Minnesota may no longer be the swing state that partisans and pundits had hoped it would be, but the capital of the North has still found a way to be center stage in national politics.
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for coronavirus and the White House has said he is experiencing mild symptoms. Those positive tests come shortly after aide Hope Hicks fell ill on Air Force One on its return from two campaign events in Minnesota. Democratic nominee Joe Biden has tested negative for the coronavirus, his campaign announced Friday.
Trump attended a fundraiser at a private home in Shorewood where reports show that social distancing and mask wearing were not widely practiced. He then flew to an airport rally in Duluth. Flying with Trump to Minnesota on Air Force One were GOP members of the state congressional delegation, and top GOP leaders of the Minnesota Legislature also traveled with Trump while he was in the state.
One who wasn’t at either event was state GOP Chair Jennifer Carnahan, unusual in itself because she is usually in attendance whenever Trump and his vice president appear in Minnesota. “Due to a busy campaign schedule that took me to other parts of the state, I was not at any events involving the President in Minnesota on Wednesday,” she said in a statement. “We wish our President, First Lady, Hope Hicks and any others impacted a speedy recovery to good health.”
Carnahan scheduled and then didn’t take part in a 9 a.m. press conference Friday. The Republican Party of Minnesota was already in some disarray from the departure of Executive Director Becky Alery for reasons not explained by the party.
Carnahan’s husband, U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn, was at the events and flew with Trump Wednesday, as were U.S. Reps. Tom Emmer and Pete Stauber. All have said they will be tested. GOP U.S. Senate nominee Jason Lewis said he was in close contact with Trump and will get tested. State Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka said he and his wife will get tested and will quarantine for 14 days as advised by CDC and state health department coronavirus protocols. “Gazelka is feeling fine this morning. Following CDC and MDH guidelines, along with advice from his doctor, he will be tested and begin quarantining at home,” said Senate GOP spokesperson Rachel Aplikowski.”
[image_credit]MinnPost photo by Craig Lassig[/image_credit][image_caption]Joining President Trump on Air Force One to Duluth, from left: Rep. Pete Stauber, Rep. Jim Hagedorn, Rep. Tom Emmer and Senate candidate Jason Lewis.[/image_caption]
Also on Friday, the Minnesota Department of Health issued a statement about the Duluth gathering: “There is a potential risk that transmission occurred at the Duluth rally and other events associated with President Trump’s visit. Community transmission of COVID-19 was high in St. Louis County prior to this week’s rally, and people attending the rally may have been infectious without realizing it.”
Republican Sen. Jason Rarick of Brook Park attended the rally, which was held just outside his district, but said he did not come into contact with the president. In an interview Thursday before Trump’s positive test was announced, Rarick said he believes the rally was fine because the state should be striving to achieve “herd immunity.” The senator went to Trump’s event with his mom, who is in her 70s, and another woman in her upper 70s.“I think people who are healthy should be out and still working and doing things like that,” Rarick said. “I think we can’t just kind of hide away. One it’s not going to end the COVID outbreak and it’s killing our economy to keep everything shut down as well.” He added: “I know some people who don’t want to be out and about and you know what, I make sure I let them know when I’ve been in a place like that, we shouldn’t have contact with each other.”
Prior to his diagnosis, Trump had a full campaign week, having been in Ohio Tuesday for his first debate with Biden and making other campaign stops. He was to have been in Wisconsin over the weekend.
Minnesota has been listed as one of the battleground states in the 2020 presidential election, having gone for Democrat Hillary Clinton by a small margin in 2016. Trump has vowed to take it this election and has appeared in the state repeatedly, as has Vice President Mike Pence and members of the Trump family. But polls have consistently shown Biden leading by high-single digits, and the Trump campaign has begun canceling TV advertising reservations, often a leading indicator of a campaign moving a state from contested to not.
Trump is a walking petri dish. It should be noted that a negative test result this soon after exposure isn’t reliable, so if these people understand the nature of this virus they’ll wait to get tested, or get tested again and isolate in the meantime. ANYONE who was exposed (and that’s anyone who was very close to Hicks, or Trump et al, or within ten feet for 10-15 minutes or more) should be isolating right now. Pence’s negative result isn’t reliable, he’ll need to be re-tested tomorrow or Sunday.
