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US President Donald Trump says his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, tested positive for Covid-19, making him the latest member of Trump’s inner circle to contract the disease that is now emerging in the United States.
Giuliani was showing some symptoms and was admitted to Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington on Sunday, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly.
Jacquelyn Martin / AP
Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, tested positive for Covid-19.
The 76-year-old former New York mayor has traveled extensively to battle states in an effort to help Trump subvert his electoral defeat. On numerous occasions he has met with officials for hours without wearing a mask.
Trump, who announced Giuliani’s positive test in a Sunday afternoon tweet, wished him a speedy recovery.
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“Get better soon Rudy, we’ll move on!” Trump wrote.
Giuliani did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but on Sunday night he retweeted Trump’s announcement about his diagnosis. He also tweeted thanks to a conservative writer who said he was praying for Giuliani.
Giuliani attended a hearing at the Georgia Capitol on Thursday, where he was without a mask for several hours. Several state senators, all Republicans, also did not wear masks at the hearing.
Giuliani made an appearance early Sunday on Fox News to speak about his legal challenges in various states on behalf of Trump.
The diagnosis comes more than a month after Trump lost re-election and more than two months after Trump himself was struck by the virus in early October. Since then, a wave of administration officials and others in Trump’s orbit have also fallen ill, including White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Ben Carson, the Secretary for Housing and Urban Development. The president’s wife, Melania Trump, and teenage son, Barron Trump, were also affected.
The extraordinary spread in Trump’s orbit underscores the arrogant approach the president has taken to a virus that has now killed more than 280,000 people in the United States alone.
Those infected also include White House press secretary and advisers Hope Hicks and Stephen Miller, as well as Trump’s campaign manager and the chairman of the Republican National Committee.
Last month, Giuliani’s son, Andrew Giuliani, Trump’s special assistant, said he tested positive for coronavirus.
Chris Szagola / AP
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows tested positive for Covid-19 in November.
“I am experiencing mild symptoms and following all appropriate protocols, including being in quarantine and conducting contact tracing,” the young Giuliani said in a Nov. 20 tweet revealing his positive test for Covid-19.
Trump spent the final days of his campaign trying to persuade the American public that the virus was receding, repeatedly claiming that it would miraculously “disappear” after November 3. Instead, the country is experiencing a record rise in infections.
The coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, Dr. Deborah Birx, offered an unspoken criticism of Trump’s attitude on the virus Sunday during an interview on NBC. Meet the press.
When asked about Trump and other members of the administration scoffing at public health experts’ warnings to avoid large gatherings and calls to wear masks, Birx responded that some leaders are “parroting myths” and called the pandemic “the worst event this country will face.”
“And I think our job is to constantly say that they are myths, that they are wrong and you can see the evidence base,” Birx added.
