More officials working inside the Trump campaign and Republican National Committee have been diagnosed with COVID-19.
RNC Chief of Staff Richard Walters and Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski both tested positive in recent days as the campaign and RNC cling to legal challenges and unsubstantiated theories of massive voter fraud and voting irregularities, with the president refusing to concede to President-elect Joe Biden, according to the New York Times.
“The RNC chief of staff has tested positive for coronavirus,” an RNC spokesperson confirmed to the Washington Examiner on Thursday. “The RNC is following CDC guidance and notifying staff who came in contact with him.”
Lewandowski, who has been in Philadelphia contesting the results of the Keystone State, tested positive for the virus on Wednesday; he believes he contracted it during his time there.
Other officials in the president’s orbit, whether it’s his Cabinet, White House staffers, or campaign employees, have recently tested positive following the president’s election night speech at the White House. Lewandowski was in attendance, while Walters was not.
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson tested positive for COVID-19 following the event. President Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, tested positive for the coronavirus after Election Day, along with at least four other White House aides.
This is not the first time the White House has held an event that resulted in an outbreak.
Trump tested positive for the virus earlier this fall after the White House hosted a celebratory event honoring the nomination of Justice Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. First lady Melania Trump and son Barron also tested positive but have since recovered. Other White House officials, staffers, and reporters who cover the White House have also contracted the virus.
