The Cleveland Clinic boasted that co-hosting the first presidential debate along with Case Western Reserve University was an honor for both institutions and the city. As the health security adviser to the Commission on Presidential Debates, it publicized protocols to protect everyone at their site on the Health Education Campus and at subsequent debates. It knew those protocols would also protect members of the public with whom all attendees would later come into contact.
Then the Cleveland Clinic failed to follow its own rules, and Donald Trump’s COVID-19 cover up began.
The Rules
The Clinic required all attendees to obtain a negative COVID-19 PCR test — the most reliable diagnostic tool — within 72 hours of the debate on September 29. It also required all audience members to wear masks. Neither rule should have been controversial.
After all, on July 14, Trump called himself “probably the most tested person in the world.” On July 21, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said that he was tested for COVID-19 “multiple times a day.” Likewise, for months the nation’s top medical and scientific experts have urged the public to use face masks, especially in large indoor gatherings.
The Trump Outbreak Timeline
The typical incubation period between exposure to the coronavirus and the onset of COVID-19 symptoms is five to six days. During the six days prior to Trump’s first symptoms on October 1, all of the individuals in bold had close contact with him and subsequently tested positive for the disease on or before October 7.
Sept. 25: Trump and Ronna McDaniel, chair of the Republican National Committee, mingled with the RNC leadership team at the Trump International Hotel in Washington DC. McDaniel returned to her home in Michigan and, a few days later, became ill.
Sept. 25: Trump traveled aboard Air Force One with Hope Hicks and others to a rally in Newport News, Virginia, where the audience did not wear face masks or maintain social distancing.
Sept. 26: Trump held what Dr. Anthony Fauci later called a “super-spreader event in the White House” for his new US Supreme Court nominee. There were few facemasks in the crowd, which did not maintain social distancing at either the private indoor reception or the larger outdoor gathering in the Rose Garden. Among the participants later testing positive for COVID-19 were Trump’s wife Melania, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ), University of Notre Dame President John Jenkins, Kayleigh McEnany, three of McEnany’s aides (Chad Gilmartin, Karoline Leavitt and Jalen Drummond), former counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway, megachurch pastor Greg Laurie and New York Times photojournalist Al Drago.
Also on Sept. 26: Trump, Hicks, McEnany and others took Air Force One to a rally in Middletown, Pennsylvania. Few in the audience wore face masks and there was no social distancing.
Sept. 27: Trump, Melania, McEnany and US Coast Guard Admiral Charles Ray attended a reception for Gold Star families in the White House. Most attendees did not wear face masks or maintain social distancing.
Sept. 27 – 29: For several hours, Trump and his advisers met in the White House in preparation for the first presidential debate. At various times, participants who later tested positive for COVID-19 were Hicks, Conway, Stephen Miller, Christie and campaign manager Bill Stepien. No one wore face masks and participants did not maintain social distancing.
The Debate Debacle
Sept. 29: Trump, Melania, Hicks, Miller and Stepien flew with others aboard Air Force One to Cleveland. But the entourage arrived too late for COVID-19 testing that the Cleveland Clinic required. So the Clinic relied on assurances from the campaign that Trump and others had satisfied the requirement. Debate moderator Chris Wallace later said, “There was an honor system when it came to the people that came into the hall from the two campaigns.”
After entering the debate hall, Trump family members and chief of staff Mark Meadows then removed their face masks. A Cleveland Clinic doctor wearing a white lab coat approached Trump’s group to ask that they put them on, but she was waved off. When the doctor walked off the floor, a debate hall staffer told her, “That’s all you can do.”
The Coverup
Sept. 30: McDaniel tested positive for COVID-19. That evening, Hicks began to feel ill after attending a Trump fundraiser and rally in Minnesota.
Oct. 1: Hicks tested positive for COVID-19, but the White House kept her diagnosis quiet. Trump continued on to a fundraiser at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, where he held an indoor roundtable for about 20 big donors and an outdoor event including 200 people.
That evening, Bloomberg broke the story that Hicks had tested positive for COVID-19. Two hours later, Trump confirmed her diagnosis on Fox News without mentioning that he too had already tested positive. Nor did anyone inform former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign.
As the virus spread throughout the White House, Trump asked an adviser not to disclose the results of their own positive test. “Don’t tell anyone,” he said. By October 7, at least 34 White House staff members and other individuals who had been in close contact with Trump between September 25 and October 1 tested positive for COVID-19.
Oct. 5: Reporters asked Trump’s physician, Dr. Sean Conley, when Trump had last tested negative for COVID-19.
“I don’t want to go backwards,” he said, ignoring the medical importance of that information for tracing Trump’s contacts prior to the onset of his symptoms.
Also on Oct. 5: The New York Times reported that the White House was not using the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control to perform contact tracing for the Trump outbreak. Instead, the White House medical unit was in charge and “limited its efforts to notifying people who came in close contact with Mr. Trump in the two days before his Covid diagnosis Thursday evening [October 1].” That meant excluding two Trump rallies, the super-spreader event in the White House Rose Garden and, depending how precisely the White House calculated the “two days before his COVID diagnosis,” possibly the presidential debate itself. {Emphasis added]
Oct. 9: White House deputy press secretary Brian Morgenstern refused repeatedly to answer when Trump had last tested negative for COVID-19:
The Clinic’s Continuing Failure
The Cleveland Clinic’s initial response to Trump’s positive test scandal was to minimize the problem.
Oct. 2: “As health advisor to the Commission on Presidential Debates and the host site, we had requirements to maintain a safe environment that align with CDC guidelines – including social distancing, hand sanitizing, temperature checks and masking. Most importantly, everyone permitted inside the debate hall tested negative for COVID-19 prior to entry. Individuals traveling with both candidates, including the candidates themselves, had been tested and tested negative by their respective campaigns. Based on what we know about the virus and the safety measures we had in place, we believe there is low risk of exposure to our guests. Out of an abundance of caution, we are reaching out to our guests to address any questions and concerns.”
Oct. 2 – 6: As the White House outbreak grew and Trump refused to reveal when he had last tested negative for COVID-19 prior to the debate, scrutiny of the Clinic’s actions intensified.
Oct. 6: The Cleveland Clinic issued a statement trying to shift the blame: “Prior to the first debate, we worked closely with the CPD to create health and safety requirements. These are the same requirements that we have recommended be implemented at each of the other host sites. They include testing, social distancing, hand sanitizing, temperature checks and masking. Any questions regarding the recommendations and requirements, including their implementation and enforcement, should be directed to the CPD.” (Emphasis added)
The Cleveland Clinic is one of the premier medical institutions in the world. But it accepted the word of a serial liar, wilted as he defied rules that applied to everyone else and compromised the health of the public. In the process, it facilitated a Trump coverup that endures to this day.
After four years of Trump’s mendacity, bullying and victims, the Cleveland Clinic has only itself to blame for the resulting stain on its reputation.
