Biden debate guest whose father died of COVID-19 'terrified' after Trump tests positive

Kristin Urquiza thought the U.S. presidential debate would be safe.

The San Francisco woman, whose father died of COVID-19 in June, was a guest of Democratic nominee Joe Biden at Tuesday's event. She was tested for COVID-19 ahead of her attendance, and told to wear a mask. 

But when she took her seat in the front row, she noticed that U.S. President Donald Trump's entire family was maskless, as were most of the guests on the Republican side of the Case Western Reserve University event space.

"I looked behind me and it was a sea of masked people, and it really just sort of struck me about this divisiveness and how we've politicized this simple, common health-care measure, such as wearing a mask for each other's safety," Urquiza told As It Happens host Carol Off.

Trump confirmed overnight Thursday that he and his wife Melania Trump had both tested positive for COVID-19. He is currently in hospital at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

The diagnosis was horrifying news for Urquiza, who spent the evening less than five metres from the stage.

"I am terrified. I've seen the darkest result of COVID. It's an undignified and lonesome death," she said. "I wouldn't wish that upon my worst enemy, and I hope that the president and the others in his inner circle that are infected recover."

'He is absolutely responsible' 

Urquiza's father Mark Anthony was a Trump supporter.

But in the early days of the pandemic, when the state of Arizona enacted restrictions, she says he took the coronavirus seriously. He wore a mask, practised physical distancing, and stayed at home as much as he could.

But when Arizona's governor lifted stay-at-home orders in May at the president's behest, he trusted they were making the right decision. 

"When I said, ''Dad, hey, you probably shouldn't meet up with friends,' you know, his response was like, 'I know you're concerned about me, but why would the governor, why would the president say it is safe if it is not safe?" she said.

"His favourite thing in the world was singing karaoke, which he hadn't done for many months because of the shutdowns. And after being kind of cooped up, he was ready to go out and sing the Beatles' A Hard Day's Night, and he thought it was safe."

He was diagnosed with COVID-19 a few weeks later, and died 19 days after that. Urquiza was driving on the highway from California to Arizona when she got the news. 

"I was at a gas station when I learned that he had passed by himself," she said. 

She blames the president for his death.

"He is absolutely responsible not only for my father's death, but the more than 200,000 people who have lost their lives here in the United States. He lied to the American public consistently. And we now know from the [Bob] Woodward tapes that he made decisions that were different from the information that he had during public health crisis season," she said.

"Through crises in general, we are taught to follow the direction of people in charge, that their best interest is our best interest. And what we've seen from this president is that he has no regard for human life."

More than one million people have died worldwide from COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and 20 per cent of those deaths have been in the United States, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. 

"This is not because of some divine intervention. It's policy failure. It's leadership failure," Urquiza said. 

Urquiza is now planning to get tested again for COVID-19, and says she is worried it will spread to others who attended the presidential debate.

"As I have been confronting my own exposure and the exposure to every single person in that debate hall, my heart goes out to them all," she said.

"This president has shown us one thing, that he only has his best interest in mind, and if he recovers quickly and has a mild case, that will only fuel his cause further to downplay the severity of the largest global health crisis in a century. And that is a huge threat to American lives as well as the global health."

Written by Sheena Goodyear. Interview produced by Sarah Cooper.