Nancy Pelosi Trump's positive test could signal 'transition to a saner
  • 4 years ago
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s positive test for the coronavirus isn’t just putting the White House on edge — it has implications for all of Washington, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The San Francisco Democrat, who is 80 and has been in contact with administration officials, tested negative for the virus Friday. She said she would redouble her prayers for Trump and his family, but also said the situation highlights the importance of addressing the pandemic with further legislation from Congress.“Maybe now the people who see the president of the United States with all the protection that he has and the first lady still having this exposure, it might be, as you say, a learning experience. But more than learning, it has to be something that is acted upon,” Pelosi said in an interview with MSNBC.“Going into crowds unmasked and all the rest was sort of a brazen invitation for something like this to happen,” she said. “Sad that it did, but nonetheless hopeful that it will be a transition to a saner approach to what this virus is all about.”Amid the pandemic and now a bitter Supreme Court nomination fight, the sleepiness that typically comes over the Capitol just before an election has been absent. Pelosi has been negotiating with administration officials and her Senate counterpart, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., over government funding and coronavirus relief money. Vice President Mike Pence has been accompanying Trump’s court nominee, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, to numerous Republican senators’ offices for meetings. On Friday, both Pence and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Pelosi’s primary negotiating partner, tested negative for the coronavirus, their representatives tweeted. Both are tested daily, the tweets said. Barrett also tested negative. It was unclear whether any of them would quarantine. Even if someone tests negative, it does not necessarily mean they are free of the virus. It typically takes five to seven days after exposure to have enough virus in the body to generate a positive test result. The news of Trump’s positive test threatened to scramble an already hectic fall on the Hill. On Thursday night, Pelosi’s House Democrats passed a $2 trillion-plus relief bill for the pandemic, down from a $3 trillion version they passed in May that went nowhere in the Republican-run Senate. This stimulus package seemed unlikely to get through the Senate, either — Republicans want a far smaller bill. Talks between Pelosi and the White House that had stalled in August recently restarted, but there were no signs a deal was at hand. In a letter to Democratic lawmakers Friday, Pelosi said there was still “significant disagreement in key areas,” including funding for schools and state and local governments, unemployment insurance, tax relief for families with children, and funding for testing and tracing efforts. Pelosi, however, said in her MSNBC interview that Trump’s positive test “changes the dynamic” of politics over the coronavirus.
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