McConnell declines to say when he was last tested for COVID-19 amid Trump diagnosis
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to answer Friday whether he has been tested for COVID-19 in the past week after news broke that President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump tested positive for the virus.
“Have I ever been tested? Yes,” McConnell said. “I’m not going to answer questions about when. We are following the guidelines that we’ve been given by the CDC.”
McConnell was speaking at a news conference at Georgetown Community Hospital, a stop on his tour of the state touting the federal coronavirus relief package that helped bring money to local hospitals.
He said he has not come in contact with anyone known to have tested positive for the virus. The average incubation period for COVID-19 is 3-5 days, though it can be as many as 14.
Regardless, a massive contact tracing effort has begun in the capital. McConnell said repeatedly that the Senate is following CDC guidelines and that he did not expect concerns over members of the Republican Party testing positive to delay the Supreme Court confirmation hearings slated for October 12.
McConnell said he called Trump in the morning to see how the president was doing and noted that the two “talked business” about the confirmation process of Judge Amy Coney Barrett, who Trump has nominated to fill former Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s vacant seat.
He added that it “seemed like a relatively normal conversation.”
“He was in good spirits but obviously, as you can imagine, not happy to be cooped up in the White House for a while,” McConnell said.
McConnell tweeted Friday morning that he and Trump felt that president’s diagnosis wouldn’t hamper Barrett’s confirmation. He said Friday afternoon that he hopes to hold a vote as soon as the hearings are finished.
“Full steam ahead with the fair, thorough, timely process that the nominee, the Court, & the country deserve,” McConnell wrote on Twitter.
Trump, 74, is in a demographic that is considered more at risk for complications from the virus, but McConnell said he was “confident he will be able to get through this and recover nicely.”
McConnell’s Democratic opponent, former Marine Corps pilot Amy McGrath, also wished Trump a speedy recovery.
“Erik and I are praying for the health of the President, First Lady, and everyone at the White House,” McGrath wrote.
She also advised people to wear a mask, an action Trump was originally reluctant to take. During Tuesday’s debate, Trump reasserted that he believed masks were OK, but took a jab at his opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden in the process.
“When needed, I wear masks,” Trump said. “I don’t wear masks like him. Every time you see him, he’s got a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away from them, and he shows up with the biggest mask I’ve ever seen.”
McConnell made a point to mention the importance of wearing masks — everyone at the event, which was held outside, was wearing a mask — saying it’s the best solution we currently have for limiting the spread of the virus.
“A lot of other people ought to pay attention to the importance of wearing a mask and practicing social distancing because that’s about the only thing we can do until we get a vaccine,” McConnell said.
This story was originally published October 2, 2020 at 12:19 PM.
