It Was Inevitable: President Donald Trump Tests Positive For Covid-19 (Updated)

Karma’s a bitch.

At the first presidential debate on Tuesday night, Donald Trump mocked Vice President Joe Biden for his wearing a face mask at events, and encouraging Americans to wear a mask:

At the first presidential debate on Tuesday night, Trump said he thought masks “are OK” and that he only wears one when he feels he needs it.

“Tonight is an example. Everyone has had a test and you’ve had social distancing and all of the things that you have to,” Trump said.

At the debate, Trump also attacked Biden for frequently wearing face masks in public.

“I don’t wear face masks like him,” Trump said. “Every time you see him he’s got a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away … and he shows up with the biggest mask I’ve ever seen.”

Biden responded by saying “masks make a big difference” in stemming coronavirus transmission, and noted if Americans wear masks and practice social distancing between now and January 2021, it could save up to 100,000 lives.

Trump has criticized Biden for wearing a face mask since May. No member of the Trump family and campaign team were wearing a mask in the debate hall to emphasize the “no masks” talking point.

On Thursday, Bloomberg News first reported that Trump aide Hope Hicks, who works closely with the president, tested positive for covid-19. Trump Says He Will Quarantine After Aide Falls Ill With Virus:

Hope Hicks traveled with Trump aboard Air Force One to and from the presidential debate in Cleveland on Tuesday and to a Minnesota rally on Wednesday. She felt poorly in Minnesota and quarantined aboard the presidential plane on the way home, according to people familiar with the matter.

The people asked not to be identified because Hicks’s infection had not been publicly announced until Trump’s interview Thursday night on Fox News.

Kaitlin Collins of CNN tweeted:

I’m told a small group of officials were aware Thursday a.m. that Hope Hicks had tested positive. Despite that, President Trump traveled to New Jersey for a fundraiser and his press secretary held a briefing.

— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) October 2, 2020

Trump said that he would begin self-quarantine while waiting for coronavirus test results after Hope Hicks, one of his closest aides, tested positive for Covid-19.

“She did test positive. I just heard about this,” Trump said in an interview Thursday night on Fox News, about two hours after Bloomberg News first reported Hicks’s positive test.

Later, in a tweet, the president said that he and First Lady Melania Trump had been tested for the virus and were waiting on the results. “In the meantime, we will begin our quarantine process!”

Hours later in the wee hours of the morning, Trump tweeted that he and First Lady Melania had tested positive for covid-19. Trump Tests Positive for the Coronavirus:

President Trump revealed early Friday morning that he and the first lady, Melania Trump, had tested positive for the coronavirus [in a tweet].

Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2020

Mr. Trump, who for months has played down the seriousness of the virus, [Before testing positive for coronavirus, Trump scoffed at many health guidelines], and hours earlier on Thursday night told an audience that “the end of the pandemic is in sight,” will quarantine in the White House for an unspecified period of time, forcing him to withdraw at least temporarily from the campaign trail only 32 days before the election on Nov. 3.

The dramatic disclosure came in a Twitter message just before 1 a.m. after a suspenseful evening following reports that Mr. Trump’s close adviser Hope Hicks had tested positive. In her own tweet about 30 minutes later, Mrs. Trump wrote that the first couple were “feeling good,” but the White House did not say whether they were experiencing symptoms. The president’s physician said he could carry out his duties “without disruption” from the Executive Mansion.

Oh really? Bloomberg reported, “Some of President Trump’s closest aides sensed on Wednesday that the president was feeling poorly and appeared exhausted.” The New York Times reported that Trump has been displaying mild cold-like symptoms.

UPDATE: White House chief of staff Mark Meadows  confirmed Friday morning that Trump is “in good spirits” but he is experiencing mild symptoms related to Covid-19.

If Trump is experiencing symptoms, that’s a big deal. It would mean he has already crossed a threshold. One study showed that only 20% of infected people become symptomatic. https://t.co/EHMBoBb9DO

— Ken Dilanian (@KenDilanianNBC) October 2, 2020

The White House did not say how long Mr. Trump would have to remain in isolation, but it canceled his plans to fly to Florida for a campaign rally on Friday, stripping his public schedule for the day of everything except a midday telephone call “on Covid-19 support to vulnerable seniors” [like him]. Appearances at rallies in Wisconsin on Saturday and in Arizona on Monday also appear sure to be scrapped, and the next debate, scheduled for Oct. 15 in Miami, was left up in the air.

