Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), soon to be President Donald Trump’s new chief of staff, is quarantining himself after coming in contact with the attendee at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) who turned out to have COVID-19, aka the coronavirus.
Ben Williamson, Meadows’ spokesperson, issued a statement on Monday night confirming that the North Carolina Republican “may have come in contact” with the same attendee with whom four other GOP lawmakers had also had physical contact.
“Out of an abundance of caution, Meadows received testing which came back negative,” Williamson said. “While he’s experiencing zero symptoms, under doctors’ standard precautionary recommendations, he’ll remain at home until the 14 day period expires this Wednesday.”
Trump announced Meadows’ appointment as the new White House chief of staff last week.
Besides Meadows, Reps. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Doug Collins (R-GA), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) are also self-quarantining over their contact with the CPAC attendee less than two weeks ago. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) announced on Monday night that he had “possibly been exposed” to the coronavirus at CPAC as well but decided to go to work anyway.
Collins shook Trump’s hand after CPAC, and Gaetz flew on Air Force One with the President on Monday.
