Daily Kos: Trump knew he was COVID-19 positive on Wednesday, and lied to the nation for 2 full days
Trump in Minnesota on Wednesday nightThe most extraordinary thing about the press event held at Walter Reed Medical Center on Saturday morning wasn’t the backflips Dr. Sean Conley made in his attempt to pretend that Donald Trump had not been given supplemental oxygen, nor his refusal to give basic information about Trump’s condition while pretending that all was well. The jaw-dropping moment of the morning was when Conley and other physicians speaking from the steps outside Walter Reed absolutely destroyed the timeline of Trump’s illness, and demonstrated one again the incredible scope of deception within this White House.
According to Conley, Saturday morning was “72 hours” after Trump’s diagnosis. That’s extraordinary, because it means that Trump received the news he was positive for COVID-19 not early Friday morning, when he tweeted that news out to the public, but on Wednesday morning, shortly after completing his debate with Joe Biden. In fact, Conley and other physicians stated that Trump began treatment with monoclonal antibodies on Thursday—a day on which Trump was still pretending that nothing was wrong. In fact, as late as Thursday evening, following Bloomberg’s reporting that Hope Hicks had tested positive, Trump spoke with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on air and indicated he had “just” been tested.
This confirms earlier suspicions reported here on Friday, that Trump was ill much sooner than the White House had admitted. Trump was known to be sick on Wednesday—sick enough that he began getting an experimental treatment the next day. Earlier, there had been questions about whether the White House would have revealed Trump’s illness if Hicks’ illness hadn’t become public knowledge. That question is answered: The White House covered up Trump’s illness for two full days, putting thousands of people at tremendous risk.
Trump learned he had COVID-19 on Wednesday morning. That means that he was actively infectious—in fact, at his highest level of contagion—during the debate on Tuesday evening. But neither he nor any member of his campaign reached out to inform Joe Biden, officials in Cleveland, or … anyone.
Instead, sometime on Wednesday, someone began the process of obtaining Regeneron’s monoclonal antibody treatment, which is still in preliminary human trials and had to be obtained under a “compassionate use” application. Meanwhile, Trump went on to a rally in Minnesota on Wednesday night—an event at which several aides indicated Trump seemed to be ill, and where he cut his normal speech length in half. It was while the Trump team was in Minnesota that Hope Hicks reported being ill and supposedly self-isolated.
The timeline announced on Saturday morning indicates Trump got his first dose of antibodies on Thursday. That was at the same time that Hicks received her positive results. At that point, at least Trump and Hicks were known to be ill, but there was still no public announcement. Instead, Trump apparently received treatment, then went on to a New Jersey fundraiser that included sitting at a table with more than a dozen GOP donors, all of them without masks. It was only after Trump returned from New Jersey, and there was still no announcement, that Bloomberg reporter Jennifer Jacobs made public the fact that Hicks had tested positive. Trump them went on to make dismissive remarks on Hannity, then pretended to be surprised by test results early on Friday morning.
However, there are multiple indicators that Trump knew he had been exposed no later than Monday, when he distanced himself from Pence during a White House event. On Tuesday, Melania Trump conspicuously wore a mask, even through everyone else on Trump’s team went maskless. And now it’s clear that Trump was diagnosed with COVID-19 no later than Wednesday.