memeorandum: Invincibility punctured by infection: How the coronavirus spread in Trump's White House (Washington Post)

8:45 AM ET, October 3, 2020

Top Items:

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

Trump campaign manager tests positive for Covid-19 — Donald Trump's campaign manager has tested positive for Covid-19, dealing another blow to his reelection effort on a day that saw the president and the head of the Republican National Committee report contracting the disease as well.

Discussion: NPR, Political Wire, Raw Story, Mediaite, Breitbart, The Hill, Slate, Axios, Twitchy and New York Post

Washington Post:

Invincibility punctured by infection: How the coronavirus spread in Trump's White House — The ceremony in the White House Rose Garden last Saturday was a triumphal flashback to the Before Times — before public health guidelines restricted mass gatherings, before people were urged to wear masks and socially distance.

Discussion: Vox, Raw Story, CNN, Politico, Bangor Daily News, Washington Times, Bloomberg, Twin Cities, Political Wire, Daily Kos, Eschaton, NBC Boston and Fox News, more at Mediagazer »

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

“There Is Zero Reason to Panic”: On Trump's Coronavirus Case and the Shredded Credibility of His White House — A report from Day One after the President's diagnosis. — As Thursday began, it seemed like just another day of Trumpian meltdown in the nation's capital.

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

Three White House journalists test positive for coronavirus after closely covering Trump — Journalists who work at the White House have been on high alert about the coronavirus since March, but the issue took on even greater urgency Friday with a mini-outbreak in the press room following …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Hill and Axios

Olivia Nuzzi / New York Magazine:

Trump Infects America — “At the best of times, Trumpworld operates with all the strategic direction of a chicken with its head cut off,” a senior Republican official told me. “Right now, they're operating like a chicken with its head cut off, lit on fire, and thrown off a cliff.”

Discussion: OpsLens, Roll Call and Washington Post

David K. Li / NBC News:

11 positive coronavirus tests traced to presidential debate, Cleveland officials say — At least 11 positive coronavirus tests can be traced to organizers of this week's presidential debate in Cleveland, city officials said Friday. — The city's announcement came after President Donald Trump …

Discussion: Straight from City Hall, Outside the Beltway, Politico, New York Post, Slate, OpsLens and The Daily Caller

Peter Nicholas / The Atlantic:

What I Saw Today at the White House — On the White House grounds this morning, senior West Wing aides walked around without masks. They spoke with the press without masks. They huddled privately with one another and didn't wear masks. — When I visited the White House in August …

Discussion: Vox, Yahoo News, BuzzFeed News and The Week

Washington Post:

Trump's debate guests refused to wear masks, flouting rules — A little more than two days before she reported testing positive for the coronavirus, first lady Melania Trump — as well as the president's sons, daughters and several guests — violated safety protocols at the first presidential debate …

Washington Post:

Trump seemed to defy the laws of science and disease. Then, the coronavirus caught up with him. — President Trump contracted the novel coronavirus after months in which he and people around him — his aides, his children, even his golf-club members — avoided taking basic steps to prevent …

Discussion: Mediaite and Daily Kos

Politico:
Debate commission accedes to Biden campaign's ‘health and safety’ objections for VP debate

Discussion: CNN, Sputnik News, Breitbart, New York Times, The Nevada Independent, Forbes, Washington Post, Political Wire, CBS Philly and The Daily Beast

Kevin Liptak / CNN:
Trump taken to Walter Reed medical center and will be hospitalized ‘for the next few days’

Discussion: Variety, Political Wire, Washington Post, Breitbart, Vox, Fox News, Roll Call, Washington Times, The Guardian, National Review, The Daily Beast, The Daily Caller and NBC New York

Daniel Lippman / Politico:
Cliff Sims, who wrote tell-all White House memoir, joins spy office

Discussion: Axios, The Hill and Breitbart

Axios:
White House staff frustrated by lack of info

Discussion: Politico, Political Wire, Reuters, Fox News and Daily Kos

Axios:
The aftermath of Trump's COVID-19 infection

Discussion: New York Times, Politico, Raw Story, Voice of America, Breitbart, One America News Network, ABC News, The Hill, Fox News and New York Times

Jonathan Lemire / Associated Press:
Cavalier White House approach to COVID catches up to Trump

Discussion: Twin Cities and Political Wire

New York Times:
The Busy Week When the President Met the Virus

Discussion: UPI, Deadline, The Hill and The American Independent

NBC News:
Trump will go to Walter Reed hospital after Covid-19 diagnosis

Discussion: Conservative News Today, Twin Cities, NBC Boston, OutKick, Essence, Reuters, The Daily Beast, The Hill and The Guardian

Del Quentin Wilber / Los Angeles Times:
When Reagan was shot, country rallied around, but he hadn't spent months downplaying assassins

Discussion: Fox News, The Sun and 77 WABC Radio

David A. Graham / The Atlantic:
Why Has the President Gone Silent?

