Photo via United States Congress, @leibelmichael/Twitter
January 11, 2021, 12:37 pm*
Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman, a Democrat, has tested positive for COVID-19 following the Capitol riots, during which she was trapped in an enclosed space with Republicans who refused to wear masks.
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Coleman noted this bit of information in her press release announcing the positive test as video spreads on Twitter of anti-masker Republicans being offered masks during the lockdown on January 6 but refusing them.
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“Today, Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) received a positive rapid antigen test result for COVID-19,” the statement reads. “She believes she was exposed during protective isolation in the U.S. Capitol building as a result of insurrectionist riots. As reported by multiple news outlets, a number of members within the space ignored instructions to wear masks.”
Rep. Coleman is 75 years old and a Black woman, putting her in a high-risk category for dangerous complications from COVID-19. She says in a follow-up tweet that she is so far only experiencing “mild, cold-like symptoms” and is resting at home.
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Republicans Marjorie Taylor Greene, Markwayne Mullin, and Andy Biggs, among others, can be seen in the video originally posted by Michael Leibel being directly offered face masks by Democratic Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester. Most of their discussion is inaudible, but at one point Rochester can be heard telling one of them “don’t do yourself any favors” after he threatens to hug her.
If only they had done Rep. Coleman a favor, she wouldn’t be staring down an alarmingly high chance of death via COVID-19 right now. So far, it doesn’t appear that Greene, Mullin, or Biggs have released a statement addressing (let alone apologizing) their role in possibly exposing Coleman to the illness, but Biggs found time to accuse “the Left” of “trying to emasculate” Trump supporters.
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Talk about your toxic masculinity.
The Capitol’s attending physician Dr. Brian P. Monahan sent out a memo to congress and staff on Sunday advising them to get tested due to the risk of being exposed to an unidentified individual who was carrying the virus at the time of the attack.
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“On Wednesday January 6, many members of the House community were in protective isolation in (a) room located in a large committee hearing space,” he wrote. “The time in this room was several hours for some and briefer for others. During this time, individuals may have been exposed to another occupant with coronavirus infection.”
Only time will tell if any others, and how many, members of congress contracted the virus on that day.
*First Published: January 11, 2021, 12:35 pm
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