President Donald Trump arrives with his wife, First Lady Melania Trump at a make America great victory rally at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa
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More than 130 Secret Service officers have been infected with coronavirus or quarantining after travelling with President Donald Trump on his campaign trips.
The stricken officers account for 10 per cent of the president’s core security team and their absence was described by one supervisor as “very problematic”.
Mr Trump held a flurry of rallies during the week leading up to the November 3 election. On November 2, he went on a total of five, including in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Michigan, and two stops in Wisconsin.
According to the Washington Post, the Secret Service agency assigned five separate groups of 20 officers to each one, where they screened spectators and secured the perimeter around the president’s events.
Corey Lewandowski, senior adviser of President Donald Trump, uses a megaphone as supporters of U.S. president Donald Trump rally as votes continue to be counted in Philadelphia
Credit: Reuters
The agency is also examining whether any of the infections instead trace back to the White House, where many Secret Service officers report for duty each day.
It coincided with a growing number of prominent Trump campaign staffers and White House officials falling ill in the wake of campaign events, where many attendees did not wear masks.
Among those who are infected are Mark Meadows, White House Chief of Staff, and outside political advisers Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie.
Mr Lewandowski, who had been watching the results of the election come in at the White House on November 3, claims he caught the virus from Philadelphia, where he held a series of press conferences on alleged – and so far unproven – voter fraud.
It is the second outbreak at the White House in recent weeks. The last one was traced back to a “superspreader” event celebrating the nomination of Supreme Court judge Amy Coney Barret.
Mr Trump tested positive six days later, along with aide Hope Hicks, and Bill Stepien, his campaign manager.
The officers have done little protection work since the election, however, as Mr Trump has had few public appearances since his loss to Joe Biden.
Judd Deere, White House spokesman, said the administration takes “every case seriously.” He referred questions about the Secret Service outbreak to agency officials.
A spokeswoman for the Secret Service declined to comment to The Post.
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