‘Lives They Might Put At Risk’: Trump Went To Fundraiser Instead Of Into Quarantine

Enlarge this image


President Donald Trump boards Marine One to travel to a fundraiser at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J. on Oct. 1.





Evan Vucci/AP



hide caption



toggle caption


Evan Vucci/AP





Golfers play at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., Friday, Oct. 2, 2020, one day after President Donald Trump held a fundraiser at the club and later tested positive for the coronavirus.





Seth Wenig/AP



hide caption



toggle caption


Seth Wenig/AP

Charlie Kolean, a Trump supporter from Texas, attended the fundraiser and posted videos on social media. He said it kicked off with drinks.

«Just picture: It was a standard cocktail party; there was a bar there, high-top tables Kolean said in one video.

This is where Kolean got his picture taken with the president. Afterward, he said neither of them were wearing a mask but that the whole interaction only took a minute.

«You did not get to shake his hand and you stood six feet away from him when the photo was taken, Kolean said. «All the attendees were checked before entering the clubhouse for coronavirus. So they were not wearing masks and the president was not wearing a mask.

The campaign says that everyone was kept at least six feet away from the president, as the CDC recommends for social distancing. But Lee says those guidelines are just that — guidelines.

«We want to really be careful about thinking that there’s some magic about that, that six feet, she said.

And, Lee says, it’s troubling that guests were allowed to mix it up without masks indoors simply because they passed a rapid test because those tests have a high rate of false negatives.

«No test is perfect, she said. «And that test, like every other imperfect test we have, likely missed some infections.

Even more troubling, Lee says, was the second part of the fundraiser when the really big donors gathered in another room at the clubhouse for a more private audience with the president. Rich Roberts, a major Republican donor who lives in New Jersey, described the scene to a local news outlet.

«We met with him for about 45 minutes to an hour, Roberts said in the video published by the Lakewood Scoop. «There were 19 of us. And we were at a table set up to make rectangular formation. Here was President Trump, and I was directly across from him, over one seat.

Roberts later clarified that he was sitting 10 feet from the president, but he also said they weren’t wearing masks. And Lee, the epidemiologist, points out that infected particles can be recirculated in enclosed rooms.

«If I were that person or one of those people, I definitely would be in quarantine, she said.

Roberts and Kolean both say they are quarantining at home.

The third part of the fundraiser was held outdoors in a courtyard at the club. Here the guests only had to get a temperature check, and fill out a «wellness questionnaire. Rik Mehta, a Republican running for the U.S. Senate from New Jersey, says many attendees also wore masks.

«Precautionary measures were taken, Mehta said. «People were sitting, eating, having a very casual conversation. Good time.

Public health experts say there is less risk with outdoor events, but they caution that up to 40 percent of people infected with COVID-19 have no symptoms. So they would not have been flagged by the screening process and could have been unknowingly spreading the virus among themselves.

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

After speaking for about an hour in New Jersey, President Trump headed back to Washington. A few hours later, Trump tweeted that Hicks had «just tested positive — even though the White House knew before the president left for Bedminster. Shortly after that, Trump tweeted he had tested positive.

Lisa Lee says this kind of behavior is problematic no matter who you are.

«Anyone who’s knowingly been exposed, who does not go into quarantine, really has no idea how — what lives they might put at risk, she said.