing and format of the upcoming forums The second of three presidential debates scheduled for October 15 in Miami…
It’s a perilous way to end the campaign for a candidate already behind in the polls Most prominently, the positive test publicly undermines much of Trump’s rhetoric about the virus – from his faith in hydroxychloroquine to his cavalier statements about a vaccine and his rejection of Covid-19 as a disease that « affects virtually no one »
They go on to note that whether or not Trump develops a severe case of COVID-19 or not (and subsequently downplays the virus accordingly), « In either scenario, testing positive will put enormous pressure on one. White House known for its secrecy, chaotic internal operations and loose relationship with the truth to avoid any missteps or public confusion that could affect the campaign « Another official:
« People are kind of like, ‘What now? What does this mean for what we’re trying to do here with 32 days left? » Said a senior Trump campaign official « I don’t mean to say it surprised us because we knew the risks [Trump] wanted to campaign and be with the people, so we tailored the campaign to the wishes of the president It definitely changes our plans, however «
« It’s hard to imagine that this doesn’t put an end to his hopes for re-election, » said Rob Stutzman, a Republican consultant, pointing to Mr. Trump « ignores obvious precautions »
Some Republicans looking for an edge have expressed hope that Mr. Trump’s state would push him to refrain from inflammatory rhetoric that has alienated many voters and to make the election less of a referendum on his behavior
At The New Yorker, David Remnick adds that it was not the kind of « October surprise » we expected:
For some time now, commentators have regularly discussed what the October surprise would be.It was speculated that a fall drama would involve the president challenging the legitimacy of the ballot, and he has done so on several occasions During the debate, he retailed false and exaggerated stories about the mail ballots, all in an apparent effort to confuse and cast doubt on a contest he appears to be losing. But now that the October surprise is here, and that implies something no less alarming: the state of health of the president and that of his wife and senior advisers, and what it will all mean for state governance. United, a nation that has been suffering from multiple crises for so many months
The idea of kissing someone who is not my wife right now is unthinkable These people, either by virtue of daily taxpayer-funded tests or out of sheer ignorance, are entitled to things in those of us who have families or loved ones who would die if they were infected for months picTwittercom / 2pCSBwtFZ0
At a White House event Saturday for Supreme Court candidate Amy Coney Barrett, dozens of prominent people schmoozing without masks on Friday, at least two attendees tested positive for the virus: GOP Senator Mike Lee and Notre Dame University President Father John Jenkins (Barrett tested negative, although the Washington Post reported on Friday that she already had the coronavirus earlier this year)
These are all prominent Republicans and members of Trump’s inner circle who witnessed SCOTUS ‘nomination for Amy Coney Barrett on Saturday and have now tested positive for COVID-19 given that the virus can incubate until two weeks before coming for the tests, it is possible that a number of them may have been ill during the event, even those who have so far tested negative The virus could even have spread there, making Barrett’s appointment the possible site of a coronavirus cluster – with massive implications
This is why revisiting the press footage of the ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House is astounding given how the attendees were seen breaking almost every pandemic protocol: they shook hands, they hugged and many weren’t wearing masks Mike Lee in particular has been documented near a number of notable people throughout the day. In the video below, he is seen hugging others; in another photo from the day he posed with Barrett for a photo a few feet away from her, indoors, maskless Barrett herself, who likely posed similarly with other attendees, was at the event with her husband and seven children All are undoubtedly in quarantine now, in case they are infected
Meanwhile, Vox’s Li Zhou reports that Senate Republicans are pushing Barrett’s confirmation as if nothing has changed
It could take a week to find out how far a case ends with the president, according to the typical timeline of COVID-19 cases getting serious, via The Guardian:
Dr Barry Dixon, an intensive care doctor at St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne, said Trump’s risk would increase if he developed pneumonia, which is associated with a high death rate from Covid-19, especially in patients over 65 years of age and those with cardiovascular disease disease or conditions affecting the blood vessels in the brain
“He has a much higher risk of dying if he develops this bad pneumonia,” Dixon said “There are other risk factors and co-morbidities, for example if you are a heavy smoker, have diabetes, or have of heart disease The main risk factors for Trump that we know of are his age and the fact that he is overweight, and these are said to be high risk factors »
