Vaccinated aides for both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and President Joe Biden reportedly tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday after attending a “rooftop reception” with lawmakers — specifically Texas Democrats, after more than 50 of them skipped town to avoid a quorum vote on an election integrity bill and several contracted COVID-19.
Pelosi’s aide was tasked with ushering the lawmakers around Washington, D.C., last week, prior to attending a gathering at a hotel with them and a White House official on Wednesday. Six members of the state’s delegation contracted the coronavirus.
Both individuals have reportedly experienced mild symptoms and have not been in contact with Pelosi or Biden. “Yesterday, a fully vaccinated senior spokesperson in the speaker’s press office tested positive for COVID after contact with members of the Texas state legislature last week,” a top Pelosi aide told Fox News in a statement.
A White House official likewise confirmed the report, noting, “In accordance with our rigorous COVID-19 protocols, the official remains off campus as they wait for a confirmatory PCR test.”
The Texas Democrats received a great deal of flack for flying out of state to avoid executing their duties to the people who elected them. They even took photos of themselves with maskless faces on the plane, while their constituents still suffer from onerous airline mask rules. Peter Doocy, the White House correspondent for Fox News, asked press secretary Jen Psaki about whether the administration views the lawmakers’ trip as a “superspreader event.”
“Well, I would say, that is not a characterization we’re making from here,” Psaki said. “We certainly understand there will be breakthrough cases. Even vaccines that are incredibly effective are not foolproof. They’re not 100 percent effective, we’ve seen that. Here’s the good news though. We know that these individuals … have been vaccinated. It protects from death. It protects from serious illness.”
After a number of Democrats who fled Texas in protest over the state's election integrity bill tested positive for COVID-19, Fox News' Peter Doocy wants to know if their trip will be seen as a "super-spreader event." pic.twitter.com/hoRdzbxkKq
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Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris also met with the Texas representatives last week, but she has tested negative for COVID-19, according to Psaki. Left-wing media has repeatedly rebuked Republicans for gathering and identified these as “superspreader events.”
