As President Donald Trump has tried to move past the pandemic, it edged even closer into his inner circle of advisers Saturday with news that top members of the coronavirus task force will self-quarantine, in some form, after coming in contact with an individual who tested positive for the virus, CNN reports.
It was yet another blow to the President’s argument that America has largely vanquished the coronavirus threat, as he looks to turn his focus toward the economic recovery that will be the lynchpin of his fall reelection campaign.
The news that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Robert Redfield, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, are all entering either full or partial quarantine was a harsh reality check that the virus has now worked its way into the highest corridors of power.
This followed revelations last week that Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary and Trump’s personal valet tested positive for coronavirus.
Trump appeared only briefly Saturday for a photo op in the presidential setting of the White House Situation Room where he met with top military brass. Neither the President nor the participants wore masks, even though the virus has clearly been in the West Wing.
The President took no questions during the photo spray, but on Twitter he seemed increasingly preoccupied by the looming 2020 election, CNN notes.
Throughout the afternoon on Saturday, in an effort to raise concerns among his supporters, he tweeted baseless suspicions about potential voter fraud in both mail-in ballots and in-person voting in a California special congressional election on Tuesday.
Trump’s focus on vote-counting came two days after he met with political advisers to refine their strategy for mounting aggressive legal challenges to Democratic efforts to shift to vote-by-mail ballots this fall.
According to CNN, it was the latest evidence of how the 2020 presidential election is quietly taking shape at a time when both candidates are off the campaign trail and America is still gripped by fears about the pandemic and its alarming economic and human toll.
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