Mr. Trump’s positive test result posed immediate challenges for the future of his campaign against former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the Democratic nominee, with barely a month until Election Day. Even if Mr. Trump, 74, remains asymptomatic, he will lose much of his remaining time on the campaign trail. If he becomes sick, it could raise questions about whether he should remain on the ballot at all.

If Trump becomes seriously ill, Vice President Mike Pence will have to assume his duties.

Even if Mr. Trump does not become seriously ill, the positive test could prove devastating to his political fortunes given his months of playing down the enormity of the pandemic even as the virus was still ravaging the country and killing about 1,000 Americans every day. He has repeatedly predicted the virus was “going to disappear,” asserted that it was under control and insisted that the country was “rounding the corner” to the end of the crisis. He has scorned the advice of scientists, saying they were mistaken about the severity of the situation.

For months, Mr. Trump has refused to wear a mask in public on all but a few occasions and has repeatedly questioned their effectiveness. And as recently as Tuesday, at their opening debate, he mocked Mr. Biden for wearing one. “I don’t wear masks like him,” the president said, his voice dripping with derision. “Every time you see him, he’s got a mask.”

It was not immediately clear whether Mr. Trump might have been infected by the virus at the time of the debate with Mr. Biden, 77, although the two stood far across stage and never got within six feet of each other.

Former Vice President Joe Biden is expected to get tested for coronavirus this morning, CNN reports.

Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary Devin O’Malley said that Pence underwent a routine Covid test Friday morning and he and his wife Karen Pence had both tested negative. Vice President Pence tests negative for Covid after Trump’s diagnosis.

Even after learning his aide Hope Hicks had contracted the virus on Thursday, Trump told an event, “the end of the pandemic is in sight.” All the Times Trump Downplayed COVID-19 Right Up Until Thursday Night:

From the beginning, Trump has belittled, berated, and bullied the cautious while taking great risks that have finally caught up to him with the announcement of his positive diagnosis early Friday morning.

[Trump] spoke at the virtual Al Smith charity dinner for Catholics, to whom he promised the coronavirus crisis was nearly over. “And I just want to say that the end of the pandemic is in sight,” Trump said. “And next year will be one of the greatest years in the history of our country.”

Despite knowing about Hope Hicks positive test as early as Thursday morning, and aides saying Wednesday that the president was feeling poorly and appeared exhausted, Trump Went Ahead With Golf Club Fundraiser After Hicks Tested Positive:

Just hours before President Trump announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19, he was mingling with fundraisers at an event held at his New Jersey golf club—and even posed for personal photo-ops with supporters. The event went ahead after the White House learned that one of the president’s closest aides, Hope Hicks, had tested positive for the disease, according to multiple reports.

On top of the personal photo-ops, local reports state that the roundtable event with dozens of supporters went ahead despite knowledge of Hicks’ infection, and Trump reportedly delivered a droplet-spraying speech. According to The Washington Post, Trump didn’t wear a mask at the golf club, or on the plane back to Washington, D.C. The president then tested positive after he had returned to the White House.

The decision to travel to New Jersey reportedly came after White House officials had learned that Hicks had tested positive for COVID-19—though it’s not clear if Trump knew about it personally.

The Post reports that Hicks learned of her diagnosis Thursday morning, a day after she began experiencing symptoms, apparently leaving White House staff with ample time to cancel the New Jersey event. CBS and ABC News reported that Hicks received her positive test as early as Wednesday night. CNN reported that, due to their knowledge of Hicks’ result, the White House even sent a reduced staff to the New Jersey event.

The event may have exposed dozens of people to the virus and adds to a long list of people who have had recent contact with Hicks or Trump who may now need to isolate. They include a large contingent from Trump’s family who traveled to Tuesday night’s debate in Ohio together. Hicks was also seen boarding Marine One on Wednesday with President Trump and senior White House advisers Jared Kushner and Stephen Miller.

The fact that the Bedminster event went ahead despite Hicks’ symptomatic case has been met with stunned disbelief. CNN anchor Anderson Cooper said: “The fact that the president still went, knowing he’d had very close contact with somebody who’d tested positive, is irresponsible.”

Reporters also voiced their incredulity at the fact that press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who has also been in contact with Hicks, held a news briefing at the White House on Thursday and didn’t wear a mask. Neither Hicks’ symptoms or rest were mentioned at the briefing.

CNN correspondent Kaitlan Collins asked: “Why did the president still go to New Jersey, knowing that he could potentially put these people at risk, these donors and fundraisers? And of course, why did the press secretary still hold a briefing despite knowing she had come into contact with somebody who had just tested positive for coronavirus?”

