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- The White House reached out to a veterans organization to warn of potential COVID-19 exposure from a September 27 event honoring the families of fallen US service members, The Daily Beast reported.
- The warning was sent on October 2, the same day President Donald Trump announced he tested positive for COVID-19.
- The event was held the day after an event formally announcing Trump’s Supreme Court pick on September 26.
- At least a dozen people who attended the Saturday event later tested positive for COVID-19.
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President Donald Trump’s administration told a veterans group about potential COVID-19 exposure from a September 27 event honoring the families of fallen US service members on October 2, the day that Trump announced his positive coronavirus diagnoses, The Daily Beast reported.
Timothy Davis, the CEO and President of The Greatest Generations Foundation, told the outlet that he got the notice from the White House’s Office of Public Liaison and that he’s wasn’t sure which person who attended the event’s positive diagnoses prompted the letter.
“The White House has been in daily contact with TGGF for contact-tracing purposes after alerting us on 10/2 of a possible COVID-positive person at the event so we could know there was a potential our attendees were exposed,” Davis told The Daily Beast.
The Washington Post reported that Trump and Vice President Mike Pence attended the event. Trump along with at least a dozen officials and staff in the White House have tested positive for COVID-19.
On Monday, Adm. Charles W. Ray, the vice commandant of the Coast Guard, also tested positive for the virus. Ray attended the event.
Photos from the event also showed most attendees not wearing masks or socially distancing, The Post reported.
The event honoring Gold Star families was held a day after more than 150 people gathered in the Rose Garden of the White House for an event where President Donald Trump officially announced his nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.
At least a dozen people who attended the event, including first lady Melania Trump, White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, Rev. John Jenkins, the president of Notre Dame University, and two Republican senators, have since tested positive.
It’s probable that the event was a super-spreading event that might have caused the cluster of cases in the White House.
The Daily Beast reported that attendees at the Sunday event were tested prior to the event, but one source told the outlet that an office in the White House had reached out to other attendees encouraging them to get a test.
“The communication breakdown during this is even worse than usual,” this source said. “Different departments and offices are not talking or communicating appropriately, people are doing different things, and officials are having trouble getting on the same page. The East Wing and the West Wing are dealing with this totally differently. It’s just a mess.”
TGGF and the White House did not reply to Business Insider’s request for comment at the time of publication.
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