Pence, second lady test negative for coronavirus after Trump’s positive result

by Morgan Chalfant - 10/02/20 8:10 AM ET

Vice President Pence and second lady Karen Pence on Friday tested negative for the coronavirus just hours after President Trump announced he and first lady Melania Trump had tested positive for the virus.

“As has been routine for months, Vice President Pence is tested for COVID-19 every day. This morning, Vice President Pence and the Second Lady tested negative for COVID-19. Vice President Pence remains in good health and wishes the Trumps well in their recovery,” Pence spokesman Devin O’Malley tweeted Friday morning.

Trump said early Friday morning that he and the first lady had tested positive for the virus and would begin quarantining “immediately.” Their positive tests came after one of Trump’s closest aides, Hope Hicks, also tested positive for the virus.

White House physician Sean Conley said in a memo that the president and first lady “are both well at this time” and that the White House medical team will maintain “vigilant watch” over them.

Pence, who is scheduled to travel to Salt Lake City to the vice presidential debate next Wednesday, is frequently in contact with Trump but was not with him on trips to Cleveland and Minnesota this week where Hicks was also present.

It is unclear if he plans to self-isolate as a precautionary measure, or if the president’s positive case may impact his plans to travel to the debate. He is likely to be regularly tested in the coming days, as has been the regular procedure at the White House for months.

The vice president does not plan to participate in any public events on Friday, according to a schedule later issued by the White House. Other officials, including Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, also tested negative on Friday. White House chief of staff Mark Meadows also tested negative for the virus.

Trump was supposed to participate in a fundraiser in Washington, D.C., on Friday and a campaign rally in Sanford, Fla., but those events have been canceled as he and the first lady quarantine.

This is not the first time that someone close to Pence has contracted the virus. His communications director, Katie Miller, tested positive for COVID-19 in May. She self-quarantined following her results and there were no other known cases connected to her positive test.

–Updated at 10:05 a.m.