The contact tracers are going to be busy. Three Minnesota Congressmen Flew on Air Force One With Trump, Hope Hicks Just Before Diagnosis:

Three Minnesota congressmen—U.S. Reps. Jim Hagedorn, Tom Emmer, and Pete Stauber— traveled this week on Air Force One with President Trump from Washington, D.C., to Minnesota, for Wednesday night’s rally in Duluth. Trump adviser Hope Hicks was also on the flight, and was reportedly isolated as she began to show symptoms of COVID-19 during the trip. The representatives also traveled with the president in a motorcade before and after the rally. While in the state, Trump also held a private conversation with the state Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, and House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt, who later posted a picture on Twitter of himself standing, unmasked, just inches from Trump in front of Air Force One. Former congressman and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Jason Lewis was also present at the meeting. The president also attended a private fundraiser at the suburban Minnetonka home of Cambria CEO Marty Davis.

Trump and his White House staff have also been meeting with numerous senators and his Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett.  Senators testing positive for covid-19 would require the Senate to shut down for a minimum of two weeks.

If you start thinking about the number of people who have come in close contact with Trump, Hicks, and others in that orbit, it doesn’t take much dot-connecting to see that a number of Senators could have potentially been exposed to this.

— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) October 2, 2020

If the Senate has to quarantine, this will throw a wrench into their plans to steamroll the confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett. Depending on which senators may be infected, this could derail their reelection campaigns in the finals days of the campaign.

This is a developing story.

UPDATE:  RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, the New York Times reports. She has “mild” symptoms and was last with President Trump a week ago.

UPDATE: Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) announced Friday he tested positive for Covid-19, just days after meeting in person with Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett on Tuesday. GOP senator on Judiciary panel tests positive for Covid-19 days after meeting with Trump’s nominee.

Judge Barrett tested negative for coronavirus on Friday, according to White House spokesperson Judd Deere.

Judge Barrett was diagnosed with coronavirus late this summer but has recovered, according to three sources familiar with the matter. Trump’s SCOTUS pick was diagnosed with coronavirus this summer and recovered.

UPDATE: Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, tested negative for coronavirus on Friday morning, the Bidens’ doctor said. Biden tests negative for coronavirus following Trump’s positive test:

“Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden underwent PCR testing for COVID-19 today and COVID-19 was not detected. I am reporting this out in my capacity as both Vice President Biden and Dr. Biden’s primary care physician,” Biden’s doctor, Kevin O’Connor, said in a statement released by Biden’s campaign.

Biden said on Twitter: “I’m happy to report that Jill and I have tested negative for COVID. Thank you to everyone for your messages of concern. I hope this serves as a reminder: wear a mask, keep social distance, and wash your hands.”

UPDATE: North Carolina U.S. Senator Thom Tillis has tested positive for COVID-19. He is the second senator on the Senate Judiciary Committee to test positive. N.C. Senator Thom Tillis tests positive for COVID-19.

UPDATE: Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) tested positive for the coronavirus. Sen. Ron Johnson tests positive for coronavirus. Senator Johnson was exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19 on Sept. 14. He stayed in quarantine for 14 days without developing symptoms and tested negative twice during that time,” Voelkel said, noting that Johnson then returned to D.C. and was exposed again shortly after Sept. 29.

CDC guidelines require a 14 day quarantine for the Senate, but Senate Republicans are defying the CDC guidelines.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) tweeted: “We now have two members of the Senate Judiciary Committee who have tested positive for COVID, and there may be more. I wish my colleagues well. It is irresponsible and dangerous to move forward with a hearing, and there is absolutely no good reason to do so.”

UPDATE: Former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said Friday night that she has tested positive for coronavirus. Kellyanne Conway announces she tested positive for coronavirus. Video of Judge Barrett’s announcement ceremony shows Conway in close face-to-face contact with Attorney General William Barr. Where are his test results?

UPDATE: Donald Trump’s campaign manager Bill Stepien has tested positive for Covid-19. Trump campaign manager tests positive for Covid-19.

UPDATE: The Rev. John I. Jenkins, Notre Dame’s president, who had attended White House ceremony, tests positive for coronavirus. The Notre Dame faculty who attended the White House event await test results amid concern on campus of exposure.

UPDATE: Three White House journalists test positive for coronavirus after closely covering Trump.

UPDATE: Cleveland says 11 cases have been linked to planning and set up for the debate.

UPDATE: Chris Christie checks himself into a hospital after testing positive for COVID-19.