Hope Hicks, one of President Donald Trump’s closest advisors who travelled with him this week including to the Presidential debate on Tuesday, has tested positive for coronavirus — and Trump and the first lady are now in quarantine. Speculation is now raging on social media about whether Trump has been diagnosed already and if he has it.
Hope Hicks, one of President Donald Trump’s closest advisers, has tested positive for the coronavirus, ABC News has confirmed.
Hicks, who serves as counselor to the president and is among a tight group of advisers to the president, tested positive this week after traveling with the president on Tuesday to and from the first presidential debate on Air Force One. The president tweeted late Thursday he would go into quarantine, though it’s unclear how that will affect his upcoming schedule. The White House declined to comment late Thursday.
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
Hicks was also on Marine One, the president’s helicopter, when it left the White House to fly to Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday. She was seen walking to the helicopter with fellow top presidential advisers, such as Stephen Miller, Dan Scavino and Jared Kushner. None of them were wearing masks.
“She did test positive, I just heard about this. She tested positive. She’s a hard worker. Lot of masks, she wears masks a lot but she tested positive. Then I just went out with a test. I’ll see — you know, because we spent a lot of time — and the first lady just went out with a test also. So whether we quarantine or whether we have it, I don’t know,” Trump said during a call-in appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity.”
He added, “I just went for a test and we’ll see what happens, I mean, who knows. … I spent a lot of time with Hope and so does the first lady, and she’s tremendous.”
If Trump gets covid-19, it's going to be like how the one-year anniversary of the Iranian hostage crisis came on Election Day 1980, which caused the bottom to fall out for President Carter.
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) October 2, 2020
Within minutes of Trump saying this, the White House released his public schedule for tomorrow. Trump is not quarantining: He’s attending a fundraiser at his Washington DC hotel, and hosting a rally in Florida. https://t.co/s7yVcZwQ6U
— Michael C. Bender (@MichaelCBender) October 2, 2020
Bingo. Tonight, for some reason, everything is far more serious. https://t.co/Xkch83pXic
— John Aravosis ???????? (@aravosis) October 2, 2020
They knew yesterday and Trump still went to New Jersey for a fundraiser today. Let that sink in.
— Andrew Weinstein (@Weinsteinlaw) October 2, 2020
Serious question, what is the protocol for a president catching a hoax
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) October 2, 2020
It’s not possible to fully articulate how completely irresponsible Donald Trump has been, both as president and personally, when it comes to the coronavirus. He has risked his own life, his staff and Secret Services’ lives, his fans’ lives, his family’s and frankly the Bidens.’
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) October 2, 2020
Heard inside the White House: "Alexa, order a gallon of bleach and an IV."
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) October 2, 2020
Here's Trump — who just announced he and Melania are under quarantine for possible COVID infection — mocking Joe Biden at Tuesday's debate for wearing a mask pic.twitter.com/Q9cFtqezwc
— Robert Maguire (@RobertMaguire_) October 2, 2020
“We had no idea that anyone on Air Force One yesterday had been exposed,” says Huffington Post’s S.V. Date, reacting to President Trump’s top aide Hope Hicks testing positive for Covid-19. Date was on Air Force One, along with the President and multiple staffers. pic.twitter.com/XjTq0KBwSE
— CNN Tonight (@CNNTonight) October 2, 2020
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Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.