Pence chief of staff Marc Short tests positive for coronavirus
25 October 2020
Marc Short, Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, tested positive for the coronavirus Saturday and is quarantining, according to a White House statement.
Why it matters: Short is Pence's closest aide, and was one of the most powerful forces on the White House coronavirus task force.
- Short is a key a public face of the administration — one of its more frequent advocates in the press and on television — and works closely with West Wing staff.
- Earlier Saturday, Marty Obst, a top outside adviser to Pence, tested positive, ABC News and others reported. Obst is an outside adviser and not a government employee.
The big picture: Short joins a long list of top White House officials who have been hit by the virus — one of the biggest crises ever to hit a White House, and a central issue in the election, which is less than 10 days away.
- Katie Miller, Pence's communications director, tested positive in May.
- After President Trump tested positive in early October, longtime aide Stephen Miller tested positive, as did press secretary Kayleigh McEnany.
- A FEMA memo reported that 34 people were associated with the White House outbreak, ABC News reported.
A statement from the vice president's office said:
Today, Marc Short, Chief of Staff to the Vice President, tested positive for COVID-19, began quarantine and assisting in the contact tracing process.
Vice President Pence and Mrs. Pence both tested negative for COVID-19 today, and remain in good health.
While Vice President Pence is considered a close contact with Mr. Short, in consultation with the White House Medical Unit, the Vice President will maintain his schedule in accordance with the CDC guidelines for essential personnel.
Pence press secretary Devin O'Malley
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.