Melania Trump has canceled her fundraiser event in California amidst the mounting concern on the spread of coronavirus in the U.S. and the increasing number of Republican congressmen putting themselves in self-quarantine. The White House, however, said Melania's event was called off because of "scheduling conflict."
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham has confirmed that the First Lady would not be holding her first-ever fundraiser in Beverly Hills on March 18. Grisham said it was due to conflict on the FLOTUS schedule.
However, many believed that the move was made due to the threat of COVID-19 to spread in large gatherings. Moreover, California has declared a state of emergency because of the increasing number of cases in the state.
LA County now has 16 cases. California has a total of 124 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 22 passengers aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship.
The fundraiser event in Beverly Hills would have been Melania's first that she hosted alone. It has been known that the former model rarely joined her husband's campaign in 2016, more so hosting a fundraiser event. It can be recalled that Donald Trump's campaign offered a chance for a lucky donor to meet Melania at the Beverly Hills event.
Melania is also scheduled to hold another event at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on March 25. The White House hasn't released a statement on whether or not it will be canceled too. Florida already has 18 coronavirus cases, including 2 deaths.
Meanwhile, more members of Congress put themselves into self-quarantine after coming into contact with a COVID-19 patient at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland recently. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar announced over the weekend they were self-quarantining. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence also attended CPAC though its organizers assured that neither had direct contact with the individual that tested positive for coronavirus.
Cruz and Gosar were followed by Georgia Rep. Doug Collins and Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz. It was revealed that Gaetz rode in the presidential limousine and Air Force One with President Trump back to Washington, D.C. on Monday. Collins, on the other hand, shook the president's hand during their visit to the CDC on Friday.
According to CNN, incoming White House chief of staff, North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows, also announced on Monday evening that he has been tested for COVID-19 but his test came back negative. However, he decided to stay in self-quarantine until Wednesday.
