US presidential
electionsDonald Trump’s positive coronavirus test comes amid intensely Trumpian circumstances in which insiders who knew of his exposure continued to hold media briefings and attend public rallies until Trump broke the news at 12. : 54 am local time on Friday.
The White House had politicized the coronavirus and now it has come back to bite at a crucial moment for the
US Political calculations of the president.
“This is deadly,” Trump had told Bob Woodward of the Washington Post, referring to the coronavirus, during a phone call on February 7, 2020. In his new best-seller “Rage,” Woodward begins with the details of that. surprising conversation in which Trump said “goes through the air” while publicly urging states to “REOPEN!”
The coronavirus has killed more than 209,000 people in the
US – the richest country in the world with the highest number of cases in the world.
Trump’s positive test comes just hours after his close confidant, Hope Hicks, tested positive. News of Hicks’ diagnosis did not come from a statement from the White House, but was revealed by a media report.
The mad fight for backward contact tracing has begun at the White House, and infectious disease experts say it’s not necessarily a one-way street. Both Hicks and Trump may have been exposed to another third party.
In the week before his diagnosis became official, Trump attended at least six crowded events, exposing at least 21 officials in his immediate circle, including his new Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett and Vice President Mike. Pence.
On Monday, September 28, Trump held two events at the Rose Garden. The first took place in the South Lawn in the presence of a small group of about five people where they inspected a truck produced by an Ohio manufacturer, Lordstown Motors.
Later that day, Trump spoke at the Rose Garden, announcing updates on “millions” of coronavirus test kits being shipped to states. Vice President Mike Pence was there, as were many congressional legislators.
On Tuesday, September 29, Trump flew to Cleveland, Ohio, for the first presidential debate against Democratic rival Joe Biden. Hope Hicks, whose positive coronavirus test sounded alarms later that week, was on Air Force One.
Members of Biden’s entourage were masked while Trump’s team was unmasked, their signature anthem from the moment of the initial outbreak of the disease. Biden and Trump stayed more than six feet apart during the debate. Both men did not wear masks.
On Wednesday, September 30, two events were held. Trump traveled to Minnesota for a private fundraiser in Minneapolis and an outdoor rally in Duluth. This is the day that confidante Hicks reported feeling unwell and isolated herself aboard Air Force One, a very tight, enclosed space.
Late on Thursday, October 1, Hicks tested positive for coronavirus. Trump flew to his Bedminster golf resort-course in New Jersey for a private fundraiser, even as fears were running high in Trump’s inner circle. Trump’s press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who was very close to Hicks and Trump, continued to brief the media at the White House.
At 12:54 am local time on Friday, October 2, Trump tweeted: “Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through it TOGETHER!”
First Lady Melania Trump tweeted shortly after: “As many Americans have done this year, @potus and I are quarantined at home after testing positive for Covid-19. We feel good and I have postponed all upcoming engagements. Please, make sure we’re safe and we’ll all get through this together. ”
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