Tag: GOP members of Congress refused to wear masks during lockdown

Third House Democrat tests positive for COVID-19 after Capitol riots

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Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) said Tuesday he tested positive for COVID-19 after a pro-Trump mob forced a lockdown at the Capitol last week, making him the third Democrat to contract the virus since the deadly riots.

Schneider said he was in close contact with several Republican lawmakers who refused to wear masks during the siege.

“After narrowly escaping a violent mob incited by the president of the United States to attack the Capitol and its occupants, I was forced to spend several hours in a secure but confined location with dozens of other members of Congress,” Schneider said in a statement. Continue reading.

After hiding with maskless Republicans, Rep. Jayapal feared she would catch the coronavirus. Now she’s tested positive.

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After a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol last week, forcing Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) to take shelter in a crowded committee room, she began preparing for the worst.

Many of the GOP members of Congress hiding out with her were not wearing masks, she said, and had refused to accept them from a colleague. So, soon after Congress affirmed President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral victory later that night, she began to quarantine, fearing she could have contracted the coronavirus.

Her prediction turned to be right. Late Monday night, Jayapal announced that she had tested positive, making her the second Democratic representative to do so this week, after New Jersey Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman. Continue reading.