3 congressmen on Air Force One with Trump took commercial flight after president’s diagnosis

Three Minnesota congressmen who flew on Air Force One with Trump boarded a commercial flight after President Trump tested positive for COVID-19.

Minnesota Republican Reps. Pete Stauber, Tom Emmer, and Jim Hagedorn were on the same Delta Air Lines flight Friday, two days after they flew with the president aboard Air Force One, The Star Tribune reported.

Trump announced early Friday that he and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for COVID-19.

Delta imposes strict measures disallowing passengers who were recently exposed to COVID-19 to board flights. Passengers with knowledge they have been exposed to coronavirus in the past 14 days are prohibited from travel as well. 

The airline defines exposure as face-to-face contact with someone infected with the virus or sustained contact for over 15 minutes fewer than six feet apart.

Chairman of the state Democratic Party, Ken Martin, said the representatives put other passengers’ health at risk.

Hagedorn called the Star Tribune’s reporting on the incident “fake news,” saying the “whole episode was a politically-motivated setup, with TV cameras waiting for us upon arrival at [Minneapolis−Saint Paul International Airport].”

“According to CDC guidelines and Delta’s policy, Congressmen Emmer, Stauber, and I followed the rules,” Hagedorn wrote on social media Friday, referring to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “We were not exposed to COVID … and we were tested and received ‘negative’ results prior to flying home.”

Hagedorn said he and the two other representatives were cleared to fly by the attending physician of the U.S. Congress.

In response to an inquiry from The Hill,  Delta confirmed safety measures regarding the coronavirus and said that the three representatives met the company’s standards, or else “customers would not have been able to depart on the flight.”

“In this case, our medical partners at Stat-MD conducted additional screening measures including assessing symptoms, distance and time spent with someone who tests positive, and whether the individual has been asked by a health official to quarantine,” the company added. 

Updated to 6:10 p.m.