Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he doesn’t know whether any senators currently have COVID-19.
In an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt about the timeline to nominate Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, the Kentucky Republican said that the Senate “can move forward. Our biggest enemy, obviously, is what we were talking about at the beginning of the interview, the coronavirus — keeping everyone healthy and well and in place to do our jobs.”
McConnell also emphasized the need to continue taking social distancing precautions throughout the process. When asked whether the Senate hearing should be conducted remotely or in a “relatively uncrowded” hearing room, McConnell said, “They’ve been careful already. … [The president contracting COVID-19] sort of underscores, I think, the need to do that. And I think every precaution needs to be taken because we don’t anticipate any Democratic support at all, either in committee or in the full Senate. And therefore, everybody needs to be in an ‘all hands on deck’ mindset.”
“Is there any member of the Senate, Democrat or Republican — to your knowledge, do they have the virus?” Hewitt asked.
“Well, we don’t know, but you know, it can sneak up on you as it obviously did with the president and the first lady. So we’re being very careful and keeping an eye on everyone,” McConnell replied.
President Trump and first lady Melania Trump announced early Friday morning that they had both tested positive for COVID-19, shortly after senior counselor Hope Hicks announced that she had also tested positive.
