Exposed to Coronavirus by Guilfoyle, Noem Hops on Overnight Flight with Trump to DC

Kristi, what were you doing on Air Force One?

Not only has Governor Kristi Noem defied CDC guidelines and refused to self-isolate after close contact with an individual who tested positive for coroanvirus, but she immediately chose to put the Commander in Chief at risk of exposure.

Shortly after fireworks above Mount Rushmore disappeared into the night sky on Friday, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem accompanied President Donald Trump aboard Air Force One despite having had close contact with Trump’s son’s girlfriend, who had tested positive for the coronavirus.

…Noem didn’t wear a mask on the plane and chatted with the president as the flight returned to Washington, D.C., according to her spokesperson, Maggie Seidel.

Noem had tested negative for COVID-19 shortly before welcoming Trump to South Dakota on Friday, a day after she had interacted with [Kim] Guilfoyle.

…Guilfoyle’s infection prompted some Republicans, such as Rep. Greg Gianforte of Montana, to take precautions against the spread of the coronavirus. He suspended in-person campaigning for his gubernatorial bid after his wife and his running mate both attended a fundraiser with Guilfoyle earlier in the week.

Noem doesn’t plan anything similar or to get tested again for the virus, Seidel said. She cast Noem’s decision to fly on Air Force One as a demonstration of how to live with the virus. Seidel pointed to comments from the World Health Organization that the spread of the virus is “rare” from asymptomatic people. But that runs counter to guidance from public health experts, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that advises people to wear masks when interacting with people outside their household.

…When Seidel was asked about a risk to Trump’s health from Noem’s presence on Air Force One, she said, “I don’t understand why Gov. Noem now needs to manage the president’s medical care” [Stephen Groves, “South Dakota Governor, Exposed to Virus, Joined Trump on Jet,” AP via U.S. News and World Report, 2020.07.06].

I passionately desire the removal of Donald Trump from office as soon as legally possible. But if I had been hugging someone who tested positive for coronavirus, I would recognize that I have a moral obligation to stay the heck away from everyone, especially including the elected leader of the United States of America. That’s not “managing the president’s medical care”; that’s showing a modicum of respect for other people’s health.

In refusing to be tested again, Noem is flouting the advice of her own Department of Health:

Testing should occur after the incubation period has begun two days after exposure, according to Jonathan Steinberg, a member of the South Dakota Department of Health’s epidemiology team. It can take 2-14 days after exposure to the virus to develop symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [Lisa Kaczke, “Gov. Kristi Noem Flew on Air Force One After Close Contact with Positive Coronavirus Case,” that Sioux Falls paper, 2020.07.06].

Steinberg is cutting it close; docs at Monument Health say testing right after exposure doesn’t work, that one should wait three to five days to get a reliable test, and that in the meantime, one should self-isolate.

Noem had contact with Guilfoyle on Thursday. Her vaunted negative test, the one she used as an excuse to hop on Air Force One for a couple hours of close contact with Donald Trump, happened on Friday.

Governor Noem ignored good public health practice and endanagered the stability of the American government and the health of every public servant on Air Force One just to make a show of herself and of her cavalier attitude toward the ongoing pandemic.

The sub-story here is that the people we pay to protect the President of the United States appear unable to do their jobs. Team Noem says the Governor asked the White House doctor if it was safe her for to come aboard, and the doctor said, sure, go for it. The White House doctor, it seems, is an idiot.

The Secret Service is not staffed by idiots. Agents have been placing themselves in harm’s way and suffering in the form of quarantine and positive coronavirus cases throughout the pandemic. Their boss keeps subjecting himself and his bodyguards to unnecessary risk. Trump, like Noem, insists on breaking CDC guidelines and refusing to take precautions, and the Secret Service somehow can’t rein in his recklessness.

In related news, White House pool reporter Linda Feldmann reported Saturday evening that there were “No covid tests for pool today.”

If you can get past your proper shock and dismay at Noem’s gross narcissism and irresponsibility and the White House and the malpractice of the White House doctor and bodyguards, consider for a moment the sub-sub-story, the item that would likely be the lead if coronavirus weren’t racking up its 44th 9/11’s worth of American fatalities: The Governor of South Dakota took an overnight flight to Washington, D.C., with Donald Trump on Air Force One.

According to Factbase’s tracking of the White House schedule, Air Force One left Ellsworth Air Force Base at 10:50 p.m. Mountain, 12:50 p.m. Eastern. Hunter Walker of the White House travel pool reported wheels up from Ellsworth at 11:07 p.m. Mountain. Walker reported wheels down at Joint Base Andrews at 3:35 a.m. Eastern. Walker reported at 4:16 a.m. that Corey Lewandowski told him that he went along for the trip to South Dakota.

You can watch Noem disembark from Air Force One at Andrews in this Twitter video from The Hill; Noem is the second person down the steps after Donald and Melanie, preceded only by one other person. She’s carrying her own small travel bag.

OVERNIGHT: President Trump and @FLOTUS return to Joint Base Andrews from South Dakota. pic.twitter.com/zcsZ1OVvLi

— The Hill (@thehill) July 4, 2020

It does not appear that the Governor hopped a ride to Washington to attend any big public event. Obviously there were no Congressional hearings or any other official business meetings on a Saturday, not to mention July 4th, in the nation’s capital. The Governor didn’t blast out any press releases saying, “I flew to Washington to tell Congress to protect South Dakota’s ethanol industry!” or “I had the President’s ear for three hours plus, and I made sure he heard how important it is that he support our farmers and ranchers!” or anything like that bragging to South Dakota about her tireless advocacy on our behalf. I don’t follow Noem closely, but I saw nothing in her social media channels all weekend about her D.C. trip and all that one-on-one POTUS time she had. Team Noem wouldn’t even say today how or when Noem got back to South Dakota.

If you’re a governor, and you get over three hours on Air Force One, you make noise about that, to show your people how hard you’re working (overnight, for Pete’s sake!) and how much pull you have with the White House. Turning down that kind of publicity doesn’t show you’re humble; you’re either dumb, or you’re up to something.

And if Corey Lewandowski is on the flight, you’re definitely up to something related to Trump’s reëlection campaign and what you might be able to do to help. Last week Lewandowski, who’s been grooming Noem for some big national splash, disavowed the notion that Noem could replace Mike Pence on the GOP ticket, but then the very next day, there he is on Air Force One with Noem and Trump, flying through the night having some secret talk that was no happenstance but possibly was the main event toward which a whole cloaking public spectacle was engineered.

Kristi, what were you doing on Air Force One?