Rep. Grijalva Just Tested Positive for COVID-19. He Has Some Words for Mask-Refusing GOP Colleagues.

Membership Ticker

Are there any guardrails left?

Autocratic forces are ascendant in America, but the story isn’t fully written. Truth-telling independent media is one remaining bulwark against the unrestrained exercise of power. At a time when billionaire owners of corporate media are making accommodations to power, our nonprofit newsroom cannot be bought, bent, or broken. Depend on it, and please stand with us.

AP pool photograph

The coronavirus is a rapidly developing news story, so some of the content in this article might be out of date. Check out our most recent coverage of the coronavirus crisis, and subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter.

Following the announcement this week that Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas)—who proudly refused to wear a mask in the halls of Congress—tested positive for COVID-19, other members of Congress acknowledged their concerns about possible infection.

Louie Gohmert lives and sleeps in his Capitol Hill office.

Now that he’s tested positive, he cannot be allowed to quarantine there. He’s put Members and staff at enough risk already.

I wish you well, @replouiegohmert. But you need to figure out a better option.

— Rep. Gerry Connolly (@GerryConnolly) July 29, 2020

Today, 72-year-old Rep. Raúl Grijalva, who has represented Arizona since 2003 announced that he has tested positive for the virus. The Democratic congressman didn’t name names, but his statement was pointed in its criticism of his Republican colleagues who “routinely strut around the Capitol without a mask to selfishly make a political statement at the expense of their colleagues, staff and their families.”

Grijalva added: “Numerous Republican members routinely strut around the Capitol without a mask to selfishly make a political statement at the expense of their colleagues, staff, and their families.” pic.twitter.com/BJM72gRYbj

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) August 1, 2020