Biden on report that Trump tested positive for Covid-19 ahead of 2020 debate: ‘I don’t think about the former President’
CNNCNN — President Joe Biden on Wednesday had a sharp response to a reporter’s question on a report that suggested then-President Donald Trump tested positive for Covid-19 last year earlier than previously disclosed. Trump tested positive for Covid-19 three days ahead of his first 2020 presidential debate with Biden – though he also had a negative result in that same timeframe, according to excerpts from a forthcoming book from the former Republican President’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, reported by The Guardian. Psaki also criticized Trump, who she said “withheld information reportedly about testing positive, and appeared apparently at a debate – also held events of the White House, reportedly with military veterans and military families.” Trump received the positive test on September 26, 2020, according to Meadows, The Guardian reported. During a news conference on October 3, 2020, as Trump was receiving treatment at Walter Reed, Conley would not disclose Trump’s last negative test for the virus, saying, “I’m not going to get into all the testing going back, but he and all his staff routinely are tested.” Later that October, Trump did not definitively say whether he had been tested on the day of his first presidential debate. Asked again whether he had had a test in adherence to rules set by the Commission on Presidential Debates, Trump said at the town hall: “I probably did, and I took a test the day before.” Asked once more, he said: “Possibly I did, possibly I didn’t.” The President also said he could not recall the last time he had tested negative for coronavirus before testing positive in early October.