President Donald Trump’s last rally speech in Duluth, Minnesota, on September 30, before his coronavirus diagnosis, was shorter than his normal rally speeches. White House aide Hope Hicks tested positive after traveling with him and starting to exhibit symptoms at the Duluth rally. She was quarantined on the flight home from the rally, The New York Times reported.
Trump’s Duluth Rally Speech Was About 45 Minutes Long — Half as Long as His Normal Rally Speeches
Trump starts his Duluth speech right around the 14-minute mark in the video below. The speech is over just before the 60-minute mark. This puts the speech at just about 46 minutes in length.
At the time, Politico estimated that his speech was just under an hour-long, shorter than his normal 90-minute speeches. In fact, his speech was only half as long as his typical rally speeches.
For example, Trump’s Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, rally speech was about 90 minutes long.
He also spoke for about 90 minutes in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. In the video below, he starts speaking right around the 7-minute mark. He ends at 1:37:55 below, about 90 minutes later.
When he spoke for about 90 minutes in Minden, Nevada, The Lincoln Project condensed it into a 74-second video. Even his December 2019 Hershey, Pennsylvania, rally speech, before COVID-19 was known, was about 90 minutes long, Vox reported.
It isn’t clear why he spoke for about half as long as usual in Duluth, but the shorter speech didn’t go unnoticed. What’s not known is whether it was connected to coronavirus, to which he had already been exposed.
About 3,000 people attended the rally.
Hicks Traveled With Trump to the Duluth Rally & Began Showing Symptoms While There
Hicks traveled with Trump on Air Force One to the Minnesota rally. A person close to the campaign told The New York Times that she started showing mild symptoms around the time of the rally and was quarantined on the flight back, disembarking the plane in Washington from the back. She was diagnosed on Thursday, October 1.
Hicks was also seen on Marine One, which left the White House and flew to Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday, ABC News reported. She walked to the helicopter with Stephen Miller, Dan Scavino and Jared Kushner. She was also with Trump for the presidential debate.
Bloomberg reported that Trump had learned about Hicks’ diagnosis on Thursday morning but continued a full schedule, including a New Jersey resort fundraiser. Trump left the White House without speaking to reporters around 1 p.m. on Thursday, flying on Air Force One and a helicopter to Bedminster for the fundraiser. Bloomberg reported Hicks’ diagnosis on Thursday night.
Kayleigh McEnany, Trump’s press secretary, had a briefing before noon on Thursday, but she did not know about Hicks’ diagnosis, Bloomberg reported.
The CDC recommends quarantining if in close contact with someone who was diagnosed, since it can take two to 14 days to show symptoms. Trump announced his diagnosis around 1 a.m. on Friday.
His upcoming rallies have been canceled. It’s not clear how long people close to Trump will quarantine as a result of possible exposure.
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