Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 12:14 pm
Senator Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Joe Biden’s running mate for the Democratic presidential ticket, has tested negative for the novel coronavirus. The news comes just hours after President Donald Trump announced that he and his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, tested positive for the virus.
Earlier today, Harris said she and her husband, attorney Douglas Emhoff, are keeping “them and the entire Trump family in our thoughts.”
Doug and I join Joe Biden and Dr. Biden in wishing President Trump and the First Lady a full and speedy recovery. We’re keeping them and the entire Trump family in our thoughts.
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— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) October 2, 2020
Biden said he and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, “send our thoughts to President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump for a swift recovery. We will continue to pray for the health and safety of the president and his family.â€
President Trump is displaying mild symptoms of the virus and his treatment plan “is being discussed,†according to a New York Times report. The President has downplayed the severity of the coronavirus pandemic from the beginning. The announcement came as a shock and has threatened to upend Trump’s presidential campaign.
Vice President Mike Pence has also tested negative for the virus; he and Harris are slated to appear in the vice presidential debate on Wednesday.
The news of President Trump’s positive test result comes just days after the first preidential debate, during which Trump mocked Biden for wearing a mask to curb the spread of the virus.
“I don’t — I don’t wear masks like him,” Trump said at the time. “Every time you see him, he’s got a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away from me, and he shows up with the biggest mask I’ve ever seen.”
Alan is a writer, editor, and news junkie based in New York.
