Fox News anchor Chris Wallace said neither President Trump nor Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden arrived early enough before the first debate to be tested for the coronavirus by the Cleveland Clinic.
Wallace said Friday that both presidential candidates adhered to an “honor system,” whereby candidates would report the results of a coronavirus test conducted by their own campaigns. Wallace said the only reason he was tested was that he arrived days before the debate.
“They weren’t tested by the clinic based on this statement, Chris. And, to me, that sounds like an honor system,” Fox News’s Bill Hemmer said.
“They didn’t arrive ’til Tuesday afternoon. So for them to get tested, there wouldn’t have been enough time to have the test and have the debate at 9 o’clock that night. They didn’t show up until 3, 4, 5 o’clock in the afternoon,” Wallace said. “Yeah, there was an honor system when it came to the people that came into the hall from the two campaigns.”
Wallace also said neither the president nor his top aides wore masks while doing a walk-through of the debate venue on Tuesday afternoon.
“Members of the commission were not especially happy with the fact that the presidential party was not wearing a mask. There seems to have been a disregard for the risks of this virus,” he said.
The clinic said in a statement on Friday that “individuals entering the debate hall were masked and in some cases removed their masks once seated.” The clinic also noted that a clinic physician “did offer audience members masks, but some did not adhere to the requirement.”
“Most importantly, everyone permitted inside the debate hall tested negative for COVID-19 prior to entry. Individuals traveling with both candidates, including the candidates themselves, had been tested and tested negative by their respective campaigns. Based on what we know about the virus and the safety measures we had in place, we believe there is low risk of exposure to our guests. Out of an abundance of caution we are reaching out to our guests to address any questions and concerns, as well as offering testing. We will continue to monitor the information being released by the White House,” the clinic said in an earlier statement.
