Trump tested positive for COVID-19 days before debate with Biden: Meadows book
The Hill
12/1/2021
© Getty Images
Trump tested positive for COVID-19 days before debate with Biden: Meadows book
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows reportedly reveals in a new book that former President Trump tested positive for the coronavirus three days before his first debate against then-Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
In "The Chief's Chief," Meadows writes that although Trump was aware that in order to participate in the debate each candidate had to "to test negative for the virus within seventy two hours of the start time ... Nothing was going to stop [Trump] from going out there," The Guardian, which obtained a copy of the book, reported.
Shortly after getting the positive result, Trump reportedly tested again and received a negative result.
According to Meadows, Trump's initial positive test on Sept. 26, 2020, shocked the White House. He recalled the White House doctor calling as Trump was scheduled to take off on Marine One, according to The Guardian.
"Stop the president from leaving," Meadows says Sean Conley told him. "He just tested positive for Covid."
Meadows later reportedly added that the former president's reply to the news "rhyme[d] with 'Oh spit, you've gotta be trucking lidding me.' "
Video: Trump tested positive for Covid before Biden debate, sources say (NBC News)
-
Under pressure: Tucker Carlson’s debunked conspiracy theory cited by Buffalo shooting suspect
MSNBC -
Exposed: Police bias from Buffalo mass shooter’s arrest to deadly traffic stops in Black America
MSNBC -
'Even stronger than it was': United States backs Finland, Sweden entry into NATO
USA TODAY -
Ukrainian speaks out after Russian troops buried him alive
CNN -
Pentagon: Biden Has Authorized Sending Troops To Somalia
Newsweek -
Trump tells voters to give Cawthorn a 'second chance.' See why these voters will
CNN -
Pennsylvania primary: Democratic frontrunner suffers stroke, GOP candidate surges
NBC News -
Investigators say Geneva Presbyterian Church shooting was hate-filled attack
NBC News -
Rising hate crimes in the U.S. and how social media could fuel violence
NBC News -
Authorities say gunman came to Buffalo grocery store in March amid questions over whether warning signs were missed
NBC News -
FDA may give Abbott Nutrition green light to reopen Michigan formula factory
NBC News -
Knowing the victims murdered in the Buffalo shooting
CNBC -
Lester Holt: Buffalo shooting follows 'well-worn path of racially fueled anger and violence' in America
NBC News -
Buffalo shooting victim had called on government to address gun violence
CBS News -
A closer look at 'great replacement' white supremacy ideology allegedly cited by Buffalo shooter
NBC News -
Woman shares story of how she narrowly missed supermarket attack
CNN
-
Under pressure: Tucker Carlson’s debunked conspiracy theory cited by Buffalo shooting suspect A white gunman walked into a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, and killed 10 people in the deadliest mass shooting in the U.S. so far this year. Almost all of the victims are Black and the FBI is investigating the shooting as a federal hate crime. MSNBC’s Ari Melber discusses the tragedy and how “Replacement Theory” contributes to incidents of violence like this, saying “this weekend another person has drawn on this conspiracy theory… this time committing a mass murder.”
MSNBC
-
Exposed: Police bias from Buffalo mass shooter’s arrest to deadly traffic stops in Black America The Buffalo mass shooting is reviving discussions of many issues across the nation -- from racist, violent rhetoric to the double standards in law enforcement -- after Buffalo police peacefully arrested the armed shooting suspect at the murder scene without firing a single shot. The suspect, Payton Gendron, was armed with an AR-15 rifle, tactical gear, and body armor and has been charged with first-degree murder. MSNBC's Chief Legal Correspondent Ari Melber notes the bravery of officers and civilians during the emergency while documenting the starkly different police response, and use of force, in far less dangerous incidents where police escalated interactions and used deadly force. The special report compares the facts and threat level of the Buffalo arrest to police use of deadly force against unarmed Black Americans, including Stephon Clark, Jacob Blake, Patrick Lyoya, Walter Scott, and George Floyd, while noting police's deadly use of force continues at the same rate in 2022 as past years. The escalation of traffic stops and arrests for non-violent allegations into physical altercations is a frequent problem, Melber reports, noting it is "known to anyone with a reason to know -- people in legal and media circles who interact with these facts, experts who track the data, and people who live in communities who are policed like this." The report notes civil rights leaders have long argued the goal is not for the police to use more force, nor "err on the side of killing any person who might be dealt with non-violently," but rather advocates say they are "not asking police to kill other suspects the way they are killing unarmed Black people; they are asking police to stop killing unarmed Black people."
-
'Even stronger than it was': United States backs Finland, Sweden entry into NATO Finland and Sweden look to join NATO, a move the U.S. backs, as Republican leader Mitch McConnell says it will make NATO "even stronger than it was."
USA TODAY
It was determined at that time that the positive test came from an old model kit and Trump would be tested again using "the Binax system," Meadows said, according to The Guardian.
"We were hoping the first test was a false positive," he added.
Meadows recalled calling the president back with the news of the negative test, which he said Trump took as "full permission to press on as if nothing had happened," the news outlet noted.
The former chief of staff reportedly said, however, that he still "instructed everyone in his immediate circle to treat him as if he was positive" throughout a scheduled trip to Pennsylvania.
"I didn't want to take any unnecessary risks," Meadows writes, "but I also didn't want to alarm the public if there was nothing to worry about - which according to the new, much more accurate test, there was not."
It was not until Oct. 2, days after the debate with Biden, that Trump announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19, and he went to the hospital later that day.
"The story of me having COVID prior to, or during, the first debate is Fake News," Trump said in a statement.
"In fact, a test revealed that I did not have COVID prior to the debate," he added.
--Updated at 9:21 a.m.
The Hill
