Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva became the tenth member of Congress to test positive for the coronavirus.
The 72-year-old congressman is asymptotic and was informed of his diagnosis from the attending physician of the capitol. “I currently have no symptoms, feel fine, and hope to make a quick and speedy recovery,” he told Reuters, adding that he was now in self-quarantine.
Earlier this week, Texas Republican Louis Gohmert also tested positive for the virus. Gohmert, who has made of point of not wearing a mask and flaunting COVID-19 safety measures, sat with Grijalva during a congressional hearing earlier this week.
“While I cannot blame anyone directly for this, this week has shown that there are some Members of Congress who fail to take this crisis seriously,” Grijalva said — in what was almost surely a veiled swipe as his Republican colleague. “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.”
Firing back, House GOP leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy used the news to take a swipe at Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“The 10th Member of Congress to test positive, this time a Democrat. Coronavirus doesn’t care about politics. Madam Speaker, where is your plan for testing?” he said.
