Who knows? But they seem to think the exposure happened earlier than they’ve admitted. The Daily Beast reports:
On the same day President Trump acknowledged contracting the coronavirus, the White House quietly informed a veterans group that there was a COVID-19 risk stemming from a Sept. 27 event honoring the families of fallen U.S. service members, the head of that charitable organization told The Daily Beast.
The White House warning, which came on Oct. 2, is the earliest known outreach to visitors of the complex that there was a risk of coronavirus emerging from the grounds where the president, the first lady, and at least 17 of his aides, according to Politico, have now tested positive for the virus.
The Sept. 27 event to honor Gold Star families came the day after the White House hosted a celebration for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett that appears to have been an early source of the White House outbreak, though West Wing officials have quietly disputed that linkage. It is unclear to the head of the veterans charity—the Greatest Generations Foundation—which participant’s potential positive coronavirus test sparked the warning.
“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,” said the Greatest Generations Foundation’s president and CEO, Timothy Davis.
Pictures from the Gold Star family event, which Trump attended, show minimal mask wearing and social distancing. It took place indoors, though attendees said they were tested prior to attending. A Republican close to the White House also told The Daily Beast that others present at the event received outreach from a White House office—though not the medical office—late last week urging them to get coronavirus tests. The source described a chaotic scene in the White House as it tries to manage the internal outbreak.
“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.”
[…]
The White House has repeatedly said that it only contacts individuals who may have come within six feet of a White House personnel member in the 48 hours preceding their positive test. The outreach to Davis raises questions about whether there were any COVID-positive individuals in attendance at the event. Trump’s top aide, Hope Hicks, tested positive September 30, three days after the gathering and pictures from the ceremony do not show her in the audience.
The Gold Star families event was attended by the vice commandant of the Coast Guard, Adm. Charles W. Ray. The Pentagon announced on Tuesday that Ray tested positive for coronavirus, prompting “self-quarantining” from several members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other senior military leaders Ray met with last week. Also at the event were Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who has tested negative, and Army Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The article goes on to describe a very haphazard “contact tracing” program being handled by an in house team, apparently. They are as good at that as they are everything else.
It’s a petrie dish in that White House.
And now the Covid-carrier in chief is wandering around like it’s all over because — wait for it —- he personally found the miracle cure:
He’s laying it on a little bit thick, don’t you think? And I’m not just talking about the make-up.