Shortly after fireworks above Mount Rushmore disappeared into the night sky on Friday, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem accompanied President Donald Trump aboard Air Force One despite having had close contact with Trump’s son’s girlfriend, who had tested positive for the coronavirus.
The Republican governor has sought to get on the president's radar and has taken a mostly hands-off approach to the pandemic. She didn’t wear a mask and chatted with the president as the flight returned to Washington, D.C., according to her spokesperson, Maggie Seidel.
Noem had tested negative for COVID-19 shortly before welcoming Trump to South Dakota on Friday. The day before, she interacted closely at a campaign fundraiser with Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr. and a Trump campaign staff member. One photo on social media showed them hugging. The Trump campaign announced that Guilfoyle had tested positive on Friday.
Guilfoyle's infection prompted some Republicans, such as Rep. Greg Gianforte of Montana, to take precautions against the spread of the coronavirus. He suspended in-person campaigning for his gubernatorial bid after his wife and his running mate both attended a fundraiser with Guilfoyle earlier in the week.
Noem doesn't plan anything similar, Seidel said. She cast Noem's decision to fly on Air Force One as a demonstration of how to live with the virus. Seidel pointed to comments from the World Health Organization that the spread of the virus is “rare” from asymptomatic people. But that runs counter to guidance from public health experts, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that advises people to wear masks when interacting with people outside their household.
As the number of people hospitalized from COVID-19 in South Dakota has decreased in recent weeks to just 59 people statewide, Noem has doubled down on her relaxed approach to the pandemic. Even as Republican governors in states like Texas have moved to require people to wear masks, Noem didn't require distancing or masks at the July 3 celebration at Mount Rushmore, an outdoor event at which few in the closely packed crowd wore masks.
On Friday night, she told the crowd, “Tonight, if you look to your left, if you look to your right, you're going to see that this crowd isn't just from South Dakota, but it's from everywhere across this nation.”
The influx of tourists for the Rushmore fireworks has some local leaders and doctors concerned that the area could see a spike in cases. Seidel said the governor worries about other effects of the virus, such as unemployment and domestic violence.
When Seidel was asked about a risk to Trump's health from Noem's presence on Air Force One, she said, “I don’t understand why Gov. Noem now needs to manage the president’s medical care."