White House Reportedly Refusing to Contact Trace Following Rose Garden Event

With the White House reeling in the wake of President Donald Trump’s positive COVID-19 diagnosis followed by numerous others who were close to him, including most recently White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, many are calling for contact tracing to be done following the Sept. 26 press conference in the Rose Garden after Judge Amy Coney Barrett was named as Trump’s Supreme Court pick. Despite calls to contact trace, the White House has yet to do so and doesn’t appear to be taking any initiative in carrying this plan out.

Nearly 10 people in attendance at that event have tested positive with others still not yet in the clear with the event being held 10 days ago. The only form of notifying attendees has been reported emails sent to those in attendance that multiple people there had tested positive. Contact tracing has become one of the few tools available to help combat the spread of the coronavirus. Each passing day since Trump announced that he and his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, tested positive, has seen more and more associates of the president reveal news that they had tested positive. This list includes Sen. Mike Lee, Sen. Thom Tillis, Rev. John Jenkins, Kellyanne Conway and former New Jersey governor and Trump advisor, Chris Christie. The latter had also just recently helped prepare Trump ahead of last week’s presidential debate with Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, who took a COVID-19 test that showed he and wife, Jill, were both negative.

As for Trump, he recently was released from Walter Reed medical center on Monday evening, even giving a thumbs up while heading back into the White House. Before his release, Trump tweeted, “Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life.” It sounds like Trump is eager to get back into the mix with the Nov. 3 election rapidly approaching. He wrote on Twitter, “Will be back on the Campaign Trail soon!!! The Fake News only shows the Fake Polls.” The next time Trump will be front-and-center on a national scale will be when he and Biden face-off in a second debate on Oct. 15. As of Monday, the debate remains as scheduled.