Dixon said the mild symptoms at first were not an indicator that someone would avoid more serious illness He said it was around the week when people seemed to get better or decline rapidly
Helen Branswell of STAT also spoke with experts, who suggested a longer timeline and explained how the president can be physically and mentally affected:
[Doctors who treat patients with the disease] suggest that people of the President’s age – he’s 74 – who develop Covid-19 often have more subtle symptoms initially that can give way to pneumonia and severe illness One of the first common symptoms in elderly Covid patients is a decline in mental acuity or periods of mild confusion – which would be a bewildering turn of events, if it happened to a president in office
This is a disease that can and often does be confused, with many people having no or very few symptoms and others progressing to prolonged and debilitating episodes which in some cases can cause death It is also an illness that can take its time: people who seem to be curing may get worse at a time when, along with other respiratory infections like the flu or the common cold, a person might be expected to start to recover
The critical time for whether Trump will stay in the old group or progress to more serious illness is a window of around eight to 12 days after symptoms start, experts say
« Our standard protocol is best practices and recommendations from the CDC, » a White House official told Axios « Face coverings are recommended but not required There are hand sanitizing stations located throughout the resort , frequent hand washing and good hygiene are highly recommended and social distancing is encouraged So I don’t expect these things to change «
News on people in orbit Trump test results broke on Friday Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, Barron Trump and Supreme Court candidate Amy Coney Barrett have all reportedly tested negative
Zeynep Tufekci, a leading coronavirus reporter, responds to reported infections from recent White House visitors Senator Mike Lee and Notre Dame President John Jenkins:
It looks more and more like a cluster The key question will be whether they all got infected from the same source / event With all of this, it would be irresponsible not to quarantine almost everyone at the White House and Senate Tests may take days to detect https: // tco / 3Rmesdx6Zk
Intelligencer’s Ed Kilgore explains what usually happens if the president is incapacitated, and why worst-case scenarios (at this unlikely stage) involving Trump at this time would be particularly complicated as Election Day approaches :
[I] t is immensely easier to provide for an orderly (and, in most hypothetical, temporary) handover of power to the vice president as interim president if the incapable POTUS is cooperative In addition to the provisions above, the 25th Amendment includes vague wording empowering the Vice President to take over after consultation with « any other body that Congress can legally provide » – but Congress has not provided any guidance to date
President Trump’s situation is even more extraordinary, as he is also a Republican candidate for a second term in an election set in 32 days If he were to die or be incapacitated, could he be replaced as party candidate?
The short answer is: not really Ballots have already been printed in most states and in some areas people are already voting
Again, it’s unclear whether this relates to other White House affairs, but it’s alarming nonetheless:
BREAKING: President of Notre-Dame, Fr John Jenkins, who was at the WH SCOTUS announcement on Saturday and was criticized for not wearing a mask and shaking hands, has tested positive for COVID-19 to be sent to campus I don’t know if he got it during the WH picTwittercom / 2cR4eaVMzb
In May, Father Jenkins wrote a New York Times editorial explaining why Notre Dame was reopening, despite the risk of coronavirus The school subsequently saw spikes in cases
A Trump campaign volunteer who doesn’t wear a face mask on principle and thinks the media has exaggerated the pandemic tells me the president’s diagnosis does NOT make her more concerned about the virus
« I’m not denying the virus exists I’m just crossing my fingers and looking for herd immunity, » she said
Democratic candidate Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden both tested negative for COVID-19 on Friday, as did vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff
I’m happy to report that Jill and I have tested negative for COVID Thank you all for your messages of concern Hope this serves as a reminder: wear a mask, keep social distancing and wash your hands
/ p>
Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff will continue their planned trip to Las Vegas, NV and Greensboro, NC respectively The two were tested again for COVID-19 this morning and both tested negative, per campaign assistant
Eric Levitz, of Intelligencer, explores three ways the president’s COVID-19 infection could negatively impact his campaign, noting that it « is likely to increase the salience of an issue that Biden possesses »; it might somewhat neutralize remaining Biden blunders and / or other theoretically negative stories about the Democratic candidate; and Trump is unlikely to elicit a « surge of sympathy »:
