The Unknowability of Other People’s Pain

President Donald Trump is joined by a few members of his staff, the first lady, Amy Coney Barrett and Barrett's family during a Oval Office photo op on Saturday, September 26. Barrett is third from right, next to Melania Trump. Her husband, Jesse, is in the back center. At left is White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, next to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

Andrea Hanks/White House/Flickr

By Dana Bash^[1] and Kevin Bohn^[2], CNN

Updated 0116 GMT (0916 HKT) October 5, 2020

President Donald Trump is joined by a few members of his staff, the first lady, Amy Coney Barrett and Barrett's family during a Oval Office photo op on Saturday, September 26. Barrett is third from right, next to Melania Trump. Her husband, Jesse, is in the back center. At left is White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, next to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

Andrea Hanks/White House/Flickr

Since President Donald Trump announced his positive Covid-19 test,^[3] public attention has centered on the Rose Garden ceremony for Amy Coney Barrett's Supreme Court announcement and how a number of its attendees have since tested positive.

But there was also a smaller, private reception inside the White House — one that did not include wearing masks and did not include social distancing.

After the public event, dozens of attendees gathered inside the White House's Diplomatic Reception Room and the adjoining hallway. The reception lasted between 30 and 45 minutes, one source with knowledge of the event told CNN.

CNN is told the attendees did not wear masks, and pictures of the event show no social distancing.

Pictures of the reception taken by the New York Times' photographer Doug Mills and White House photographer Andrea Hanks capture a group of people talking very close together, with one image showing first lady Melania Trump, Barrett and her family posing shoulder to shoulder and directly behind Trump in the Oval Office.

The widow of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, Maureen Scalia, is seen talking to Barrett in one photo. In another, Republican Sen. Thom Tillis,^[4] who has now tested positive, is seen in very close proximity to Barrett.

The President and first lady Melania Trump can be seen talking to a few other attendees separately in the room.

Also seen in the room is Attorney General William Barr^[5], who spent several minutes talking up close to former presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway^[6] in the Rose Garden earlier. Conway has since announced that she tested positive for the virus.

References

1. ^{^} Dana Bash (edition.cnn.com)
2. ^{^} Kevin Bohn (edition.cnn.com)
3. ^{^} President Donald Trump announced his positive Covid-19 test, (www.cnn.com)
4. ^{^} Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, (www.google.com)
5. ^{^} Attorney General William Barr (www.cnn.com)
6. ^{^} former presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway (www.cnn.com)

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