Former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff slammed reports that his forthcoming book reveals Trump attended a presidential debate shortly after testing positive for COVID-19 as “fake news.”
Mark Meadows, who served as chief of staff at the end of Trump’s presidency, said media reports about Trump’s positive coronavirus test three days before the Sept. 29, 2020, presidential debate were misleading, concurring with Trump’s Wednesday statement that the story was “fake news.”
“Well, the president’s right. It’s fake news,” Meadows told Newsmax Wednesday. “If you actually read the book, the context of it, that story outlined a false positive. He literally had a test, he had two other tests after that showed he didn’t have COVID during the debate, and yet the way that the media wants to spin it is certainly to be as negative about Donald Trump as they possibly can while giving Joe Biden a pass.”
TRUMP DENIES HE HAD COVID-19 BEFORE BIDEN DEBATE
Newsmax anchor Rob Schmitt: “I believe the president said it’s fake news. What’s the story here?”
Mark Meadows: “Well, the president’s right, it’s fake news.” pic.twitter.com/p2zkaT5Vw0
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) December 2, 2021
Trump vehemently denied he tested positive for COVID-19 before the 2020 presidential debate, despite claims reportedly outlined in Meadows’s book, The Chief’s Chief, suggesting he tested both positive and negative before the debate.
“The story of me having COVID prior to, or during, the first debate is Fake News,” Trump said Wednesday. “In fact, a test revealed that I did not have COVID prior to the debate.”
Trump’s statement isn’t necessarily a contradiction of Meadows’s claim, detailed in an excerpt of his memoir posted by the Guardian. Meadows says Trump tested positive, then negative in a follow-up test, and he has since indicated the first test was a false positive.
Meadows’s book said that even though the debaters had “to test negative for the virus within seventy two hours of the start time … Nothing was going to stop [Trump] from going out there.”
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Trump announced he had COVID-19 shortly after the debate on Oct. 2. He was then admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for three days.
Meadows’s memoir will be published next week by All Seasons Press.