It should also be noted that at the Duluth event, these dopes actually transported people to and from the event in buses… yes, busses. We’ve had transmission at OUTDOOR weddings… and these geniuses put a bunch in busses.
By the way, Carnahan isn’t in the clear, if she’s spent any time with her husband since Wed. she should also isolate at this point. And someone should tell Daudt that the virus is primarily transmitted airborne, not by handshake. If was close enough to get a sufficient dose of virus, even for just five minutes, that could do it, even outside. We’ve had multiple cases of people being exposed outdoors and getting infected.
The ‘chickens come home to roost’ for the Super Spreader and his naysayers. Thoughts and prayers…….
Thank you Peter. This answers many of the questions that I had when waking up to this news.
The party of militant science denial has created a situation here in MN where cases are on the rise, and that may well have been the difference that caused their dear leader to be infected. If anything good is to come of this, I hope it is that the word gets out that anyone can get sick, and that masks do work to cut down the chances of infection when ALL OF US WEAR THEM!
I was going to make a snarky comment about the rogue’s gallery, but holy moly this is nuts:
“Republican Sen. Jason Rarick of Brook Park said he believes the rally was fine because the state should be striving to achieve “herd immunity.”
I don’t know if this fool understands what that actually means, but herd immunity is generally around 80% of the population give or take. Minnesota has a population of 5.640 million people so to acheive herd immunity 4,512,000 million people would have to contract the virus. ( 5,649,000 * .8 = 4,512,000) The CDC says that the current death rate for Covid is .6%. So multiply 4,512,000*.06 and you get 270, 720 dead Minnesotans.
Think about that, this idiot is willing to sacrifice nearly three hundred thousand Minnesotans so he can open up the economy. And we thought accent cultures doing human sacrifices was crazy. They got nothin on the GOP.
Oh and he brought his mother and another septuagenarian with him. Nice guy.
Dr. Ronny Jackson, a former White House physician, just stated President Trump fits into the category of folks his age without lung, heart, blood sugar issues as part of the 99.5% that usually get mild symptoms. He stated a large percentage don’t get any symptoms at all. Hopefully, President Trump at 74, can take a break from campaigning for a week and then resume his schedule.
Well, thank goodness he’s so svelte because morbidly obese folks are at risk. Keep telling myself to be classy about this, but this sociopath’s actions and words have caused needless deaths in our nation.
Indeed, while many of Don Trump’s supporters profess Christianity, they do seem to engage in something akin to idolatry in their passion for the president. Ironic.
Except that Trump DOES have heart, weight and blood pressure issues (and possibly others that have not been disclosed).
So Mike you consider 6-3, 244 pounds being morbidly obese? Please be specific and lay out a Federal plan that would have saved lives. I hear a lot of yapping about lives lost but no specific things anyone would’ve done last March-May. I laugh at the Left when they scream no to colleges restarting. 37 colleges, that resumed classes, had 47k+ Cases of COViD reported, with 2 hospitalized students, that was 2!!! That would be a 0.00004 hospitalization rate…. So stop colleges from restarting for a 0.0004 chance that someone may get hospitalized…. Totally silly.
I think we all know by now that college age people are much less likely to get seriously sick and hospitalized when infected with Covid-19. Many are asymptomatic. But as has been endlessly demonstrated, they unwittingly pass the virus along to other people who may be vulnerable to serious illness. The fact that some people still don’t understand this is why this pandemic is out of control.
dWho is 6′ 3″ and 244 lbs? Certainly not the guy we see waddling down the steps of Air Force One. If that dude is 244 I am the friggin King of England. Good god man, have you seen him in his golfing shorts?
I know this is useless, because some folks just don’t want to learn or listen, but just for giggles:
As for a plan in March anyone with any sense knows a group effort, with everyone working together ,is much more effective that a large number of individuals working against one another. So a coordinated national effort would have been much more effective than a hodge podge of state efforts. As the President is learning, as much as he is capable of learning, masks help. He and his ilk went maskless at a Rose Garden event a week ago and now six of them, including Donald and Melania are sick with Covid. So a national mandate to wear mask while in public places would have helped. Also there are still shortages of PPE. Did you know during World War II, using 1940s technology, we were cranking out one B-24 bomber an hour? So please don’t tell me with 2020 technology we can’t produce a few masks. But Donald never fully invoked the Defense Production Act that would have made it easier for Government to get Businesses producing PPE at a reasonable cost to the nation.
