Weeks after President Trump was hospitalized with COVID-19, another cluster of cases was tied to his administration. This outbreak may have been at least partly connected to the Trump campaign’s Election Night watch party, a gathering of more than 100 people where safety precautions like social distancing and mask wearing were few and far between. In mid-November several people connected to the White House tested positive — although, as during the previous outbreak, the Trump administration refused to provide updates on affected staff. Here is a running tally of people in Trump’s orbit who have contracted the virus in recent weeks.
White House security director Crede Bailey
On December 14, Bloomberg reported that the director of the White House security office, Crede Bailey, had finally recovered from his coronavirus infection. The most seriously ill of those infected at 1600 Pennsylvania, Bailey’s family reportedly asked the administration not to make his condition public. A person who organized a GoFundMe effort for Bailey stated that he had lost his right foot and lower leg in his fight against the virus; as of mid-December, he was in a rehabilitation center and is being fitted for a prosthetic.
Rudy Giuliani
Though Rudy Giuliani contracted the coronavirus weeks after the post-election White House outbreak, he is still one of the most prominent presidential advisers to test positive — a development the president revealed on Twitter on December 6. After the announcement, the Arizona legislature decided to shut down for a week due to the fact that at least 15 legislators had been in close contact with him during his national tour to prove non-existent election fraud. Giuliani, who was briefly hospitalized during his infection, was joined by Jenna Ellis as the two members of Trump’s legal team who contracted the virus in December.
A White House reporter
Last month, the White House Correspondents Association told its members that a member of the press corps tested positive.
100+ Secret Service Officers
In November, more than 130 Secret Service officers reportedly tested positive for the coronavirus or had to quarantine due to possible exposure. The Washington Post reported on November 13 that the outbreak “sidelined roughly 10 percent of the agency’s core security team” and is believed to be partly tied to the blitz of campaign rallies that President Trump held in the weeks leading up to Election Day. “The agency is also examining whether some portion of the current infections are not travel-related,” according to the Post, “but instead trace back to the site where many Secret Service officers report for duty each day: the White House.”
Jeff Miller
The Republican strategist and lobbyist tested positive for COVID-19 after attending Trump’s Election Night party.
Miller reportedly raised more than $8.8 million for Trump’s reelection bid and the Republican National Committee.
Corey Lewandowski
Trump’s pugilistic ex-campaign manager said he had tested for the virus on November 12. He attended the White House election party, but said he thinks he contracted the virus in Philadelphia, where he has spent a few days amplifying the president’s baseless voter-fraud theories.
RNC Chief of Staff Richard Walters
Walters tested positive on November 12 The RNC said he had not attended the White House election party, and that he is “following CDC guidelines and notifying staff who came into contact with him.”
Former campaign aide Healy Baumgardner
Baumgardner told NBC she tested positive for COVID-19 on November 11. Baumgardner, who now works in private equity, attended the Election Night party as a guest of Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer.
White House political director Brian Jack
Jack reportedly tested positive for the coronavirus in early November after attending Trump’s Election Night party.
Mark Meadows
The president’s chief of staff reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 on November 4, a diagnosis he and the White House kept a secret until it was disclosed by Bloomberg days later. Despite spending Election Night in the White House residence with Trump’s family and senior staffers and in the East Room, where both the watch party and Trump’s 2:30 a.m. address took place, the chief of staff opted to inform only a small number of advisers of his diagnosis after Election Day, and they were told to keep quiet.
In the absence of a public statement about Meadows’s test, Intelligencer’s Olivia Nuzzi reported that other administration staffers who had direct contact with Meadows found out about their possible exposure when the media reported it.
Ben Carson
The secretary for Housing and Urban Development tested positive for COVID-19 on November 9 and was “briefly” treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center after experiencing symptoms, a HUD official told Politico.
The diagnosis comes days after Carson attended Trump’s Election Night watch party. He told the Washington Post that he felt “terrific” after suffering a fever and chills and said he had contracted the virus “probably somewhere, out there in the universe,” listing the White House party as one possibility for where he’d caught it.
David Bossie
Trump’s 2016 deputy campaign manager and outside adviser, who had been spearheading the president’s postelection legal strategy, reportedly tested positive on November 8.
