White House Did Not Inform Biden Campaign of Trump’s Covid Test Results; Report
PBS White House reporter Yamiche Alcindor has confirmed that the Biden campaign did not learn of President Donald Trump’s recent positive test results for Covid-19 from either the White House or the Trump campaign.
Alcindor revealed in a Friday morning tweet that “there was no contact from the Trump campaign or the White House to alert the Biden campaign of possible exposure,” and that the Biden campaign learned from news reports. Alcindor tweeted:
CONFIRMED: There was no contact from the Trump campaign or the White House to alert the Biden campaign of possible exposure. The campaign learned of the situation from the news reports, a Biden campaign aide tells me.
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) October 2, 2020
Vice President Joe Biden was joined by family and his campaign team during Tuesday night’s controversial debate with Trump, held indoor at the Cleveland Clinic. First Lady Melania Trump and aide Hope Hicks have also tested positive as well. The Trump team notably flouted Cleveland Clinic’s requirements to wear masks and even refused masks offered, according to report.
The reaction to this breaking story will predictably fall along partisan lines. MSNBC host Joy Reid call this “beyond pernicious”:
This is beyond pernicious. https://t.co/phfN0Uv0HQ
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) October 2, 2020
Trump appears to have learned of his positive test results somewhere between a 9:30 appearance on Hannity, when he revealed he had taken a test but not yet learned results, and a roughly 1 AM tweet in which he announced that he and the First Lady had tested positive.
