© AP Photo/Julio Cortez
President Donald Trump stands on stage with first lady Melania Trump after the first presidential debate with Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020, at Case Western University and Cleveland Clinic, in Cleveland, Ohio.
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for the coronavirus, the president tweeted early Friday.
Trump's positive test comes just hours after the White House announced that senior aide Hope Hicks came down with the virus after traveling with the president several times this week. Trump was last seen by reporters returning to the White House on Thursday evening and looked to be in good health. Trump is 74 years old, putting him at higher risk of serious complications from a virus that has now killed more than 200,000 people nationwide.
"Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!" Trump tweeted.
Trump announced late Thursday that he and first lady Melania Trump were beginning a "quarantine process" after Hicks came down with the virus, though it wasn't clear what that entailed. It can take days for an infection to be detectable by a test.
The diagnosis marks a major blow for a president who has been trying desperately to convince the American public that the worst of the pandemic is behind them even as cases continue to rise with four weeks before Election Day. And it stands as the most serious known public health scare encountered by any sitting American president in recent history.
Comment: Trump is reportedly
experiencing 'mild' symptoms. Pence and his wife have tested
negative, but RNC chair Ronna Romney McDaniel reportedly tested
positive on Wednesday. Stocks
slumped after the announcement about Trump.
Biden and Jill are
reportedly 'praying' for Trump and Melania's health and safety - very presidential, very fake. Many are now
worried that Trump gave Biden Covid during the debate:
Putin also
wished the Trumps a swift recovery, saying: "I'm sure your vitality, strong spirit and optimism will help you beat this dangerous virus." The Sputnik V vaccine creators
offered their vaccine to the White House staff.
UPDATE: Trump is
reportedly fatigued but in good spirits, and has been treated with the "Regeneron polyclonal antibody cocktail and several supplements." Melania has a cough and a headache, but the rest of the family has tested negative. Trump will be
flown to Walter Reed for a few days as a "precautionary measure." The campaign has shifted to "virtual mode" while Pence has
assumed more White House duties.
Rachel Maddow had the decency to pray for the President and First Lady, only to be
blasted by her audience.
Pelosi
discussed continuity of government plans and discussion with the military on MSNBC:
Biden tested
negative today, for what it's worth.
UPDATE: Now at Walter Reed, Trump is "
doing very well", according to his doctor, but notes that the Covid hasn't yet entered the inflammatory phase (assuming Trump even becomes symptomatic). He says Trump hasn't needed supplemental
oxygen, and has
started a course of Remdesivir antiviral therapy.
Senators Thom Tillis and Mike Lee, along with Kellyanne Conway, are the latest to have tested
positive. (So far no one seems to be showing any actual symptoms besides a mild cough, unsurprisingly.) Also Trump campaign manager
Bill Stepien.
Also unsurprisingly, Democrats are
happy to see Trump get Covid, according to a new poll. It's more than that, of course. For example (more at the linked article):
Twitter says it will
remove posts calling for the death of Trump. (So far, many of the examples linked to above are still up, however. For another large collection of such tweets, go
here.)
Update: Trump's doctor has had to
clarify his clarification of the time of Trump's test, and whether or not he has needed oxygen: "The president was first diagnosed with Covid-19 on the evening of Thursday, October 1st and had received Regeneron's antibody cocktail on Friday, October 2nd." While saying he hadn't needed oxygen today, he
dodged the question of whether he had needed oxygen at any point. Trump's chief of staff had revealed that his condition was "very concerning". Oh, and Chris Christie (who helped Trump prepare for the debate) also has the Covid, and has
checked himself into a hospital as a precaution.
Comment: Trump is reportedly experiencing 'mild' symptoms. Pence and his wife have tested negative, but RNC chair Ronna Romney McDaniel reportedly tested positive on Wednesday. Stocks slumped after the announcement about Trump.
Biden and Jill are reportedly 'praying' for Trump and Melania's health and safety - very presidential, very fake. Many are now worried that Trump gave Biden Covid during the debate:
Putin also wished the Trumps a swift recovery, saying: "I'm sure your vitality, strong spirit and optimism will help you beat this dangerous virus." The Sputnik V vaccine creators offered their vaccine to the White House staff.
UPDATE: Trump is reportedly fatigued but in good spirits, and has been treated with the "Regeneron polyclonal antibody cocktail and several supplements." Melania has a cough and a headache, but the rest of the family has tested negative. Trump will be flown to Walter Reed for a few days as a "precautionary measure." The campaign has shifted to "virtual mode" while Pence has assumed more White House duties.
Rachel Maddow had the decency to pray for the President and First Lady, only to be blasted by her audience.
Pelosi discussed continuity of government plans and discussion with the military on MSNBC:
Biden tested negative today, for what it's worth.
UPDATE: Now at Walter Reed, Trump is "doing very well", according to his doctor, but notes that the Covid hasn't yet entered the inflammatory phase (assuming Trump even becomes symptomatic). He says Trump hasn't needed supplemental oxygen, and has started a course of Remdesivir antiviral therapy.
Senators Thom Tillis and Mike Lee, along with Kellyanne Conway, are the latest to have tested positive. (So far no one seems to be showing any actual symptoms besides a mild cough, unsurprisingly.) Also Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien.
Also unsurprisingly, Democrats are happy to see Trump get Covid, according to a new poll. It's more than that, of course. For example (more at the linked article):
Twitter says it will remove posts calling for the death of Trump. (So far, many of the examples linked to above are still up, however. For another large collection of such tweets, go here.)
Update: Trump's doctor has had to clarify his clarification of the time of Trump's test, and whether or not he has needed oxygen: "The president was first diagnosed with Covid-19 on the evening of Thursday, October 1st and had received Regeneron's antibody cocktail on Friday, October 2nd." While saying he hadn't needed oxygen today, he dodged the question of whether he had needed oxygen at any point. Trump's chief of staff had revealed that his condition was "very concerning". Oh, and Chris Christie (who helped Trump prepare for the debate) also has the Covid, and has checked himself into a hospital as a precaution.