An attendee of a conservative convention the place President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence spoke final week has examined constructive for the
An attendee of a conservative convention the place President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence spoke final week has examined constructive for the coronavirus, in line with the occasion’s organizer.
The organizer, the American Conservative Union, which hosts the annual Conservative Political Motion Convention exterior Washington, D.C., mentioned the attendee was uncovered to the virus earlier than the four-day occasion and examined constructive for it on Saturday.
“This attendee had no interplay with the president or the vice chairman and by no means attended the occasions in the primary corridor,” the group said in a statement. “The Trump administration is conscious of the scenario, and we’ll proceed common communication with all acceptable authorities officers.”
The attendee has been quarantined in New Jersey, the assertion mentioned.
Mr. Trump mentioned on Saturday that he was not apprehensive that the infections gave the impression to be getting nearer to the White Home.
“No, I’m not involved in any respect, no,” he informed reporters at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida, the place he was spending the weekend.
He mentioned he had no plans to curtail his marketing campaign rallies regardless that different giant gatherings of individuals had been being canceled throughout the nation.
“We’re going to have super rallies,” he mentioned.
Praising well being officers for a “implausible job,” he added, “We’ve had super cooperation with different nations and everywhere in the world and we’ve made it very, very robust, very sturdy, stringent borders.”
Stephanie Grisham, the White Home press secretary, mentioned in a press release that there was “no indication that both President Trump or Vice President Pence met with or had been in shut proximity to the attendee.”
“The president’s doctor and United States Secret Service have been working intently with White Home employees and varied businesses to make sure each precaution is taken to maintain the primary household and all the White Home complicated secure and wholesome,” Ms. Grisham mentioned.
Others who spoke on the convention included Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia. Additionally in attendance had been Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and adviser, and Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son.
Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland mentioned in a statement that state well being officers had been knowledgeable by the New Jersey Division of Well being that the one who examined constructive for the virus was in Maryland from Feb. 27 to March 1, attending the convention in Nationwide Harbor.
The assertion mentioned those that attended or labored on the convention “could also be at some danger” for contracting the virus.
“As a result of scale of this convention, we’re urging attendees who’re experiencing flulike signs to right away attain out to their well being care supplier,” Mr. Hogan mentioned.
The American Conservative Union mentioned the occasion drew hundreds.
The group’s chairman, Matt Schlapp, mentioned he had had “incidental interplay with the individual,” and added, “I really feel dangerous for my buddy who’s within the hospital.”
“We’ve talked to him,” Mr. Schlapp mentioned. “He sounds excellent.”
On the convention, Mr. Trump gave his administration good grades for its dealing with of the coronavirus outbreak, whereas his performing chief of employees on the time, Mick Mulvaney, mentioned in a separate speech that journalists had been hyping the coronavirus as a result of “they assume this may carry down the president.”
Mr. Mulvaney additionally minimized considerations over the virus.
“The flu kills individuals,” he mentioned. “This isn’t Ebola. It’s not SARS, it’s not MERS. It’s not a demise sentence; it’s not the identical because the Ebola disaster.”
Based in 1974, CPAC was for years a significant gathering the place libertarians and institution Republicans mingled with fringe conservative activists. This 12 months, the theme of the convention was “America vs. Socialism,” and it became a stage for Mr. Trump and his high advisers and allies to fireside up his base and market-test messages for the 2020 presidential election.
Republicans who’ve damaged with the president and his agenda, like Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, had been disinvited from the convention, and the point out of Mr. Romney’s identify by one conservative speaker elicited boos from the viewers.
Peter Baker and Annie Karni contributed reporting.