memeorandum: Sen. Ron Johnson tests positive for coronavirus (Orion Rummler/Axios)

11:00 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, Raw Story, Breitbart, The Hill, Political Wire, Mediaite, Axios, Slate, Twitchy, New York Post, CNN and Forbes

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, Daily Kos, CNN, Politico, Bloomberg, Raw Story, Bangor Daily News, Washington Times, Twin Cities, Political Wire, Eschaton and NBC Boston

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.

New York Times:

Covid-19 Live Updates: Trump Is Hospitalized as More Aides Test Positive — The president is at the Walter Reed military hospital for what is expected to be a stay of a few days. His campaign manager is among the latest senior aides also found to be infected.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Politico, Washington Post, Florida Politics, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, Twin Cities and ABC7

Apoorva Mandavilli / New York Times:

The White House relied on a rapid test, but used it in a way it was not intended. — For months, the White House's strategy for keeping President Trump and his inner circle safe has been to screen all White House visitors with a rapid test. — But one product they use, Abbott's ID Now …

Discussion: Slate, CNBC and The Week

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

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, more at Mediagazer »

Peter Nicholas / The Atlantic:

What I Saw 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: CNBC, Daily Kos, No More Mister Nice Blog, Vox, Yahoo News, Politico and The Week

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

Reality Bursts the Trumpworld Bubble — In a moment that feels biblical, the implacable virus has come to the president's door. — WASHINGTON — Fate leads the willing, Seneca said, while the unwilling get dragged. — For his entire life, Donald Trump has stayed one step ahead of disaster …

Discussion: Reuters, The Hill and Gothamist

Washington Post:
Trump seemed to defy the laws of science and disease. Then, the coronavirus caught up with him.

Discussion: Reuters, Mediaite and Daily Kos

CNBC:
Trump ‘doing very well,’ has started Remdesivir therapy, White House physician says

Discussion: KXAN-TV, Conservative News Today, Mediaite, abc7NY and Vox

Bloomberg:
The Day Covid-19 Came to Donald Trump's White House

Discussion: The Dispatch, Florida Politics, Raw Story and Wired

CNN:
READ: White House physician says Trump is taking Remdesivir and ‘doing very well’

Discussion: Fox News, Political Wire and Slate

CNN:
Journalists who work at the White House are testing positive for Covid-19

Discussion: UPI, NBC Boston, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Wired, Vanity Fair and Washington Post, more at Mediagazer »

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

Discussion: Twin Cities and Political Wire

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

Discussion: Axios, Breitbart and The Hill

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Discussion: Defense One, NPR, UPI, Voice of America and The Hill

Orion Rummler / Axios:

Sen. Ron Johnson tests positive for coronavirus — Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) tested positive for the coronavirus on Friday after returning to Washington, D.C., on Sept. 29 and coming into contact with someone who had contracted the virus, spokesperson Ben Voelkel said in a statement on Saturday.

Discussion: Reuters

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post: Looking for a single responsible Republican in the Senate

CNN:
Senate GOP's third positive Covid-19 case threatens quick Barrett confirmation

Discussion: CNBC

USA Today:
2 GOP senators test positive for COVID-19 after Trump; Democrats say it's ‘premature’ to move forward with Barrett confirmation hearings

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

New York Times:
Trump's Diagnosis Imperils Quick Supreme Court Confirmation Timeline

Discussion: The Rush Limbaugh Show, Politico, National Review and Common Dreams

Krishnadev Calamur / NPR:
Amy Coney Barrett's Supreme Court Confirmation Will Move Forward, McConnell Says

Discussion: WSPA-TV, OpsLens, The Hill and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

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 …

Discussion: Fox News

Washington Post:

Coronavirus and Fox News collide, and Chris Wallace is at the center of it — Fox News is home to some of President Trump's biggest cheerleaders, which has paid off for the network in the form of exclusive interviews with the commander in chief and his aides who typically shun other networks.

Discussion: New York Times, New York Post, The Atlantic and IJR

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: Slate, Outside the Beltway, Politico, Straight from City Hall, New York Post, Forbes, OpsLens, WKYC-TV and The Daily Caller

CNN:
There will be more space between Pence and Harris at next week's debate

Discussion: Bloomberg, Deadline, OpsLens and WCDC-TV

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

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

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 …

Discussion: Balloon Juice

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: Forbes, Raw Story, ABC7, Bangor Daily News, The Slot, Daily Kos, POLITICUSUSA, The Week and Associated Press

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 and The Daily Beast

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

Discussion: Breitbart

Beth LeBlanc / The Detroit News:

BETH LEBLANC , CRAIG MAUGER , MELISSA NANN BURKE | The Detroit News … The state's high court ruled 4-3 that a state law allowing the governor to declare emergencies and keep them in place without legislative input — the 1945 Emergency Powers of the Governor Act — is unconstitutional.

Discussion: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Power Line, The Hill, Detroit Free Press and CNN