White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has tested positive for coronavirus, according to multiple U.S. media reports Friday night.
Meadows, who is one of U.S. President Donald Trump’s top aides, tested positive for the virus earlier Friday, administration officials confirmed to the Associated Press, the New York Times and Bloomberg News.
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Meadows travelled with Trump in the run-up to Election Day and last appeared in public early Wednesday morning without a mask as Trump falsely declared victory in the vote count.
CNN reported that officials had promised all attendees at Trump’s address that morning, which also included members of Trump’s family and other top aides, would be tested before entering the room.
Worth noting that Mark Meadows was at the election night party at the White House Tuesday that hundreds of people attended. Officials said everyone would be tested beforehand.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) November 7, 2020
He had been one of the close aides around Trump when the president came down with the virus more than a month ago, but was tested daily and maintained his regular work schedule.
Meadows’ diagnosis came the same day as the U.S. set a new record for daily coronavirus cases with over 120,000 — the third day in a row that the country has broken records — and over 1,100 people died from the virus.
Last month, Meadows told CNN that the Trump administration is “not going to control the pandemic” by limiting its spread and driving down infection rates, instead focusing on vaccines and theraputics.
—With files from the Associated Press