Mark Meadows, Chief of Staff in the Trump White House and the man who said just two weeks ago that the administration is “not going to control the pandemic,” now has the coronavirus.
Meadows tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week, sources told Bloomberg News, and informed a “close circle of advisors” in the White House after the election on Tuesday.
But Meadows and the White House have declined to comment on the news of his infection, likely reflecting the shady belief he also shared recently that disclosing those in the Trump administration who have the deadly and contagious virus would be “sharing personal information.”
From Bloomberg:
The chief of staff has remained involved in Trump’s post-election effort to challenge votes in several states, where the president trails former Vice President Joe Biden, according to one person familiar with the matter.
Some White House aides were aware earlier in the week that Meadows had become infected but were told to keep it quiet, several people said.
Meadows was at the Trump campaign headquarters with the president on Tuesday without a mask, and returned on Wednesday also without a mask, two people familiar with the situation said.
The people familiar with the matter asked not to be identified because the cases had not been announced.
Despite his diagnosis, Meadows continues to work Trump’s post-election campaign trail. Videos posted on social media show that on Election Night, the Chief of Staff was one of many people in a packed room in the White House not wearing a mask:
It’s no wonder four other White House officials have been infected, according to Bloomberg’s report. Among the reported positives are Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to Meadows, and Nick Trainer, a senior member of the Trump campaign. These latest cases follow a wave of coronavirus infections in the Trump Administration, with numerous staffers for Vice President Pence and Trump himself testing positive for COVID-19.