Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, has tested positive for Covid-19, the president tweeted on Sunday, prompting Arizona to close its legislature after the lawyer visited the state last week.
Giuliani, 76 and a former mayor of New York City, has been leading Trump’s attempt to overturn his election defeat by Joe Biden, through lawsuits in battleground states, including Georgia and Michigan, as well as Arizona.
Trump did not specify when Giuliani tested positive or if he was experiencing symptoms. Giuliani later tweeted he was “getting great care and feeling good”.
It was not immediately clear if he was in hospital but the New York Times reported on Sunday night that he was in the Georgetown University medical center in Washington DC, citing a person who was aware of Giuliani’s condition. ABC News and CNN also reported that the lawyer was in hospital.
“Rudy Giuliani, by far the greatest mayor in the history of NYC, and who has been working tirelessly exposing the most corrupt election (by far!) in the history of the USA, has tested positive for the China Virus,” Trump tweeted, using a racist term for the coronavirus.
“Get better soon Rudy, we will carry on!!!”
The Trump campaign later released a statement on the timeline of Giuliani’s diagnosis, saying he did not display symptoms until two days after returning from Arizona, Michigan and Georgia. No legislators or members of the press were on his contact tracing list, the statement said.
However, Giuliani held a 10-hour meeting with Republican lawmakers at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Phoenix last week to discuss the election outcome at which few people wore masks. He also held private meetings with Republicans during his visit.
After news of his positive test broke on Sunday, the state legislature said it would close both chambers this week out of caution “for recent cases and concerns relating to Covid-19”.
His positive test may also raise concerns about infections among lawmakers in other states.
Last week, he appeared without a mask before lawmakers in Michigan to challenge votes in the state. On Thursday, he spoke at the Georgia capitol building in a crowded legislative session, again without a mask.
Georgia state senator Jen Jordan, a Democrat who attended Thursday’s hearing, expressed outrage after learning of Giuliani’s diagnosis. “Little did I know that most credible death threat that I encountered last week was Trump’s own lawyer,” Jordan tweeted. “Giuliani — maskless, in packed hearing room for 7 hours. To say I am livid would be too kind.”
In the Michigan session, Giuliani asked one witness to remove her mask so the audience could hear her better. She declined.
Giuliani, who was interviewed on Fox News hours before news of his test emerged, has repeatedly been exposed to others who tested positive, including his son.
Andrew Giuliani, a White House staffer, said on 20 November he had tested positive for the virus and was in quarantine with mild symptoms.
Trump himself contracted Covid-19 in October and spent three days in hospital near Washington DC.
At least 40 people in the president’s orbit have tested positive since late September, including the first lady, Melania Trump, her son Barron, Donald Trump Jr, and senior aides and Republican politicians.
Vaccines are on the brink of approval for use but the pandemic has surged in recent months, with Trump facing criticism for apparently giving up the fight for control.
Johns Hopkins University recorded 213,875 new cases in the US on Saturday. Amid figures worsened by Thanksgiving travel and gatherings whose full impact experts say is not yet apparent, there were 2,254 new deaths, making the full US death toll 280,979 from nearly 14.6m cases. The seven-day average for deaths from Covid-19 has climbed over 2,000.
Trump has repeatedly downplayed the coronavirus and resisted public health guidance meant to prevent the spread of the illness.
As Christmas approaches, the White House is hosting a string of holiday parties featuring large crowds indoors. Photos from a party on Tuesday showed people without masks engaging in the festivities.
On Sunday, a member of the White House coronavirus taskforce, Deborah Birx, was questioned about the contradictions between Trump’s actions and comments and public health guidance.
“I hear community members parroting back those situations, parroting back that masks don’t work, parroting back that we should work towards herd immunity, parroting back that gatherings don’t result in super-spreading events,” Birx told NBC’s Meet the Press.
“And I think our job is to constantly say those are myths.”
