Anti-mask Louie Gohmert tests positive, sending US Congress scrambling

Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, who has frequently refused to don a face covering in the Capitol, confirmed on Wednesday that he had tested positive for the coronavirus before a planned trip with President Donald Trump on Air Force One, and he blamed his diagnosis on wearing a mask.

The results immediately sent a shudder through the Capitol, where this week Gohmert has been voting and actively participating in congressional hearings, including Tuesday’s Judiciary Committee session with Attorney General William Barr and a hearing held by the Natural Resources Committee, during which he did not wear a mask. At least one colleague who sat near him announced she would quarantine at the direction of the Capitol physician.

Gohmert, 66, said he was not experiencing symptoms but had notified colleagues with whom he may have come into contact.

Smiling in a video recorded from his Capitol Hill office, Gohmert declared he had probably gotten the “Wuhan virus” because he had started wearing a mask — not despite it.

His diagnosis also revived questions about whether it was safe for Congress — with its 100 senators and 435 representatives, who travel regularly to Washington from states across the country — to continue to meet amid the pandemic, and whether lawmakers were taking sufficient precautions. Members have adopted unevenly enforced safety protocols and allowed themselves to bounce each week between the Capitol and their home states, some of which are experiencing surges of the virus, without getting tested.

Gohmert said he only found out that he had the virus when he went to the White House at 7 a.m. Wednesday and was screened in line with the White House policy of testing anyone who would be near Trump. Gohmert tested positive twice.

“Apparently I have the Wuhan virus,” he said in his video, released a short time later.

By midafternoon, lawmakers, Capitol support staff, journalists and even the attorney general were racing to isolate themselves after possible exposure, as health officials were left to try to retrace Gohmert’s steps. Dr. Brian Monahan, Congress’ attending physician, advised members of the Judiciary Committee that they could be at elevated risk if they sat near Gohmert or used the same equipment.

A spokesman for Rep. Kay Granger, a fellow Texas Republican who sat beside Gohmert on Sunday evening on a flight from Texas, said she would quarantine at Monahan’s direction, “and out of an abundance of caution.”

Lawmakers and Barr were seated more than 6 feet apart during the hearing, but reporters spotted an unmasked Gohmert outside the hearing room exchanging words with Barr and in proximity to him. A Justice Department spokeswoman, Kerri Kupec, said that the attorney general would be tested on Wednesday.

An aide to Gohmert sent an extraordinary email to Politico after it broke the news of Gohmert’s diagnosis suggesting that the congressman’s entire staff had been ordered to continue going to work amid the pandemic in order to be an example of how the nation could safely reopen, and that those who wore masks had been berated for doing so. Many lawmakers have directed staff aides to work from home, and instructed those who come in person to wear a mask at all times.

Gohmert is among a group of House Republicans who have pointedly refused to wear masks in many instances while in the Capitol in recent weeks despite warnings from public health experts and an outbreak in his home state. In an interview from his office later Wednesday, he told KETK TV, a Texas Fox affiliate, that he would isolate for 10 days on the advice of doctors and would wear a mask “religiously” until he was cleared. But he said his diagnosis had vindicated his scepticism about wearing facial coverings to guard against the spread of the virus.

“There are an awful lot of people who think it’s the great thing to do all the time, but I can’t help but think if I hadn’t been wearing a mask so much in the last 10 days or so, I really wonder if I would have gotten it,” Gohmert said. “Moving the mask around, getting it sitting just right, I am bound to have put some virus on the mask that I sucked in. That is most likely what happened.”

Medical experts overwhelmingly say that wearing a mask is one of the most effective ways to limit the spread of the virus, though they warn that using your hands to adjust your mask improperly can pose a risk.

Democrats were furious at the news, and both parties spent Wednesday morning scrambling to retrace Gohmert’s steps. It is a daunting task because Gohmert is a frequent schmoozer who could have come into close contact with dozens of fellow lawmakers and aides this week alone.

“I’m concerned about the irresponsible behavior of many of the Republicans who have chosen to consistently flout well-established public health guidance,” said Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. and a member of the Judiciary Committee. He pleaded with Republicans like Gohmert to put on masks or go home.

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