Lawmaker gets COVID, wants ‘serious fines’ for maskless Republicans during Capitol riot
Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington said Tuesday that she has tested positive for the coronavirus, blaming her GOP colleagues who didn’t wear masks while sheltering during the Capitol riots last week.
“Only hours after President Trump incited a deadly assault on our Capitol, our country, and our democracy, many Republicans still refused to take the bare minimum COVID-19 precaution and simply wear a damn mask in a crowded room during a pandemic — creating a superspreader event on top of a domestic terrorist attack,” Jayapal said in her statement.
President Donald Trump spoke at a rally of his supporters on the National Mall last Wednesday as Congress convened to certify the Electoral College vote and cement President-elect Joe Biden’s win. A pro-Trump mob later stormed the Capitol building, leading to evacuations and at least five people dead.
Democratic Rep. Brad Schneider of Illinois also said he tested positive for COVID-19 and put the blame on maskless Republican lawmakers. Schneider said in a statement that he was forced to shelter with Republicans who refused to wear masks. He is now calling for those members to be held accountable.
“We can no longer tolerate Members coming to the floor or gathering in the halls of Congress without doing the bare minimum to protect those around them. Those that flout public health guidance should be sanctioned and immediately removed from the House floor by the Sergeant at Arms for their reckless endangerment of their colleagues.”
Rep. Debbie Dingell, a Michigan Democrat, is planning to introduce legislation Tuesday that would fine lawmakers $1,000 for every day they don’t wear a mask in the U.S. Capitol, The Washington Post reported.
At least six House Republicans were filmed on video refusing to wear masks offered by a Democratic colleague during the siege, CNN reported.
Democratic Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware was shown in a Twitter video offering surgical masks to a group of GOP lawmakers, who all refused. The other Republicans include Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs, Oklahoma Rep. Markwayne Mullin, Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry, Texas Rep. Michael Cloud and California Rep. Doug LaMalfa.
Rochester told CNN that she was “very concerned we were sitting in a superspreader event but instead of sitting back and lamenting, I tried to go into action to try and persuade people to put them on.”
Democratic Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey said Monday that she tested positive for COVID-19 and “believes she was exposed during protective isolation in the U.S. Capitol building as a result of insurrectionist riots,” according to a statement.
“As reported by multiple news outlets, a number of members within the space ignored instructions to wear masks,” she said in her statement.
Kansas Rep. Jake LaTurner, a Republican, tested positive for the coronavirus after participating in a House vote to challenge Biden’s Electoral College victory that Wednesday, The Kansas City Star reported.
“Congressman LaTurner is following the advice of the House physician and CDC guidelines and, therefore, does not plan to return to the House floor for votes until he is cleared to do so,” Braden Dreiling, LaTurner’s chief of staff, told The Star.
According to LaTurner’s spokesperson, he wasn’t in the same secure area where the other now-sick lawmakers were sheltering, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported.
This story was originally published January 12, 2021 at 9:37 AM with the headline "Lawmaker gets COVID, wants ‘serious fines’ for maskless Republicans during Capitol riot."