Jen Psaki Tests Positive for COVID a Day After Holding Two Meetings with Biden
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that she has again tested positive for COVID-19 and will not accompany President Joe Biden to Europe for meetings on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Biden tested negative on Tuesday, she said.
Psaki tweeted that she took a laboratory test for COVID-19 in preparation for the trip, which gets underway on Wednesday, and was later notified of a positive result.
She said she had two “socially distanced meetings” with Biden on Monday and that he is not considered a “close contact” under guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The press secretary said she shared the news “out of an abundance of transparency.”
I had two socially-distanced meetings with the President yesterday, and he is not considered a close contact as defined by CDC guidance. I am sharing the news of my positive test today out of an abundance of transparency. The President tested negative today via PCR test.
— Jen Psaki (@PressSec) March 22, 2022
Psaki tweeted and released a statement a short time before she was scheduled to step into the White House press room for her daily briefing, accompanied by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who was joining her to discuss the trip.
After a brief delay, Chris Meagher, a deputy press secretary, introduced Sullivan to a waiting White House press corps and he proceeded with the briefing.
Psaki said she will follow CDC guidance and no longer accompany Biden on his stops in Belgium, for a series of meetings with European leaders on Russia’s war in Ukraine, and in Poland, which shares a border with Ukraine and has taken in millions of Ukrainians fleeing warfare.
The press secretary credited the vaccine for her having only what she called “mild symptoms.”
Thanks to the vaccine, I have only experienced mild symptoms. In alignment with White House COVID-19 protocols, I will work from home and plan to return to work in person at the conclusion of a five-day isolation period and a negative test.
— Jen Psaki (@PressSec) March 22, 2022
She said under White House COVID-19 protocols, she will work from home and plan to return to work at the end of a five-day isolation period and a negative test.
Jenn Psaki has covid again, her second time since October, despite being double vaxxed and boosted.
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) March 22, 2022
This is the second time that COVID-19 has forced Psaki to bow out of accompanying Biden abroad. She sat out last fall’s trip to Rome and Glasgow, Scotland, after disclosing she had tested positive.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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