Both Donald Trump and Mike Pence were at the conservative conference but did not have contact with attendee, organization says

This article is more than 6 months old

This article is more than 6 months old

Donald Trump has said he isn’t concerned at all about the coronavirus getting closer to the White House after it was revealed that an attendee at grassroots conservative conference CPAC had tested positive.

On a day when it also emerged that the nation’s capital had recorded its first case, the American Conservative Union said on Saturday that a participant at CPAC, which was attended by both Trump and the US vice-president, Mike Pence, had tested positive for coronavirus.

The White House said there was no indication that either Trump or Pence had been close to the infected attendee.

Asked if he was concerned about the virus getting closer, Trump said: “No, I’m not concerned at all. No, I’m not. We’ve done a great job.”



When asked whether his thousand-person campaign rallies would would continue in light of the CPAC case, the president replied: “We’ll have tremendous rallies.”

Trump held his most recent campaign rally last Monday in Charlotte, North Carolina. He waved off other questions to join a dinner for the president of Brazil, who was visiting Trump at the president’s home in south Florida.

Saturday also marked the first case in the District of Columbia, with mayor Muriel Bowser saying testing at the public health lab of the DC Department of Forensic Sciences yielded its first presumptive positive.

Coronavirus: US deaths rise to 19 as New York declares state of emergency Read more

The American Conservative Union put out a statement on Twitter on Saturday evening that said a CPAC attendee “has unfortunately tested positive” and noted that their “exposure” occurred before the conference.

The gathering took place in Oxon Hill, Maryland, in late February and was attended by many leading party figures as well as thousands of grassroots members, often accompanied by spouses, children and friends.

“A New Jersey hospital tested the person and the CDC [the federal public health agency the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] confirmed the result. The individual is under the care of medical professionals in New Jersey and has been quarantined,” the statement continued.

It informed anyone with concerns to contact the ACU or the department of health of the state of Maryland and urged people to remain calm.

The statement said: “This attendee had no contact with the president or vice-president and never attended the events in the main hall.”

It noted that the Trump administration had been informed of the situation.

ACU (@ACUConservative) Important Health Notification for CPAC 2020 participants and attendees. pic.twitter.com/NtahNO8st3

“We will continue regular communication with all appropriate government officials,” the statement continued.

Philip Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) Over 19,000 people attended CPAC last year, and 2020 also had a similar crowd.

The ACU chairman, Matt Schlapp, had previously tweeted a proud message about introducing the president at the CPAC event last weekend.

Matt Schlapp (@mschlapp) What an honor to introduce @realDonaldTrump at #CPAC2020.



Watch all of President Trump's CPAC 2020 speech here: https://t.co/gMusCAiuAv pic.twitter.com/0cQ1mYOkAw

He then retweeted several posts from a journalist at the conservative-leaning RealClearPolitics media outlet.

Philip Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) CPAC didn't dawdle. @mschlapp tells me he found out just a couple hours before the statement went out:



"Our statement really does speak for itself. We are just being transparent and I feel bad for my friend but it's important for our attendees to know what happened."



The governor of Maryland, Larry Hogan, said the state had acted as soon as it became aware of the positive test.

“Immediately after learning of this individual’s interactions in our state, we began coordinating with the White House, the CDC and federal officials, the New Jersey Department of Health, Prince George’s County officials, and conference organizers,” Hogan said.

“Due to the scale of this conference, we are urging attendees who are experiencing flu-like symptoms to immediately reach out to their health care provider. We are providing this update not to unnecessarily raise alarm, but in the interest of full transparency and out of an abundance of caution.”

Also on Saturday, a marine at Virginia’s Fort Belvoir became the first military case of coronavirus reported inside the US.

The marine was being treated at Fort Belvoir Community Hospital, located south of Washington, and had recently returned from an overseas assignment, Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said on Twitter.