Discussion: Politico, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Raw Story

WKYC-TV: City of Cleveland announces 11 positive cases of COVID-19 stemming from preparations for presidential debate

Politico:
Where Trump went (and who he was with) leading up to his coronavirus diagnosis

Discussion: NPR, The Week, Raw Story, Kaiser Health News, Sputnik News, Vox, Breitbart, The Hill, CNN and Axios

The Daily Beast:

'It's Just F*ck-Up After F*ck-up'—Trump's COVID Advisers at Their Breaking Point — With the president infected, the group responsible for combating the virus remains a mess. At the center of the drama is one man: Dr. Scott Atlas. — The announcement that President Donald Trump …

Discussion: ABC7, The Slot, Bangor Daily News, Daily Kos, Associated Press, POLITICUSUSA and The Week

Justin Baragona / The Daily Beast:
Chris Wallace Tells Fox Viewers Not to Listen to Trump COVID Adviser Scott Atlas: ‘He Has No Training’

Discussion: Redstate, Bangor Daily News, Towleroad Gay News, The Hill, Fox News, New York Times, CNN, Mediaite and The Daily Dot

Jerry Holt / Star Tribune:

Minnesota Republicans fly Delta home from D.C. after COVID-19 exposure — U.S. Reps. Stauber, Emmer and Hagedorn appear to have violated the airline's policy, although they tested negative for the virus. — Video (00:29) : Republican Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka …

USA Today:

2 GOP senators test positive for COVID-19 after Trump; Democrats say it's ‘premature’ to move forward with Barrett confirmation hearings … WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats argued Friday it was “premature” to move forward with confirmation hearings for President Donald Trump's Supreme Court …

Discussion: The Hill, Vox, NBC News, The Nevada Independent and The Week

Washington Post:

Supreme Court nominee tested positive for coronavirus this summer, has since recovered — Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett tested positive for the coronavirus earlier this year but has since recovered, three officials familiar with her diagnosis told The Washington Post.

Philip Bump / Washington Post:
Trump's campaign has an epically bad day — and it's not just the virus

Discussion: Fox News and The Week

James Griffiths / CNN:

Trump has repeatedly blamed China for a virus that now threatens his health. This will make Beijing nervous — See Trump's busy week before his Covid-19 diagnosis — Hong Kong (CNN)In his first presidential debate against Joe Biden, Donald Trump made clear who he blames for the coronavirus pandemic.

Discussion: NPR, The Daily Beast and The Hill

Jack Beyrer / Washington Free Beacon:
Hickenlooper Calls China a ‘Great Nation’

Discussion: Breitbart

Molly Beck / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

MOLLY BECK — MADISON - State Rep. Barbara Dittrich of Oconomowoc last week told her constituents there was no longer a danger of COVID-19 causing a large number of deaths. The same day, the U.S. lost its 200,000th person to the virus. — Days later, state Sen. Howard Marklein told …

Tina Nguyen / Politico:

‘God-tier genetics’: A stunned MAGA world offers blame, adulation after Trump's diagnosis — Donald Trump's coronavirus diagnosis has stunned MAGA world, but it hasn't changed how it reacts to bad news: blame others, accuse the left of craven behavior and cling tighter to the president.

Jason Koebler / VICE:

Twitter Says You Cannot Tweet That You Hope Trump Dies From COVID — “Content that wishes, hopes or expresses a desire for death, serious bodily harm, or fatal disease against an individual is against our rules.” — Jason Koebler — President Trump has coronavirus …

Discussion: WSPA-TV, The Verge, Sputnik News, The Guardian, The Sun, Mediaite, NPR, National File, Townhall, The Daily Dot, Variety, TheBlaze, Fox News, Breitbart and New York Post, more at Techmeme »

HuffPost:

Contract Tracers Waited On Names Of Trump Fundraiser Guests Who Had Already Scattered — Social media posts show people who went to the New Jersey event with Trump had fanned out across the country, going out in public and not wearing masks. — New Jersey contact tracers did not have a complete list …

Discussion: Vox and Vanity Fair

BuzzFeed News:
Trump's Fundraisers Brought Him Into Close Contact With Dozens In Two States Before He Announced He Had COVID-19

Discussion: Daily Kos, abc7NY, Vanity Fair, Raw Story and Talking Points Memo

Julia Davis / The Daily Beast:

Trump's COVID Diagnosis Spooks Russia: ‘Our Candidate is Sick’ — “So we've been interfering and interfering, but all of that was for naught?” — The shocking announcement that the President of the United States Donald J. Trump has contracted the coronavirus was promptly followed by well-wishes from the Kremlin.

Discussion: Raw Story