Trump says he and first lady will self-quarantine after aide Hope Hicks tests positive for Covid
Category: News & Politics
Via: jbb • 4 years ago • 14 commentsBy: Monica Alba, Hallie Jackson and Dartunorro Clark (NBC News)
This could not come at a worse time for Trump's campaign...
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Oct. 2, 2020, 12:49 AM UTC / Updated Oct. 2, 2020, 4:23 AM UTC By Monica Alba, Hallie Jackson and Dartunorro Clark
President Donald Trump said in a tweet that he and first lady Melania Trump are beginning the self-quarantine process after Hope Hicks, one of his closest senior advisers, tested positive for the coronavirus.
Some of the details remained unclear Thursday night, but a source familiar with the situation said Hicks tested negative Wednesday morning, before a trip to Minnesota for a Trump rally, and was not believed to be showing any symptoms before departure.
Hicks apparently began showing minor symptoms sometime late Wednesday evening, she quarantined on Air Force One on the trip back, and her test came back positive Thursday morning, the source said.
She is among the highest-profile members of the administration to test positive and is in frequent contact with Trump.
White House Communications Director Hope Hicks attends a listening session hosted by President Donald Trump at the White House on Feb. 21, 2018.Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images file
Hicks, 31, recently traveled on the Marine One helicopter and on Air Force One with the president to Cleveland for Tuesday's debate along with roughly 20 to 30 aides and family members and was seen backstage. Hicks was also on the plane traveling to Trump's rally in Minnesota Wednesday night, along with the president's son-in-law and top aide, Jared Kushner, and with Dan Scavino, another top White House adviser.
She was seen in a photo on Wednesday not wearing a mask after exiting Marine One with Kushner and White House aide Stephen Miller.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that those who test positive should self-isolate, monitor symptoms and wear a mask when around other people. If symptoms, such as trouble breathing, get worse, the CDC says to seek emergency medical care immediately.
From left, Hope Hicks, an advisor to President Donald Trump, President Trump's senior adviser, Jared Kushner, and White House Social Media Director Dan Scavino, walk to Air Force One to depart Washington with the president and other staff to Minnesota from Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on Sept. 30, 2020.Leah Millis / Reuters
The president confirmed Hicks, whose diagnosis was first reported by Bloomberg News, during a phone interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday night and said he and the first lady have been tested but had not yet heard the results.
"Whether we quarantine or whether we have it, I don't know," Trump, 74, told Hannity. "I just went for a test and we'll see what happens."
He also called Hicks a "warm" person with military members and "it's very hard to say 'stay back.'"
Trump later tweeted that he and the first lady will begin isolating until they receive their results.
Hope Hicks, who has been working so hard without even taking a small break, has just tested positive for Covid 19. Terrible! The First Lady and I are waiting for our test results. In the meantime, we will begin our quarantine process!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2020
Judd Deere, the White House deputy press secretary, did not confirm Hicks' positive test results in a statement to NBC News earlier Thursday but instead described the administration's safety precautions.
"The President takes the health and safety of himself and everyone who works in support of him and the American people very seriously," he said. "White House Operations collaborates with the Physician to the President and the White House Military Office to ensure all plans and procedures incorporate current CDC guidelines and best practices for limiting COVID-19 exposure to the greatest extent possible both on complex and when the President is traveling."
The former White House communications director and top press aide to Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign returned to the White House in February to work closely with Kushner.
NBC News: Hope Hicks showed symptoms before positive coronavirus test
Oct. 2, 202005:38
Hicks departed the White House in 2018 and took on a senior role in Fox Corp.'s communications office.
Hicks, a former model, had no political experience before she joined the Trump campaign in 2016. Before that, she worked for Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump.
Her 2018 resignation came one day after she testified before the House Intelligence Committee in its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Hicks was referred to nearly 180 times in former special counsel Robert Mueller's report on the matter.
Earlier this year, several White House staffers, including Secret Service personnel, tested positive for the virus after a Trump rally. One of President Trump's personal valets, who works in the West Wing serving the president his meals, among other duties, tested positive for the coronavirus in May.
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Lock Them Up!
Well, at least until they recover or stop testing positive.
Both Donald Trump and Melania Trump have tested positive and are beginning quarantine at 11:55CST.
Earlier the President indicated that he has done so much for the military that it is hard to impossible to stop them from hugging him and shaking his hand ans they insist on thanking them,
sort of blaming them for his possible predicament.
A nation holds it's collective breath...
I hope he recovers nicely, and then resigns immediately from the presidency and let's pence run in his place
his credibility as a national leader is now less than zero
It's much easier for him to say "Stand by"
It takes two weeks to incubate during which time isn't it is still possible to spread the virus? Is he going to self-isolate for two weeks and THEN be tested? Self-isolation shouldn't be a problem for a POTUS who is doing a great job of isolating the whole country from the rest of the world. What would happen if he has underlying medical conditons and is forced to stay hospitalized and ventilated? Just asking the questions, not wishing for anything.
Just saw JP's comment that they DID test positive - now the story takes a very sharp turn.
Holy Smoke - this is going to be dramatic. I wonder if this will cause Trump to get a big sympathy vote.
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Why should he get any sympathy considering his reckless disregard for the health of his base by having superspreader events, not wearing or encouraging people to wear masks and social distance. There are over 200,000 dead because he down played the pandemic, calling it a Democratic hoax. If Trump wants sympathy, he should look it up in a dictionary. It is right between shit and syphilis. This is karma big time.
Although, as you indicated, he probably does not deserve sympathy, but people are people there is a chance he will get it. (Certainly not from me).
One good thing is that this might encourage some of the Trump sycophants to realize that this pandemic is real and that they can indeed be infected.
I suppose that with hindsight Trump might realize that it would have been smart to at least have everyone close to him wear face masks, and to keep a distance. I'll bet Hicks did neither. Now will come the speculation as to how this is going to affect his chances in November. As well, since he is overweight, and in his 70s, and I believe has some issues with his heart, he is among the most vulnerable. The news from here on is going to be very very busy.
Trump and Hicks apparently have a "very close relationship", so this isn't really surprising...
Hicks resemblance to Mary Trump is very close. Could Hicks be a sister from another mother?
That would be icky. Several sources hint-very-loudly that Hicks is a bed-mate.
It would not surprise me one bit given his history.