A trio of House Democrats are blaming Republicans for their infection with the novel Wuhan coronavirus this month after testing positive following a brief stay in the Capitol bunker amid last week’s riot.
“Today, I am now in strict isolation, worried that I have risked my wife’s health and angry at the selfishness and arrogance of the anti-maskers who put their own contempt and disregard for decency ahead of the health” of colleagues, Democratic Rep. Brad Schneider of Illinois said, admonishing Republican colleagues he charged with not wearing a mask at their secure location.
A third Dem tests positive and blames maskless Rs. “I am now in strict isolation, worried that I have risked my wife’s health and angry at the selfishness and arrogance of the anti-maskers who put their own contempt and disregard for decency ahead of the health” of colleagues pic.twitter.com/xCPiCdeJV0
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 12, 2021
Democratic Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey, 75, also blamed Republicans for her own positive test result in an op-ed in the Washington Post. So too did Washington Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal, claiming Republicans created a “superspreader event,” through their noncompliance to wear masks. Jayapal said this without considering whether she had contracted the virus in the House gallery when she was surrounded by others in close quarters without wearing a mask herself, as shown in the video below:
There’s little evidence, however, to suggest maskless Republicans infected any one of the three positive members, let alone each in the Capitol bunker. Though it’s unknown whether any Republican members might have been carrying the virus asymptomatically at the time of the Capitol riots, no GOP lawmakers had been confirmed to be infected. One of the few Republican representatives infected amid the chaos was Texas Republican Rep. Kevin Brady, who confirmed to The Federalist that he was not present at the Capitol, having announced that day, prior to the demonstrations, that he was COVID-19-positive.
The trio of Democrats placing baseless blame on Republicans for their infections also turns a blind eye to Wisconsin Democratic Rep. Gwen Moore having appeared to break the CDC-recommended quarantine period to fly in for the speakership vote re-electing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Moore announced on Dec. 28 that she had tested positive for the coronavirus and then six days later flew to Washington, D.C., for the vote.
While declaring herself “medically cleared” to travel, the Wisconsin lawmaker did not disclose whether she had undergone a negative COVID-19 test prior to the trip.
Thank you all for the well wishes. I am feeling good! My quarantine is over and I am medically cleared to travel and work on behalf of Wisconsin’s Fourth Congressional District.
— Rep. Gwen Moore (@RepGwenMoore) January 3, 2021
Guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stipulate a minimum of 10-day isolation for individuals infected with COVID-19, regardless of whether the person has symptoms. Symptomatic cases should remain isolated until 10 days after the start of their symptoms and are to go 24 hours without having a fever before public re-entry. The CDC says even asymptomatic positive cases should isolate until 10 days after getting their test.
Moore was not one of the three lawmakers, each of whom had tested negative but were still within CDC quarantine windows, who voted with special arrangements for the House speaker.
Important to note a few things:
-These three members have all had NEGATIVE covid test but are still in quarantine window after being exposed
-Rep. Gwen Moore is NOT one of the three, I'm told; She is officially out of her quarantine window https://t.co/L3W0h70yrc
— Heather Caygle (@heatherscope) January 3, 2021
Moore’s office released a statement several days after the vote, declaring the representative had tested positive on Dec. 22 and was therefore not violating CDC guidelines. Moore’s office did not respond to The Federalist’s repeated inquiries as to whether Moore had ever received a negative test following her positive one, nor did they respond with proof that she had tested positive on Dec. 22, with her statement having been released days after news of her trip sparked controversy.
Could Moore then have caused a congressional coronavirus outbreak because Pelosi needed every vote in for the speakership?