One of the contradictions to the idea that Trump’s illness will hurt his political outlook is that the public will see a sick president in a milder light – after all, from across the pond, Boris Johnson seemed enjoy a surge in popularity as it battles a severe case of COVID
But this reasoning is flawed in two respects First, and more fundamentally, it is not really the case that the British Conservative Prime Minister saw a big boost from the polls during his illness…
Second, public opinion towards Donald Trump as a person is almost fixed The President’s negative rating currently sits at 54% in the RealClearPolitics poll average, and has rarely been more than two points above or below this figure over the past four years There are a small but significant number of Americans who are unsure whether they will vote for Trump But the number of people undecided as to whether they like him personally is almost certainly lower
Senator Mike Lee was in the White House last Saturday with dozens of other greats for the official announcement of Amy Coney Barrett’s appointment to the Supreme Court It is not known if he has contracted the virus
/ p>
Epidemiologist Michael Mina explains in a Twitter thread that Trump’s infection is not a failure of rapid COVID-19 tests like what is used in the White House:
TRUMP got # COVID19 despite frequent use of rapid tests Does this mean frequent rapid tests have failed? No! To stop epidemics, we need to stop the spread Frequent testing worked! Now Trump is not spreading to others The chain of transmission is cut It’s public health
The tests are not prophylactic They alone cannot prevent the candidate from becoming infected But can be used to stop the spread from the tester The goal is to cut off enough transmission so that R
People suggest it was a failure – instead, it shows, in real time, how often rapid tests can work Detecting Trump early in his infection means we are removing days when he could spread to others and lead to dozens or hundreds of new cases
COVID-19 is not a morality test It afflicts the prudent as well as the reckless Some of its victims have jobs that inherently put them at risk Biden took every precaution, but could contract the virus because that he was exposed to Trump, who has not And no one, however careless he is for his safety or that of others, deserves to suffer
But when it comes to coronavirus victims, Donald Trump is as far from innocent as possible He and his supporters may want to treat his positive test as a national tragedy about which we cannot express any other thoughts that a prayer for his recovery, a kind of mini-9/11 The truth is that Trump is deeply guilty not only of the national response to the pandemic, but of his own condition
Recklessness towards public health measures filtered to his staff, who came to treat the masks as a declaration of cultural war, indicating disloyalty to the cause In May, Mattathias Schwartz interviewed the attorney general William Barr in his office, where Barr’s assistants asked him to remove his mask Five weeks ago, when Peter Nicholas visited the White House, he compared the scene to a Petri dish « When I walked past assistants at their desks today, hardly any were wearing a mask, » a- he observed with a far-sighted alert. Former Homeland Security employee Olivia Troye observed that in the White House, « no one wears a mask » and « when you wear one, you are watched in the west wing as if you are an alien »CNN reports that after the National Security Council started wearing masks, they were quickly thwarted by a senior official » If you have the entire West Wing running with masks on, it wasn’t a good look when all they wanted to do at that point was portray confidence and make the public believe there was absolutely nothing to fear, ”a source explains During the debate, the Trump suite was spotted maskless and « dismissed » the offer of masks from members of the Cleveland Clinic, Wallace said
Republican donors who attended President Donald Trump’s fundraiser Thursday at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club are panicking after being around the Commander-in-Chief a few hours before he tested positive for coronavirus
GOP donors, a person briefed on the matter said, reached out to Trump campaign officials and the Republican National Committee for advice on what to do after the event
Trump’s campaign on Friday morning has yet to send formal guidelines to many of the donors involved in the event
There were around 30 to 50 donors who approached the president on Thursday night, the person added, while noting that most interactions with Trump took place outside Many of those contributors who were able to get in touch with GOP officials were urged to stay home and contact their doctor for next steps.The Republican National Committee said everyone who attended the Bedminster event had been tested for Covid-19, had passed a temperature test and were six feet or more from the president at all times
In an extraordinary scuffle with reporters on Friday morning, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said a plan was in place to « make sure the government moves forward « after Trump was hit by coronavirus Meadows said the president « is at work, will stay at work » in the residence with « mild symptoms »
