Pelosi Responds to Rep. Louie Gohmert's COVID-19 Diagnosis
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) says she hopes Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) will start to “look after his health” after he tested positive for COVID-19.
Speaking to MSNBC’s Garrett Haake, Pelosi said, “I’m so sorry for him.”
She continued, “But I’m also sorry my members, who are concerned, because he has been showing up at meetings without a mask and making a thing of it.”
“Hopefully now he will look after his health, and others,” she added.
“Hopefully now he will look after his health, and others’,” the speaker continues.
— Garrett Haake (@GarrettHaake) July 29, 2020
On Wednesday morning, Gohmert tested positive for the coronavirus, as IJR reported.
In a statement, Gohmert said, “I’m asymptomatic. I don’t have any of the symptoms that are listed as part of COVID-19, but apparently, I have the Wuhan virus.”
Watch the video below:
My statement about today's diagnosis: pic.twitter.com/qvf7zIcgdN
— Louie Gohmert (@replouiegohmert) July 29, 2020
Shortly after it was reported that Gohmert tested positive, reporters noted that Gohmert has been reluctant to wear a mask and has been seen in the Capitol frequently not wearing a mask.
I’ve spent a lot of time in House gallery watching Gohmert frequently interact with colleagues and not wearing a mask. He doesn’t maintain social distance and talks at length with members. When I asked Gohmert, he said he would wear a mask if he got covid. https://t.co/bz0ijFVrIF https://t.co/9ZoV5Cf9Yl
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) July 29, 2020
Rep. Louie Gohmert — a Texas Republican who has been walking around the Capitol without a mask — has tested positive for the coronavirus.https://t.co/o4yEGldZVo
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) July 29, 2020
Louie Gohmert, who has not been wearing a mask, is 66 years old. He spoke at the Judiciary Committee hearing with AG Barr yesterday. Nine members of the Judiciary Committee are 65 or older. Barr is 70 years old.
— Grace Segers (@Grace_Segers) July 29, 2020
Additionally, Politico’s Jake Sherman shared an email he received from a member of Gohmert’s staff that suggested the Texas Congressman “berated” staff members for wearing masks.
“When probing the office, you might want to ask how often people were berated for wearing masks,” the staffer wrote.
PLAYBOOK PM: After we reported that @replouiegohmert was positive, we got an email from a Gohmert aide. pic.twitter.com/x31CSOdkLf
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) July 29, 2020
Despite his documented aversion to wearing masks, Gohmert said, “I’ve worn a mask more the last week or two than I have in the whole last four months.”
Additionally, he suggested that the mask may have been responsible for him contracting the virus, “It is interesting, and I don’t know about everybody, but when I have a mask on, I’m moving it to make it comfortable.”
“And I can’t help but wonder if that, you know, puts some germs in the mask,” he added.
He also said that he was wearing his mask during the House Judiciary Committee’s hearing with Attorney General William Barr on Tuesday.
Still, Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said Barr would be tested for the coronavirus on Wednesday after the two had a brief encounter at the Capitol.
Finally, Gohmert said, “Now that I apparently have it, I will be very, very careful to make sure I don’t give it to anybody else. And we’ll see how it goes.”
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