President Donald Trump throws hats to supporters after speaking at a campaign rally at Duluth International Airport, Sept. 30, 2020, in Duluth, Minn. Alex Brandon/AP
On ABC’s “This Week,” Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller dodged questions about why Thursday’s fundraiser in Bedminster, New Jersey, was not canceled after the White House learned that senior counselor Hope Hicks had tested positive for COVID-19, and pushed back against the notion that the campaign hasn’t taken the virus seriously — despite holding indoor events and not requiring facemasks.
“Hasn’t the cavalier approach to masks and social distancing at these rallies been a mistake?” ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos asked. “Will it change going forward?”
“I’ll push back on that and say it hasn’t been cavalier at all. We take it very seriously. It’s why we give everyone coming to rallies or to events — we give them a mask. We check their temperature,” said Miller, even as hundreds of attendees were seen without face-coverings at a Minnesota event Wednesday, just as Hicks was developing symptoms.
“What I can’t speak to, since I’m not part of White House operations, I’m not part of the White House medical unit, is the exact — how much time he was spending with Hope and in the proximity for these things,” he stated earlier in the interview, when questioned about the decision to press forward with Thursday’s fundraiser.
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