Shutting down some travel from China early on and then tossing up your hands and saying I’m done, now its every state for themselves was no kind of plan for success, it was a plan for the disaster we see now. Unfortunately Donald is now sitting in the hospital because of a virus he refused to fight or even acknowledge at times.
Thoughts and prayers Donald.
Joe, please, don’t try add medical expertise to your debate game skills, it doesn’t suit you.
No physician White House or otherwise can disclose a patients medical conditions, even POTUS medical records are confidential. So whatever the the WH Doc says, can’t be taken seriously. Trump is obviously overweight, 77, doesn’t exercise, has an awful diet, and DOES have pre-existing blood sugar and cardiopulmonary issues. If can’t see this, don’t quit your day job and try to practice medicine.
There is absolutely no way Trump is only 244 pounds. Not even close.
A plan that works? How about Canada’s? Or that of any country that took this seriously.
Trump has not been 6’3″ for at least 30 years.
It’s easy to find pictures of him standing next to Obama, who is 6’1″ and the same height (but maybe shorter heels).
Heels? I hear the spurs make you look taller, so no need for shoe enhancement.
How do you contract a hoax? Does truth serum help?
According to Trump and the GOP it’s just the flu, so I don’t understand why they are all freaking out about it.
I really like a commentator in the S&T this morning. This is all a Covid/Trump marketing (hoax) ploy. He is claiming he has Covid, but he doesn’t, couple days a week he shows up in perfect health and says, just as I told you no big deal like a little flu and its over. Fits his Covid strategy perfectly! Also gives him some time to skip next weeks debate and prep for the 3rd one because he got so hammered in the last one. Tell does that not fit the typical convoluted/corrupt Trump scenario 100%?
I guess the obvious point that Democrats are smart enough to take precautions didn’t occur to her.
We all know that you can just wish it away.
Maybe Democrats are wishing harder ;-).
Yeah, that’s an interesting scenario to contemplate, but the actual hospitalization at WR doesn’t fit. If he really wanted to just provoke some sympathy and brand himself as the tough guy who defeated the virus, he’s just announce testing positive and stay in the WH tweeting about it for a few days, he would go to WR. Also, he’s clearly in the middle of an outbreak that’s infected multiple people, They can’t ALL be part of a Trump re-brand project.
The Minnesota Trump/Pence campaign chair quit this week. Is it related to Covid-19 or another reason? I didn’t read the story that came out about it and don’t have a subscription to the StarTribune. What are the details?
Trump did not appear well during his Duluth rally 2 days ago.
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/government-and-politics/6688063-Minnesota-congressmen-traveled-with-Trump-before-after-Duluth-rally-and-positive-COVID-19-test
No, he and others in his entourage were actually sick, and they went ahead anyways and exposed everyone they came into contact with. The Health Commissioner in MN actually has the authority to lock someone up for this kind of wonton disregard for public safety.
Not only that, the MN delegation returned home on a commercial flight instead of Air Force One, risking spreading the infection to unsuspecting passengers.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/disregard-for-passengers-is-staggering-minnesota-gop-congressmen-blasted-for-flight-home-after-traveling-with-trump/ar-BB19FYzs
We must take the high road. Sure many of us could make comments unbecoming, politicizing, pointing out past comments, mockery he has done. But no, we must show we are better than that. We wish Trump, his family and Conway the best of health. Then we work to vote him out. Hopefully he becomes a better person, a more humble man, honest, more caring, compassionate, and filled with empathy. So let us wish him and his family the best of health. After all is he our President, a father, husband, and someone’s brother. Although…..don’t you just wonder if RBG is up in heaven throwing down the gavel in front of St. Peter and saying ‘ I dissent, Let’s send a message. And St. Peter was all in.
All anyone is talking about at this point is voting him out.
As for the rest, while I may not wish ill upon the man and his family, I will not wish a Fascist who is planning a coup, calling up violent militants, putting children in cages, and responsible for 200+k COVID deaths… the “best”. These people get what they deserve and they’re welcome to it. All anyone needs to do to be a “better” person… is breath; you have to go way out of your way to be as bad, or worse than these sociopaths.
America loves a good redemption story, but I think Trump is beyond redemption. He would actually improve his standing if he admitted, “I was wrong,” to show some humility. That will never happen, though.
We were treated in this update to the first kind words I’ve ever seen or heard from Kurt Daudt:
“…“First and foremost my prayers are with the President and First Lady for a speedy recovery,” Daudt said…”
How sweet!
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So many good people ON BOTH SIDES! SD Governor and Jim Jordan also chummy in days leading up…and RON JOHNSON! Senators will need to break quarantine to set up the system that forces every pregnancy to be carried to term and the WH can extend its infectious zone to the SCOTUS.
We’ll see if the Senate can do anything– it’s not clear McConnell has the votes to save states, schools and families– they’re pretending to be frugal now.
The money Senators are guarding is likely for “Trump discretionary spending” in the lame duck session, perhaps support for various family ventures including supplying Fanny Mae cash for a Jared and Ivanka loan to buy 15 more multiple unit slums. Gee where does it all go?
The MN Senate wins again, as Gazelka gets to stay home and do his obstruction remotely now.
Will (R)s apologize to all the people they infected with mask refusal?
This election is about COVID-19 and homicidal lying to the American people.
The “opening up” is a symptom of greed and indifference to human suffering.
I don’t mind seeing Republicans hoisted on their own petard. I just wish they wouldn’t insist on hanging us with them.
There are varying reports of the timeline. Apparently Dr. Conley reported that the president and first lady were tested and diagnosed with the virus on Wednesday, before travelling to Minnesota for the Duluth rally and the Shorewood dinner with donors — not Thursday. His campaign kept his infection secret until Friday morning.
He kept it secret from the people on Air Force One, (including Emmer, Hagedorn, Stauber, Jason Lewis and state party leaders). He kept it secret at the rally, he kept it secret at the Shorewood dinner. He kept it secret at the Bedminster event. He also kept it secret from all the people whom he had previously exposed at the debate on Tuesday, where he had refused to be tested or to wear a mask before going on stage. All these exposed people — including servers, drivers, his Secret Service detail, other staffers — they all went home and unknowingly exposed their families as well.
It’s obviously not a surprise that Covid is scything through the ranks of the braindead anti-science “conservative” leadership. And any bigwig “conservative” plutocrats who go to indoor fundraisers with these maskless cretins have only themselves to blame, not that it appears the Trump campaign told anyone about the outbreak, either at the time or later. There’s more than enough idiocy to go around in TrumpAmerica, 2020.
It appears that Trumpolini’s symptoms are not mild: he was raced to a hospital the same day he tested positive. He has already been on oxygen and given a cutting-edge cocktail to reduce Covid effects that very few other patients would ever receive, while receiving round-the-clock treatment by teams of physicians responsible for every organ system in the body. So it’s a good deal to be a political criminal who contracts Covid on the campaign trail, all the while refusing to let anyone around him follow sensible protocols, and absurdly declaring to anyone still stupid enough to listen to him that “we’ve turned the corner on Covid!”–as the disease (actually) kicks into its expected Fall overdrive.
And when ex-patient Trump attempts to tell his adoring rubes that Covid is “no big deal” (since he made it through the ordeal), at least everyone with a brain can laugh in his face for spewing yet another counterfactual falsehood.
And as of this morning (Saturday), his doctor – during a press briefing from Walter Reed – stated that he is 72 hours into his illness. Which means he was ill – and KNEW he was ill – when he was here in Minnesota. But traveled and exposed others anyway.
His self-centeredness knows no bounds.
