ACU: CPAC Attendee Tested Positive for Coronavirus

The American Conservative Union (ACU) announced Saturday evening that one attendee at last month’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) had tested positive for coronavirus earlier that day.

The individual in question had been exposed to coronavirus before the conference, the ACU said, and did not interact with President Donald Trump or Vice President Mike Pence “and never attended events in the main hall.”

The announcement was celebrated by social media trolls, who delighted in the idea that people who support the president might have become ill as the administration has defended its approach to managing the coronavirus.

Important Health Notification for CPAC 2020 participants and attendees. pic.twitter.com/NtahNO8st3

— ACU (@ACUConservative) March 7, 2020

That prompted one New York Times reporter to admonish the Twitter trolls not to “become what you hate”:

Dear people celebrating an illness on here: CPAC is held in one of the DC area’s biggest convention venues. Many people work and attend events including kids, older people, reporters, waitstaff, janitorial crew. Please don’t become what you hate.

— Elizabeth Williamson (@NYTLiz) March 7, 2020

The White House responded a statement indicating that “every precaution” was being taken:

White House @PressSec to @RealClearNews: “White House is aware of an individual testing positive for coronavirus after attending the CPAC conference that took place nearly two weeks ago.” pic.twitter.com/KGgVU4LP2P

— Philip Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) March 8, 2020

Separately on Saturday, the District of Columbia confirmed its first case of coronavirus. Politico reported that the individual in question was not the same as the person who attended CPAC, who is being quarantined in New Jersey.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He earned an A.B. in Social Studies and Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard College, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.