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Amy Coney Barrett tested negative for coronavirus, last had contact with Trump on Saturday, White House says
By Tyler Olson
Published October 02, 2020
Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, last had direct contact with the president on Saturday as he officially announced her nomination, according to the White House.
White House spokesman Judd Deere also told Fox News that Barrett is tested daily for the coronavirus and has tested negative, including on Friday morning, and that she is following CDC guidelines on mask-wearing, social distancing and more. Barrett has spent this week meeting with numerous U.S. senators as the body considers her controversial confirmation just weeks ahead of a presidential nomination.
PRESIDENT TRUMP, FIRST LADY TEST POSITIVE FOR CORONAVIRUS, SET TO QUARANTINE AT WHITE HOUSE
The president's coronavirus diagnosis overnight, and positive tests for first lady Melania Trump and top White House adviser Hope Hicks, have roiled Washington, throwing into question the contours of the presidential campaign and potentially much more.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to begin hearings on Barrett's nomination on Oct. 12. Those who Barrett has met with include Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, age 87; Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., age 73; and Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, age 73.
Others around the president, including Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who is very active in the Supreme Court nomination process, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who has been meeting with lawmakers to work out a coronavirus aid deal, have tested negative.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who has been Mnuchin's main point of contact among congressional Democrats, said during an appearance on MSNBC that she was tested for the coronavirus Friday morning but has not gotten her results back. Pelosi is 80 years old.
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The Washington Post reported that Barrett had the coronavirus earlier this summer but recovered.
The vast majority of people who get the coronavirus, even those in the most at-risk older age groups, recover safely.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on "The Hugh Hewitt Show" Friday morning said the Barrett confirmation would move ahead despite the president's diagnosis. He later in the morning said that the Barrett confirmation would continue "[f]ull steam ahead." Congressional hearings that were initially scheduled for Friday are continuing as planned as well.
Fox News' Jason Donner contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/judge-barrett-tested-coronavirus-daily-last-had-contact-trump-saturday-white-house-says