DES MOINES, IOWA – U.S. Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary, Katie Miller, has tested positive for coronavirus. President Donald Trump publicly identified Miller as the aide but said he was “not worried” about the virus in the White House. Katie Miller is married to a top Trump adviser, Stephen Miller. There was no comment on whether Stephen Miller has tested positive or is working at his White House office.
Katie Miller had tested negative for the virus one day earlier.
“This is why the whole concept of tests aren’t necessarily great,” Trump said.
“Katie, she tested very good for a long period of time and then all of a sudden today she tested positive,” he said.
The news makes Miller the second person at the White House to test positive for the virus this week
after officials confirmed Thursday that a member of the U.S. Navy who works as one of Trump’s personal valets had the virus.
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said Friday that the White House was “probably the safest place that you can come” but said he was reviewing further precautions the White House could take to keep Trump and Pence safe.
“We’ve already put in a few protocols that we’re looking at, obviously, to make sure that the president and his immediate staff stay safe. But it’s not just the president, it’s all the workers that are here,” he said.
Pence, whose trip to Des Moines, Iowa, was delayed Friday by the news, was accompanied on Air Force 2 by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Purdue and Iowa Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst.
During the flight from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, a senior administration official informed VOA and other members of the press on board of the aide’s test result. He said the White House is tracing the aide’s contacts.
Six staffers were also asked to deplane “out of an abundance of caution.” The official later said all had tested negative for the coronavirus.
White House Press secretary Kayleigh McEnany confirmed that a member of the vice president’s team had tested positive during Friday’s White House press briefing. – VOA News