Looks like the morbidly obese President Trump will be released from the hospital today or tomorrow…. Wow, he was part of the 99.5% of 70 year olds that had mild symptoms and a short bout with the deadly COViD 19. As I’ve stated since March, protect the vulnerable and let the rest go about living their life. Forget the vaccine and concentrate on therapeutics like ivermectin (great study from Australia), hydroxychloroquine, remdesivir and others. On a side note, why is simple fact of zinc, vitamin D3, vitamin C, vitamin A, aspirin and other over the counter immune boosters not being pushed by MSM daily? That was the first thing they gave President Trump.
Yup, let the Super Spreader out so he can keep infecting all those around him (his Press Secretary being the latest victim).
Well, you might not want to count your Covid-19s before they’re shed, Joe, that might court bad luck. But I suppose Trump can check himself out of a hospital against medical advice whenever he wants; he’s not a a prisoner, as the dangerous joyride last night proves (certainly against his docs’ advice). Obviously his family isn’t doing anything to restrain his impulses, as usual.
And you’re not going to get anywhere with this “mild case” nonsense, since the WR staff has already admitted that Trumpolini has received a treatment plan usually reserved for the most severe cases of the disease, including experimental drugs that less than a dozen patients have received, as well as a hyper-steroid that by all accounts tends to scramble one’s brain. Not that this would be much observable with Trump, although it does look as though his WR tweet regime is rather, um, manic and unhinged… Vitamin C and Zinc, indeed!
Perhaps the Patient in Chief will go home today & perhaps not. Personally I’d put higher odds on having a President Pence by the end of the week than a fully recovered President Trump. Apparently many covid patients have their worst symptoms 7 to 10 days into the illness. Trump has not yet reached that window. He’s also mixing an experimental drug cocktail with some therapies typically reserved for patients with severe cases who require respirators and/or supplemental oxygen. It could be that they’re doing everything in their power to get him back to the White House, or they’re covering for a more severe case of covid than they’ll admit. The latter seems more likely, given the risky decision to combine therapies, some of which haven’t yet completed clinical trials & have never before been combined in one patient.
As the President likes to say, “we’ll see what happens.”
Maybe because there’s no evidence that they work?
Of course, hydroxychloroquine can produce the kind of euphoria that Trump was showing.
We all know that Trump is a medical expert — he said so himself!
Well obese President Trump finished his stay in the hospital. After 2 days of fever and being tired, he beat the deadly disease. Again, the 99.5% of folks who have had COViD 19 don’t need hospitalization. Shutting down the country for that seems more silly by the day.
When can we expect to see the President’s vitals? After all, he did “beat” the virus.
Do you seriously think that he left the hospital because he was “cured?” You don’t think this was just a big show put on to convince the gullible that he’s up to the job, such as it is (watching 8 hours of TV every day and trolling on Twitter is not the most physically demanding job in the world, but it helps to stay awake for it)? You’re taking this as something other than an unusually lowbrow piece of political theater?
Wow. Just, wow.
He’s still sick and he’s still infectious. There is not a single expert, including his lying doctor (244 lbs….HAHAHAHAHAHA!) that has said otherwise. He just has the benefit of having the best doctors and the most elite treatments at his beck and call, which none of the rest of us have. He doesn’t care who else he gets sick. He just knows that he’s going to get the best care possible. And quite frankly, he’s delusional even in the best of times, so I can’t imagine that there’s a coherent thought in his head when he’s steroid addled, other than the most base narcissism. There are actually a few things about which he does not lie, but only because he’s got delusions of grandeur fed by a massive narcissistic streak and pandering all his life. So, the fact that he thinks he’s the greatest, smartest, most wonderful person on the planet isn’t exactly a lie. It’s just not true. I’ll give him a pass for being unable to attend the real world on that matter, but I’m not giving anyone else a pass on that.
President Trump has been temperature free for 4-5 days. You guys may not understand this but when your body has a virus, it’s first line of defense is raising the body temperature. With this deadly virus, one would think an obese 74 year old would be running a high fever if COViD 19 was ravaging his body. Possibly this virus has a sneaky gene built in to hide and not reproduce for days on end….. Or, the President has shed the virus…… I wonder which one is true??
There are other possibilities:
His physician says that he is not completely out of the woods yet (remember, Herman Cain thought he was improving); or
He was sick longer than anyone let on, and has infected many more people than originally thought.