Meadows declined to answer questions about Trump’s specific medical treatment and was vague on when the White House learned that Trump’s closest aide, Hope Hicks, had tested positive
« I’m not going to go into the ticking, » he says Hicks’ positive test result was announced Thursday night, hours before Trump said he and First Lady Melania Trump were tested positive early Friday morning
« We have protocols in place even with many mitigating factors, what you have is a contagious virus, « Meadows said » I fully expect that as this virus progresses, other people in the White House will have a positive test result, « he said, adding that he had recently tested negative
Former Intelligencer Gabriel Sherman reports to Vanity Affair that Trump campaign advisers are expecting major disruption and that Hope Hicks is not happy with how it all turned out in the press:
Sources I spoke with doubt that the next two debates will take place « There really can’t be anything for 14 days It’s like the campaign ended yesterday, » an elder told me. responsible for the west wing Republicans close to Trump discuss type of message Trump should send out to limit political damage “He could come out and say, ‘Look, I had COVID and it wasn’t that bad It just shows I’m strong and that we should open up the country, » the former West Wing official said « He could make a mockery of it »
Meanwhile, Hicks experienced more pronounced symptoms than President Two sources said she had had a high fever and cough, one source adding that she had lost her sense of smell Hicks would be frustrated with Trump’s taking such a cavalier approach to the virus She was one of the few West Wing staff to wear a mask at meetings, which her colleagues criticized her « She was made fun of for wearing a mask, » a friend said Sources told me Hicks was also upset that the media coverage made it look like she gave the virus to Trump, when in fact no one knows where he got it « It’s so unfair that she kind of gets blamed, » the friend told me
Biden shared a debate stage with Trump for 90 minutes on Tuesday, but someone yelling at him was not told to test positive for the virus:
CONFIRMED: There has been no contact from the Trump campaign or the White House to alert the Biden campaign of possible exposure The campaign learned about the situation from reporting, a Biden campaign aide tells me
From CNN’s @sarahmucha – @JoeBiden has received his coronavirus test, and they are awaiting the results to determine whether or not he will travel to Michigan today as scheduled
Debate moderator Chris Wallace, 72, tells @FoxNewsLive he’s taking another test He notes First Family members ‘waived’ the Cleveland member’s mask offer Clinic once they sit in the hall without them
BREAKING – RNC President Ronna McDaniel tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday, multiple sources say She has mild symptoms She was last with POTUS last Friday and has been in Michigan since then
The New York Times reports that President Trump is showing cold-like symptoms from the coronavirus – White House officials said they were mild At his golf club in Bedminster, NJ on Thursday, the president reportedly appeared « Lethargic, » and fell asleep on Air Force One upon returning from his rally in Minnesota on Wednesday night
Some of Trump’s closest aides said they sensed Trump was feeling bad on Wednesday, but attributed it to fatigue from an intense campaign schedule The president appeared exhausted, said a person familiar with the situation
Thank you for the love you send us I have mild symptoms but overall feel good I look forward to a speedy recovery
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham said he spoke to the President on Friday morning and appeared to be in « good spirits »
New: In SC, Lindsey Graham, President of the Senate Judiciary, Says This Morning Amy Coney Barett’s Confirmation Hearings « On Track » He Said They Will Still Start October 12 He said he spoke this AM to Trump who was in a « good mood » and Trump asked about the hearings
In his first acknowledgment of the news that Trump has contracted the coronavirus, the Democratic candidate expressed his wishes for a « quick recovery » «
Jill and I send our thoughts to President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump for a speedy recovery We will continue to pray for the health and safety of the President and his family
Former CDC Director Dr Tom Frieden shared some statistics on the outlook for someone who contracts COVID-19 at Trump’s age
Every person infected with Covid is a step back in our efforts to slow the pandemic and reopen society 74-year-old has about 3% chance of death, 10-15% chance of serious illness Higher in men, obesity Remdesivir, monoclonal ab, convalescent serum not proven, may help
A campaign rally in Florida and all other events on Trump’s public agenda for Friday have been called off, except for a phone call “on COVID-19 support for vulnerable seniors” Expected that he continues to lead official events from the White House residence, and there is talk of an address to reassure the country By the weather:
During nighttime conversations, M’s assistants Trump was discussing whether to give the nation an address on Friday from the White House or find another way for him to reassure the public But assistants were still in shock as they soaked up the news, and there was no immediate word on how the infection could have spread among senior White House officials, who did not generally not wear masks out of respect for the president’s disdain for them
