Matt Schlapp, the chairman of the American Conservative Union has publicly stated that he interacted with a Conservative Political Action Conference attendee who has tested positive for the coronavirus.
On Saturday, Schlapp spoke with the Washington Post and stated that he did interact with the infected individual. He did not make clear exactly what kind of contact it was.
Schlapp later told Fox & Friends on Sunday that it was brief “incidental contact.”
On Saturday, Schlapp was on stage with Donald Trump on the last day of the conference. He states that he did shake hands with Trump at that time. He also stated that the attendee was not present on the day he shook hands with Trump.
“I think we have to be calm and see what occurs here and hope our friend gets better,” Schlapp stated.
Stephanie Grisham, the White House press secretary, stated that neither Trump or Pence were in “close proximity to the attendee.”
“I’m not concerned at all,” Trump said Saturday after being informed the coronavirus could spread throughout the White House. It’s difficult to believe Trump is not concerned since it is a well- known fact that he is a germaphobe.
Schlapp also added that he did see Trump washing hands while at the conference.
“And I did the same, by the way. As I said, we had these hand sanitizer stations everywhere. My wife was squirting Purell in my hands every moment. We were all washing,” he added.
Schlapp is married to Mercedes Schlapp, who at one time was Trump’s White House director of strategic communications. She now works on Trump’s reelection campaign.
There are 437 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the U.S. and so far there have been 19 deaths.
