Republican campaign

Re-election team refuses to detail any new virus precautions at gatherings in wake of Trump’s diagnosis

DONALD TRUMP’S re-election campaign is refusing to commit to new safety measures at its events and is rejecting criticism of the US president’s packed rallies as they announced “Operation MAGA” to get Republicans back on the trail without him.

Three senior campaign figures in interviews with The Daily Telegraph declined to detail any changes to the safety protocols for future campaign events, despite criticism of the lack of social distancing at rallies following Mr Trump’s Covid-19 diagnosis.

Erin Perrine, the director of press communications for the Trump campaign, said “we will continue to maintain health and safety protocols as we always have” and did not name any new steps to avoid people getting the virus.

“We maintain incredibly high standards for events when it comes to what we do. That has always included temperature checks, masks provided and hand sanitiser,” Ms Perrine said.

Steve Cortes, a senior adviser for strategy on the Trump 2020 campaign, defended the president’s approach.

“The president was never careless about virus protocols. He’s worn masks when appropriate, he keeps wide distance from everyone, even our senior staff, and anyone in direct contact with him is tested first,” Mr Cortes said.

He added: “Donald Trump was never to blame for this virus, nor was any American. It’s the clear fault of the Chinese Communist Party which knowingly infected the world.”

A third senior Trump campaign adviser, who asked not to be named, also firmly rejected the suggestion that the president’s approach to campaigning should change.

“The rallies didn’t give the president Covid-19 and the rallies didn’t create any spikes where we were holding the rallies. It’s not about the rallies,” the campaign source said.

The three pushbacks suggest that the Trump campaign is not planning to change its safety approach to events, despite fierce criticism.

In recent weeks, Mr Trump has been regularly appearing at gatherings, sometimes indoors and some attended by over 1,000 people, where little social distancing takes place in the crowds and few people wear masks. Attendees are not checked for coronavirus before they attend rallies. They are temperature-checked, offered masks and hand sanitiser and urged to be cautious.

State health officials in Tulsa have said a Trump rally in late June “more than likely” contributed to an increase in Covid-19 cases.

This weekend, the Trump campaign announced something of a relaunch after the turmoil of the president’s illness, using the banner “Operation MAGA”, which stands for Mr Trump’s campaigning slogan, Make America Great Again.

Mike Pence, the US vice president, will hold a campaign event in Arizona on Thursday after his head-to-head debate with Kamala Harris, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, on Wednesday evening in Utah.

Members of the Trump family, such as his sons Donald Jr and Eric and his daughter- in-law Lara, will also be spreading out across the country after their campaigning had been postponed on Friday.

Bill Stepien, the Trump 2020 campaign manager, has also tested positive for Covid-19, but is understood to be working while self-isolating and issued a call for Trump supporters to lobby for the president.

“Operation MAGA will fire up the entire MAGA universe to keep President Trump’s campaign at full speed until our Commander-in-chief returns to the campaign trail,” Mr Stepien said.

Campaign figures acknowledged that Mr Trump’s absence from the campaign trail was a blow, but expressed optimism that others could help fill the gap.

Mr Cortes told The Daily Telegraph: “Trump is sui generis, a true political phenomenon. No one can replace him but we can, and should, work even harder to press forward the America First movement as he recovers.”

Ms Perinne said: “He’s fighting the virus and he’s fighting for our country at the same time. So we will deploy every resource we have as his team to continue to get that message out there.”

Meanwhile, Jason Miller, a senior adviser to the Trump 2020 campaign, criticised Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, for wearing a mask at points when one was not needed, saying in an interview on ABC: “Too often he’s used a mask as a prop.”

Kate Bedingfield, deputy campaign manager for Mr Biden, hit back on the same programme, saying: “I think that tells you a lot of what you need to know about how the Trump campaign has treated this from the outset.”

♦ Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, will cut short his trip to Asia this week, a department spokesman said. Mr Pompeo will be visiting Japan, but will skip planned stops to South Korea and Mongolia.