Trump Did Not Follow New Jersey’s Travel Quarantine When He Visited His Bedminster Golf Club

President Donald Trump did not adhere to the New Jersey’s statewide travel restrictions that requires visitors who travel from coronavirus hotspots to quarantine for 14-days when he visited his Bedminster golf club.

To help contain the coronavirus, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) enacted the advisory last month, alongside the governors of New York Andrew Cuomo (D) and Connecticut Ned Lamont (D) — and mere hours after, Trump said that he intended to disregard the statewide laws.

The president visited Arizona last week, which is one of the areas that New Jersey designated as a hotspot and therefore requires a 14-day quarantine period. The travel advisory enacted by Murphy applies to anyone coming from a state with a positive test rate of higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a seven-day rolling average. It is also applies to anyone coming from a state with a 10 percent or higher virus positivity rate over a seven-day rolling average. The three governors said that fines would be issued to those who fail to follow the advisories.

Other states designated as hotspots, as of Thursday, which would require a two week quarantine from visitors are Washington, Utah, Texas, Arkansas, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida.

White House spokesman Judd Deere defended Trump and said in a statement, “the President of the United States is not a civilian. Anyone who is in close proximity to him, including staff, guests, and press are tested for COVID-19 and confirmed to be negative.”

Deere claimed that the White House enacted virus mitigation efforts during Trump’s Arizona visit. He also added that “anyone traveling in support of the President this weekend will be closely monitored for symptoms and tested for COVID and therefore pose little to no risk to the local populations.”

In response, Murphy blasted the president on CNN, saying that “there is a carve out for essential workers, and I think by any definition the President of the United States is an essential worker.”

“I think the bigger point here is we want folks to really be responsible in terms of thinking about not just themselves, but their family and their communities.”

Murphy continued, “And we’ve beaten this virus down to a pulp in New Jersey with an enormous loss of life. We’ve been through hell, and we don’t want to go through hell again. And that’s the spirit that underpins what we’re asking folks to do.”

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Article by Emily Bevacqua