Sarah Palin has tested positive for coronavirus, according to US District Judge Jed Rakoff, who is presiding over her defamation case against the New York Times, Reuters has reported.
According to Rakoff, Palin "is of course unvaccinated".
Her positive test comes as she was set to go to trial against the outlet. The trial was set to begin on Monday in a Manhattan federal court, but was postponed by the judge to 3 February after the news.
Palin herself has not made any comments in regard to the matter.
The former Alaska governor accused the NYT of defaming her in a June 2017 editorial that linked her political action committee (PAC) to the mass shooting that took place in 2011 in Arizona. The incident claimed six lives and left former Democrat Representative, Gabby Giffords, seriously wounded.
The editorial, titled America’s Lethal Politics, said "the link to political incitement was clear" in the 2011 shooting and noted that the incident took place after Palin’s PAC shared a map that put 20 Democrat lawmakers, including Giffords, in "stylised cross hairs".
Later, the NYT issued a correction to the editorial, saying that it “incorrectly stated that a link existed between political rhetoric and the 2011 shooting".
According to The Hill, Palin is seeking unspecified damages, along with about $421,000 in reputational damage.
"In this trial we are seeking to reaffirm a foundational principle of American law: public figures should not be permitted to use libel suits to punish unintentional errors by news organisations," said a spokesman for the NYT, cited by The Hill. "We are deeply committed to fairness and accuracy in our journalism, and when we fall short, we correct our errors publicly, as we did in this case."