Anti-Face-Mask Louie Gohmert is Covid-19 Positive

WASHINGTON, KOMPAS.com – US Republican lawmaker and Trump ally Louie Gohmert tested positive for the Covid-19 virus following his anti-mask-wearing habit.

News of his confirmed coronavirus status made rounds as the US republican lawmaker prepared to head to Texas with President Donald Trump.

He also announced his diagnosis a day after attending a significant testimony from US Attorney General William Barr.

Louie Gohmert made his opinion known about face masks where he walked around Congress without any face covering.

The US Republican was also seen walking and talking at a close distance with William Barr, both of whom wore no masks.

An infuriated House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ordered compulsory face masks on the chamber floor following Louie Gohmert’s diagnosis.

House Democrats were also angered by the announcement thus any Congress representative who disobeys the mandatory face mask rule will be punished by removal.

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Louie Gohmert, 66, said he was asymptomatic and downplayed his diagnosis.

He has worn a mask sporadically in recent weeks, and suggested Wednesday that moving it around on his face because it is uncomfortable "puts some germs in the mask" and maybe this caused his infection.

Even as the pandemic has raged in the United States, President Donald Trump steadfastly ignored recommendations from US medical experts that people wear masks to help curb the spread of the virus and he did not wear one in public until July 11.

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Since then, US Republican lawmakers who shunned masks have begun to wear them more regularly. But to wear or not wear a mask remains a political flashpoint in the country.

The Trump ally was tested Wednesday at the White House because he was supposed to accompany Trump on a visit to Texas.

"So I'm asymptomatic, I don't have any of the symptoms that are listed as part of Covid-19, but apparently I have the Wuhan virus," Louie Gohmert said in a video using a term that angers China.

Louie said he has worn the mask more in the last week or two than in all of the past four months, and did so during Tuesday's hearing with Barr.

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But he took it off a few times and was seen walking and talking with William Barr before the hearing.

"Wear a damn mask," said Democratic representative Jennifer Wexton from Virginia.

"I don't know who needs to hear this, but if you're a Member of Congress who refuses to wear a mask on Capitol Hill, you're not only putting your colleagues at risk — you're endangering the staff who work here, including many of my constituents," she said.

(Writer & Editor: Agence France-Presse)

Source: http://u.afp.com/38m3