Trump campaign attacks Joe Biden for not having COVID-19

• In a Fox News interview on Monday, Erin Perrine, the Trump campaign's communications director, faulted Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee, for not contracting the coronavirus.
• When asked whether President Donald Trump would shift his coronavirus messaging, Perrine said: "He has experience now fighting the coronavirus as an individual. Those firsthand experiences — Joe Biden, he doesn't have those."
• Trump's campaign was upended late last week when he disclosed that he had tested positive for COVID-19. He has since been hospitalized, and he was given supplemental oxygen over the weekend.
• Perrine said Trump had "a different tone overall" from Biden on the virus because of his experience as a president and a businessman, arguing that having the virus would only enhance Trump's messaging.

In a Fox News appearance on Monday, Erin Perrine, the Trump campaign's communications director, faulted Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee, for not contracting the coronavirus.

Perrine blamed Biden for not having "those firsthand experiences" of dealing with COVID-19 that President Donald Trump does.

When the host Sandra Smith asked whether Trump would change his coronavirus messaging in light of his diagnosis and hospitalization, Perrine said, "Well, firsthand experience is always going to change how someone relates to something that's been happening."

—Tim Hogan (@timjhogan) October 5, 2020

"He has experience now fighting the coronavirus as an individual," Perrine said. "Those firsthand experiences — Joe Biden, he doesn't have those."

She added that Trump had "a different tone overall" from Biden on the virus because of his experience as a president and a businessman, arguing that having the virus would only enhance the president's messaging.

Trump's campaign was upended late last week after he and the White House counselor Hope Hicks tested positive for the coronavirus.

Bloomberg News first reported on Thursday evening that Hicks had tested positive. About an hour later, Trump told Fox News' Sean Hannity that he was awaiting the results of a COVID-19 test. At about 1 a.m. ET on Friday, Trump announced that he and first lady Melania Trump had tested positive.

However, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that Trump did not disclose to Hannity that he had already tested positive for COVID-19 by the time they spoke and that he was awaiting the results of a second test.

The president was flown to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Friday evening after experiencing symptoms including a cough and a fever. He was also given supplemental oxygen on Friday and Saturday, his physician, Dr. Sean Conley, told reporters over the weekend.

Conley did not initially disclose that the president was given oxygen, doing so only after several outlets reported the news.

Later Sunday, the president sparked widespread backlash when he ventured out of Walter Reed in a presidential motorcade to drive by and wave at supporters. He was in a bulletproof and hermetically sealed SUV with several Secret Service agents; critics said the president's decision needlessly endangered the agents.

On Monday, the White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, announced that she had also tested positive for the virus.

McEnany is one of more than two dozen people in Trump's orbit who have tested positive in recent days. After her announcement, news outlets reported that two aides in the White House's communications office, as well as other mid-level staffers, had also tested positive.