At least three more people in President Donald Trump’s orbit — including White House political director Brian Jack — have tested positive for coronavirus, widening the latest outbreak to ravage the West Wing.
Jack, who attended Trump’s election night event in the East Room of the White House, and one of his aides both tested positive for the virus, according to two sources familiar with the diagnosis who requested anonymity to discuss private medical information. So too did political adviser Healy Baumgardner, a Trump ally who attended the White House election night party as a guest of Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
The newest cases follow the infections of White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson and Trump campaign adviser David Bossie.
The White House declined to comment, and a spokesman for Giuliani did not immediately return a request for comment. The New York Times was first to report Jack’s positive test.
Meadows tested positive for coronavirus the day after the election. He was seen without a mask in the hours before, including at Trump’s campaign headquarters and at the election night party, attended by dozens of Trump supporters, where he mingled with guests.
Other White House officials — including Cassidy Hutchinson, one of Meadows’ closest aides, and Charlton Boyd, an aide to senior Trump adviser Jared Kushner — and campaign aide Nick Trainer also tested positive for the virus since the election.
More than four dozen people associated with the president or the White House have been infected, including the president, his wife, Melania, and his youngest son, Barron. Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short, and other aides tested positive for the virus late last month, shortly before the election.
Cold weather has ushered in a nationwide uptick in cases, with positive tests, hospitalizations and deaths all rising in recent weeks. Nationally, the U.S. reported 135,290 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday, bringing the seven-day average to a record 123,448, according to Johns Hopkins University data. There were 1,393 deaths, which put the seven-day average above 1,000 for the first time since Aug. 20.
Nearly 240,000 Americans have died of coronavirus throughout the pandemic.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC
