Hours after it happened on Saturday, White House correspondents were still discussing intently what several called “the incident:” a Chinese correspondent from the state-run CGTN television network was the lone reporter barred from a White House briefing on that afternoon after he was found to be running a high temperature.
The taking of temperatures for reporters as a requirement to enter the briefing as well as the refusal of admission for the Chinese correspondent made as much news as anything said at the briefing by Vice President Mike Pence and the members of Coronavirus Task Force, including a short appearance by President Trump.
Before allowed entrance to the White House Briefing Room, correspondents were required to have their temperatures taken by someone from the White House Physician’s office.
All reporters passed the “test” except the correspondent from the English-language CGTN. According to several reports, he was tested three times but each time was found to be running a temperature of 100.4 degrees—far above the 98.6 degrees that the Center for Disease Control considers normal.
Questioned by reporters, Pence and other members of the Task Force all said they had their temperatures taken before they entered the Briefing Room.
Asked by reporters what his temperature was, President Trump replied as he left the briefing: “Normal.”
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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