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White House Aide Caught Flu During Obama's Mexico Trip
By
John Del Signore
Published Apr 30, 2009
Modified Apr 30, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Apr 30, 2009
Modified Apr 30, 2009
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Damn, this thing's for real, huh? Turns out the swine flu may very well have infiltrated the White House bubble! The AP is reporting that an aide helping arrange President Obama's recent trip to Mexico was stricken with the flu during the visit. But don't worry—the unidentified security aide, who reports to Energy Secretary Steven Chu, swears he was never within six feet of POTUS, though he did attend a dinner with Obama during the visit. And White House press secretary David Gibbs stressed today that the individual certainly didn't travel home on Air Force One; he flew commercial on April 17th with a cabin full of unlucky strangers! Gibbs explained that they're waiting for test results to confirm whether his flu was of the trendy swine variety, and added that officials would "do everything in our power" to try to track down the other passengers on that flight. (And send them thoughtful "Get Well, Soon" cards.) Three members of the man's family also experienced "mild" flu symptoms after he came back from Mexico, and all have since recovered, but still... How long before Obama starts blowing his nose during press conferences? According to Politico, the White House has now issued a health advisory outlining "protective measures" for anyone who went on Obama’s badly-timed trip to Mexico.
Tagged
obama
swine flu
White House
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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