The statement released earlier by the White House doctor did not specify whether the president or the First Lady exhibited symptoms of coronavirus before testing positive
As too many Americans have done this year, @potus & I is in quarantine at home after testing positive for COVID-19 We feel good & I have postponed all future commitments Please make sure you stay safe & we will all go through this together
When Trump called Hannity hours before his diagnosis, he didn’t seem particularly upset by the evening’s developments “Whether we’re in quarantine or have any, I don’t know,” he said “We’re going to see what happens Who Knows” But as cardiologist Dick Cheney noted on CNN, the administration should treat this as a potential crisis until they are sure Vice President Mike Pence is COVID-free:
« The Speaker of the House should be protected and isolated now Continuity of government requires that we have a clear leader here, and it is very possible that the Speaker and Vice President will both fall ill now » Dr. Jonathan Reiner, Doctor Cheney on CNN
Early Friday morning, Pence tweeted that he was praying for the President and the First Lady, but did not say if he had been tested yet:
Karen and I send our love and prayers to our dear friends President @realDonaldTrump and @FLOTUS Melania Trump We join millions across America praying for their full and speedy recovery God bless you President Trump & our wonderful First Lady Melania
The 25th Amendment grants the administration the power to temporarily transfer his powers to the vice president in the event of medical incapacitation President Trump can then reclaim the power of the presidency whenever he deems fit to do so But like almost everything about this president, it can be simpler in theory than in practice
The president’s positive test raised concerns that Democratic candidate Joe Biden could also have been exposed to the virus during Tuesday night’s debate Biden and Trump are both 70, dramatically increasing their chances of having severe symptoms Clevelandcom reports that while health precautions were put in place for the debate, some attendees did not follow them throughout the event:
Neither man wore a mask Fox News moderator Chris Wallace was also not wearing a mask, as expected by the Non-Partisan Commission on Presidential Debates
The debate, sponsored by the committee, was conducted in accordance with health and safety protocols formulated by the Cleveland Clinic, which serves as the health safety advisor for all presidential debates
The pre-arranged plan allowed Trump, Biden and Wallace to speak without a mask as the two nominees stood at a safe distance on their respective podiums, Peter Eyre, senior non-partisan commission adviser on presidential debates, said on Tuesday.
The commission’s health guidelines demanded masks for media and members of the public First Lady Melania Trump, former Second Lady Jill Biden and other family members of the candidates wore masks as they entered the health education campus on the main campus of the Cleveland Clinic, minutes before the 9 a.m. debatem start The debate was organized jointly by the clinic and Case Western Reserve University
However, audience photos showed a few not wearing masks at all. At the end of the night, Melania Trump was not wearing a mask when she joined her husband on stage; Jill Biden was masked when she joined Biden
Fewer than 100 ticketed guests were allowed to attend the debate in person, and all attendees and media were required to take a COVID-19 test before attending the event, Eyre said
The president, his family, and White House staff often don’t follow CDC guidelines on wearing masks, and photos show them huddled together at other recent events
Here’s Hope Hicks with Jared Kushner, Stephen Miller, Dan Scavino and Nicholas Luna – none of them wearing masks – on their way to board a helicopter on Wednesday, hours before Hicks tested positive coronavirus (Getty Images) picTwittercom / v1hFLjg06x
Given the president’s agenda, his tendency to scream, and his refusal to wear a mask, it’s almost impossible to know how many people he may have exposed.Another major concern is the time between contracting the virus and the positive test
So About 48 hours before a positive COVID test, Donald Trump, 74, spent 90 minutes screaming quite close to Joe Biden, 77# 2020
I’m puzzled as to the timing here. It’s not clear to me that POTUS and FLOTUS would test positive 48 hours after exposure Previous exposure? Others infected? https: // tco / xKDnzII8YJ picTwittercom / 91nARNWuXb
The administration will also come under close scrutiny for the reported decision to keep the positive Hicks test silent: According to the New York Times, the White House knew it had COVID-19 on Wednesday evening shortly thereafter his test The news only came out because Bloomberg News reported it
Posted on MSNBC by @spettypi: There is still no official statement from the White House The Hope Hicks news came out because it was reported by Bloomberg News How long was it going to last in secret before the White House made this information public?
