Wisconsin Sen Ron Johnson has tested positive for coronavirus, becoming the third Republican senator to test positive within the past 24 hours.
Johnson’s office confirmed his diagnosis on Saturday, saying that he came in contact with an infected individual in Washington, DC, sometime after September 29 and received his test results on Friday.
The 65-year-old ‘feels healthy’ and is not experiencing any symptoms, aides said, adding that he will remain isolated until he tests negative and that his office will go all-virtual for the foreseeable future.
Two other GOP senators – Mike Lee of Utah and Thom Tillis of North Carolina – also tested positive on Friday.
It’s believed Lee and Tillis may have contracted the virus after attending Amy Coney Barrett’s ceremonial nomination to the Supreme Court last weekend. Johnson did not attend that event.
The three diagnoses threaten to derail Barrett’s confirmation process as the senators would not be able to attend the Senate confirmation hearing which is scheduled to begin in-person on October 12.
As of Saturday, at least seven members of Donald Trump’s inner circle have tested positive for COVID-19, including the president himself.
Wisconsin Sen Ron Johnson has tested positive for coronavirus , becoming the third Republican senator to test positive within the past 24 hours
Two other GOP senators – Thom Tillis of North Carolina (left) and Mike Lee of Utah (right) – also tested positive on Friday. It’s believed Tillis and Lee may have contracted the virus after attending Amy Coney Barrett’s ceremonial nomination to the Supreme Court last weekend
Johnson’s office said he spent two weeks in quarantine after learning he had been exposed to someone with coronavirus on September 14.
The senator, who serves as chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, tested negative twice during that quarantine period, according to a news release from his director of communications.
He returned to Washington on Tuesday and shortly after was exposed to another person who has since tested positive for the virus, his aides said.
Johnson’s diagnosis came as:
- President Trump was taken to Walter Reed Hospital on Friday afternoon after confirming that he and first lady Melania tested positive for COVID-19
- Reports claimed the president was having ‘trouble breathing’
- Eleven people involved in the set-up and planning of Tuesday night’s presidential debate tested positive for COVID-19
- Seven people who attended Amy Coney Barrett’s ceremonial nomination to the Supreme Court last Saturday tested positive for COVID-19, giving rise to fears that it was a ‘super-spreader event’
- Among the top Trump officials who have tested positive are: Former presidential adviser Kellyanne Conway, top aide Hope Hicks, campaign manager Bill Stepien and RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel
- Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump expressed their well-wishes for their father
- New Jersey contact tracers are struggling to work out the names of all of the people who were present at a fundraiser the president attended on Thursday just hours before he was diagnosed with the virus
- The president will work from the presidential suite at Walter Reed that is specially outfitted with protective devices and communications gear
Trump, 74, announced his diagnosis early Friday morning, hours after his top aide Hope Hicks was revealed to have tested positive after traveling with the president to Cleveland on Marine One and Air Force One for the first presidential debate on Tuesday.
Hours later the president was transported to Walter Reed hospital as reports claimed that he was having ‘trouble breathing’. The White House has not confirmed those rumors, saying that he was being admitted for tests ‘out of an abundance of caution’ after he developed a fever, congestion and a cough.
Trump took to Twitter on Friday night, sharing an upbeat message from his hospital bed.
‘Going well, I think! Thank you to all. LOVE!!!’ he wrote after a CNN report quoted an unnamed presidential adviser claiming that there is ‘reason for concern’ about his condition and that the president was having ‘trouble breathing’ following his positive coronavirus test.
The president’s physician said that he is ‘doing well’ and is undergoing a range of treatments including a polyclonal antibody cocktail made by Regeneron that is not available to the public, remdesivir – an ebola drug that has already been shown to work against the virus – and vitamin D.
He is also taking zinc, vitamin D, famotidine (the generic name for Pepcid AC), melatonin and daily aspirin.
Before traveling to hospital, Trump had released an 18-second video message to the nation, saying he was being hospitalized but ‘I think I’m doing very well.’
‘We’re going to make sure that things work out,’ he said, adding that the first lady was also ‘doing very well’.
Johnson’s diagnosis came as Trump was transported to Walter Reed hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, on Friday after he and first lady Melania tested positive. The president addressed the nation in a Twitter video (pictured) prior to being hospitalized
The president tweeted Friday night that he believed his treatment was ‘going well’
The president gave a ‘thumbs up’ as he walked from the White House to Marine One to be airlifted to hospital on Friday evening. He waved to reporters on the South Lawn but didn’t speak.
Trump’s ‘nuclear football’, the briefcase which could trigger doomsday, was loaded onto Marine One with him.
While Trump and his aides maintain that he is doing well, rumors have swirled that his condition is much more serious than they are letting on.
The president is at greater risk of developing a severe case of coronavirus because of his age.
‘This is serious,’ an anonymous Trump adviser told CNN, stating that the president was ‘very tired, very fatigued’ and that his condition was much more severe than Melania’s.
The source added that his condition is not deteriorating and the public should not be alarmed.
Trump 74, gave a ‘thumbs up’ as he walked from the White House to Marine One to be airlifted to hospital on Friday evening. He waved to reporters on the South Lawn but didn’t speak
The news of a coronavirus cluster within Trump’s inner circle came just under a month ahead of the presidential election as polls show the incumbent trailing his Democratic opponent Joe Biden in several key battleground states.
Cleveland officials said at least 11 people involved in the set-up and planning of Tuesday night’s debate have tested positive for coronavirus, but said that no city residents appear so far to have contracted the virus as a result of the event.
The cluster may have emerged three days prior to the debate when Trump announced Barrett as his pick to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court.
The September 26 gathering attracted around 100 people – many of them not wearing face masks and all sitting close.
Attendees were photographed hugging, shaking hands and chatting without face masks – giving rise to fears that it was a ‘super-spreader event’.
At least seven attendees – Trump, Melania, Hicks, Conway, Sens Mike Lee and Tom Tillis, and Notre Dame University President John Jenkins – have now all tested positive for COVID-19.
Many of the other high-profile figures who attended have not yet been given the all-clear.
Among them are Attorney General Bill Barr, Fox News host Laura Ingraham, and former New Jersey governor Chris Christie.
All were seen in close proximity to infected people, and are yet to confirm their negative test results.
Christie, who also helped Trump prepare for Tuesday night’s debate, tweeted on Friday that he is awaiting test results.
‘I want to thank all who have called and texted in the last few hours to check on my health. I feel fine and have no symptoms,’ he wrote.
‘I was last tested for COVID on Tuesday (it was neg) and was tested this morning. No results until tomorrow. I will let you know the results from here.’
Trump’s campaign manager, Bill Stepien, received the results of his positive test on Friday night, Politico reported, citing a senior campaign official who said he is suffering ‘mild flu-like symptoms’.
The 42-year-old campaign manager had traveled to Cleveland with Trump and his team on Tuesday for the first presidential debate, where he was seen in close proximity to the president’s top aide Hope Hicks, who also tested positive.
He also attended debate prep sessions with former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, who announced on Friday that she was also infected.
The senior official who spoke to Politico said Stepien will work remotely while Deputy Campaign Manager Justin Clark – who tested negative – is expected to oversee the campaign’s headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.
Advisers stressed that Stepien, who became campaign manager in July when Trump replaced Brad Parscale, will maintain control of the campaign, Politico reported.
But his diagnosis undoubtedly throws a wrench into the Trump team as yet another head of the president’s re-election effort, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, also revealed on Friday that she too is infected.