Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary, Katie Miller, tested positive Friday for the coronavirus. Katie Miller is married to top Trump adviser Stephen Miller. She is the second person to have a publicly confirmed case of COVID-19 in the White House, after news broke Thursday that one of President Trump’s personal valets had contracted the infection. Ivanka Trump’s personal assistant has reportedly also tested positive.
Mike Pence is not going to to self-quarantine. However, three top health officials said they would go into quarantine: Dr. Robert Redfield, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn; and top coronavirus task force scientist Dr. Anthony Fauci. All three are scheduled to testify by video link tomorrow to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Committee Chair Lamar Alexander will also appear remotely, after a member of his staff tested positive for the virus.
This all comes as reports have been emerging that Trump is privately questioning the coronavirus death toll and forecasts. Axios reported last week Trump may start to question official numbers publicly.
On Friday, former President Barack Obama blasted the Trump administration’s handling of the crisis. Obama was speaking in a conference call with 3,000 former members of his administration.
Barack Obama: “It would have been bad even with the best of governments. It has been an absolute chaotic disaster.”