NY Times Reporter Who Tested Positive Calls Out White House for Not Contact Tracing: ‘They’re Not Taking it Seriously’

A New York Times correspondent who tested positive for the coronavirus is calling out the White House for not contact tracing — and, in general, not taking the outbreak at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue seriously.

Appearing on CNN’s New Day Monday, Times correspondent Michael Shear took the White House to task for a laissez faire approach to the outbreak following the Rose Garden event for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. Shear was one of numerous people in the Rose Garden that day who has since tested positive. He later flew on Air Force One. And yet no one from the White House has reached out.

“I have not been contacted by the White House,” Shear said. “Nobody from the White House has said boo, and asked anything about where I was, or who I talked to, or who else I might have infected. And so I think that just shows you that they’re not taking it seriously, at least as it pertains to themselves.”

Shear believes the White House’s approach on the outbreak is both politically-driven, and consistent with their actions throughout the pandemic.

“It is the result of the politics that have driven their response to this virus from the very beginning,” Shear said. “Whether it was the testing fiascos early on and not having enough testing because President Trump didn’t want to have more cases, or whether it was the vaccine development and the pressure and leaning on the CDC, it’s all been driven by politics. And I think that even gets down to the White House itself, where people in the building didn’t want to offend the president by wearing masks.”

Watch above, via CNN.