Two days ago Trump wondered if masks were working A few hours ago he said we were nearing the end of the pandemic
@cbsnews learned that Hope Hicks had tested negative for COVID-19 on Wednesday morning, so she boarded AF1 She developed symptoms during the day and had a second test, which came back positive The White House knew about this Wednesday night but Trump still had a fundraiser on Thursday
The Biden campaign asked a pool reporter who was on Air Force One Minnesota flights on Wednesday not to travel with them on Friday after Hope Hicks tested positive for COVID-19, @vmsalama and @oliverdarcy report
As other heads of state contract the virus and the functions of their governments are activated, Trump’s positive test will almost certainly lead to calamity, as Bloomberg Businessweek reported in May In addition to the prospect of a significant market drop – already Dow futures have fallen by more than 400 points – a perfect storm for a constitutional crisis would emerge if Trump and Pence got seriously ill:
If Trump and Pence were both unable to perform their duties, neither could invoke the 25th Amendment.The Constitution directs Congress to legislate a line of succession, which was recently updated in the Law on the presidential succession of 1947 – the law which places Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, the next contender for the presidency The problem, says Kalt, is that the Constitution does not offer a procedure for determining « incapacity » of a president to run, giving rise to the possibility of a dispute in which Pelosi, a Democrat, declared herself interim president even as Trump and Pence (or their attorneys) declared themselves fit to serve. p>
Of course, if the president remains asymptomatic or close to him, it may just encourage his dismissal from a virus that has killed more than 207,000 Americans
The president hasn’t exactly learned the basics of public health, which suggests he might not take self-isolation seriously According to the New York Times:
It was not immediately clear what M Trump was hearing the ‘quarantine process’, and White House officials refused to immediately give advice. As of 11:30 a.m., the president still had a full day of events scheduled for Friday, including a private fundraiser at Trump International Hotel in Washington and a campaign rally in Florida
And even if M Trump first tests negative for the virus, the incubation period can last almost two weeks, which means he will not be certain for several days not to have it
And even if M Trump first tests negative for the virus, the incubation period can last almost two weeks, which means he will not be certain for several days not to have it
Thank goodness the White House has always been completely honest about the President’s health It would be horrible if we couldn’t trust them now
The economy created 661,000 jobs in September, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Friday The unemployment rate stands at 79%
This is the highest unemployment rate before a presidential election since the government started tracking the monthly rate in 1948
US road deaths have plummeted during coronavirus lockouts, but drivers have engaged in riskier behavior as the fatality rate hits its highest level in 15 years, a government report expected to be published Thursday will show
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) found that the fatality rate rose to 142 fatalities per 100 million vehicle-miles traveled in the three months ending June 30, the highest since 2005
At the same time, the total number of road fatalities fell 33% to 8,870 while US driving fell about 26%, or 302 less over the same period in 2019, according to the report reviewed by Reuters
The NHTSA study showed that « drivers who stayed on the roads have more risky behaviors, including speeding, not wearing a seat belt and driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol «
Despite promises from tech companies to be more diligent, false information about Joe Biden isn’t hard to find
Fake stories about Joe Biden’s health continued to spread across social platforms in the aftermath of the first presidential debate, including deceptive Facebook ads from the Trump campaign and a viral video on TikTok
A fake story about Biden wearing an earpiece that emerged on Tuesday continued to gain traction on Facebook after the debate The Trump campaign ad, which encourages people to « Check Joe’s ears » and who asked, “Why doesn’t Sleepy Joe commit to inspecting headphones,” has been seen between 200 and 250,000 times and marketed primarily to people over 55 in Texas and Florida. announcement, the content of which comes from a tweet from a New York Post reporter who cited a single anonymous source, is that Biden needed the help of an earpiece so someone could relay information to him during the debates
And on the TikTok video platform, four grainy videos alleging Biden wore a thread to « cheat » during the debate racked up more than half a million combined views on Wednesday, according to a study by the monitoring group Left-wing media Media questions One of the videos shows an image of Biden with his hand inside his suit, while another overlays an arrow on Biden’s tie, but no video shows any visual evidence of Biden wearing an electronic device of any kind
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Donald Trump, Coronavirus, Melania Trump, Hope Hicks, First Lady of the United States
News from the world – United States – Trump admitted to Walter Reed Medical Center: updates live
