GOP Rep. Who Said COVID Danger Was Hyped By Media Does A 180 After Almost Dying

As American continues to struggle with COVID-19 largely due to folks refusing to get vaccinated, some Republican political leaders are walking back their cavalier attitudes towards the deadly illness. In particular, GOP Rep. David Byrd, who has battled COVID, has a new message: take this pandemic seriously.

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Byrd, who once backed a bill claiming the media sensationalized COVID-19 “in the service of political agendas,” nearly died after becoming infected with the virus.

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“It is a disease that wants to kill us,” Tennessee Rep. David Byrd wrote over the weekend in a statement. “Please take it seriously.”

“Foolishly, I believed this virus only seriously affected people who are at high risk,” he stated. “COVID took over my lungs with lightning speed. I developed pneumonia. I got sicker and sicker, and more and more anxious. Every breath was pure agony.”

Byrd suffered for eight months. He was hospitalized on Dec. 5, spent 55 days on a ventilator, and later he needed a liver transplant: “Just when it seemed like I was improving, suddenly I wasn’t. My liver began to fail. I developed jaundice and was later diagnosed with Covid Cholangiopathy. I was told I would need a liver transplant or else I would die.”

Byrd said his family was faced with “the very real prospect of planning my funeral” as the infection took over his lungs “with lightning speed.”

After this experience, Byrd is now telling people they need to get vaccinated.

“I hope that by sharing my experience it helps others to act against an enemy that knows no skin color, economic status or political affiliation,” he wrote.

“I understand the concerns of those who are hesitant. To them, I would say COVID is real and it is very dangerous.”

In 2018, Byrd faced allegations of sexual misconduct. Three women who were teenagers when Byrd was their high school basketball coach allege that he sexually assaulted them. There were bipartisan calls for his resignation.

Anti-masker and COVID-denier David Byrd is a GOP representative from Tennessee who admits to suffering from COVID-19 for 8 months and was on a ventilator for 55 days. This POS is also accused of sexually abusing 3 minors when he coached high school girls in 1988. Abolish the GOP. pic.twitter.com/jXpEBNgXM2

— Fifty Shades of Whey (@davenewworld_2) August 2, 2021

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“I do not believe either of these ladies can show that they made a report to the authorities or received any subsequent mental health counseling for what they have alleged but, again, if my acts or omissions cause them distress I am truly sorry,” he said of the allegations.

Featured Image: WSMV

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*First Published: August 2, 2021, 12:18 pm