Trump Says Report of Bring COVID Positive Before Debate was Biden is “Fake News”

Yesterday, Donald Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows made headlines by revealing Trump tested positive for COVID-19 just three days before taking the stage with President Joe Biden in a debate. Meadows stated nothing was going to stop Trump from taking the stage.

In response, Trump released a statement, evoking his “Fake News” slogan.

“The story of me having COVID prior to, or during, the first debate is Fake News,” Trump said in a statement to NBC News. “In fact, a test revealed that I did not have COVID prior to the debate.”

The Guardian notes Meadows revealed the news in his new book. Meadows wrote before the debate Trump was required “to test negative for the virus within seventy two hours of the start time … Nothing was going to stop [Trump] from going out there.”

Following the positive result, Trump would take a different test resulting in a negative result.

Trump revealed that he had Covid on Oct. 2, 2020, requiring transport to the hospital in the heart of a presidential race. Meadows’s book is titled The Chief’s Chief and will be published by a conservative outlet next week.

Trump first found out he had covid days earlier on Sept. 26 as he traveled on Air Force One. Meadows delivered the news and stated Trump’s response “rhyme[d] with ‘Oh spit, you’ve gotta be trucking lidding me’”.