Monday night’s celebration at the White House of Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s expected confirmation to the Supreme Court will be “just a very nice event” and not a large one, President Donald Trump told reporters, Politico reported.
Barrett is expected to be approved Monday evening by the Senate after a contentious confirmation process in which Democrats accused Republicans of hypocrisy for going through the process so close to next week’s election after the GOP refused to even consider President Barack Obama’s nomination four years ago during an election year.
Trump’s comments came after White House chief of staff Mark Meadows dismissed criticism that the ceremony could lead to a repeat of the late September Rose Garden event for the judge, during which experts said that the largely unmasked gathering in the Rose Garden ended up contributing to many in the crowd contracting the coronavirus, including an outbreak in the White House, according to The Hill.
Meadows added that "We’re doing ... the best we can to encourage as much social distancing as possible. It’ll be outdoors if it goes off as planned.”
The concern over the event also comes as Vice President Mike Pence’s office reported over this past weekend that it had coronavirus infections among its staff, including the vice president’s chief of staff.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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