Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), who has often refused to wear a mask on Capitol Hill amid the coronavirus pandemic, has tested positive for COVID-19, Politico reports.
Gohmert tested positive for the novel coronavirus at the White House on Wednesday morning before he was set to travel with President Trump to Texas, according to the report. As Politico notes, Gohmert "has been walking around the Capitol without a mask." On Tuesday, he was in attendance for a hearing with Attorney General William Barr, and according to Bloomberg News' Erik Wasson, he at one point didn't have a mask on when he was "a few feet from" Barr outside of the hearing.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Questioned about this by CNN last month, Gohmert said, "I don't have the coronavirus, turns out as of yesterday I've never had it. But if I get it, you'll never see me without a mask." When CNN noted that health officials have said everyone should wear a mask in public because those without symptoms can spread COVID-19, he said, "But I keep being tested and I don't have it. So I'm not afraid of you, but if I get it I'll wear a mask."
-
The return to the stone age in house buildingUnder the Radar With brick building becoming ‘increasingly unsustainable’, could a reversion to stone be the future?
-
Rob Jetten: the centrist millennial set to be the Netherlands’ next prime ministerIn the Spotlight Jetten will also be the country’s first gay leader
-
Codeword: November 4, 2025The Week's daily codeword puzzle
-
FDA OKs generic abortion pill, riling the rightSpeed Read The drug in question is a generic version of mifepristone, used to carry out two-thirds of US abortions
-
RFK Jr. vaccine panel advises restricting MMRV shotSpeed Read The committee voted to restrict access to a childhood vaccine against chickenpox
-
Texas declares end to measles outbreakSpeed Read The vaccine-preventable disease is still spreading in neighboring states, Mexico and Canada
-
RFK Jr. shuts down mRNA vaccine funding at agencySpeed Read The decision canceled or modified 22 projects, primarily for work on vaccines and therapeutics for respiratory viruses
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year highSpeed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, changeSpeed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system
-
Kennedy ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory panelspeed read Health Secretary RFK Jr. is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the panel of experts
-
RFK Jr. scraps Covid shots for pregnant women, kidsSpeed Read The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials
