Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), 66, has tested positive for the coronavirus.
Gohmert reportedly tested positive for the virus on Wednesday, according to ABC News. The Texas Republican tested positive in a pre-screening test before he was expected to fly to Texas with President Trump for a fundraiser.
Gohmert is the sixth House member to test positive for the coronavirus, following Reps. Mario Diaz Balart (R-FL), Neal Dunn (R-FL), Morgan Griffith (R-VA), Mike Kelly (R-PA), Ben McAdams (D-UT) and Tom Rice (R-SC). In the Senate, only Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has contracted COVID-19.
Gohmert took part in a heated House Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday with Attorney General William Barr and other members of the committee. All lawmakers in the room sat socially distant from one another and wore masks, though members removed their masks at times to speak or sip coffee. Gohmert did share his mic with other members of the committee as lawmakers cycled in and out of the hearing room to question Barr.
Barr will be tested for the coronavirus now that Gohmert has tested positive. The lawmaker “exchanged a comment or two” with the attorney general outside of the meeting room when neither man was wearing a face mask, according to The Hill reporter Olivia Beavers.
“Rep. Gohmert, who was without a mask, stood outside the men’s bathroom where Barr went before he walked into the ‘hearing’ room. Once out, Gohmert approached the AG and exchanged a comment or two. Would say from memory, they were within arms length,” Beavers tweeted.
She later posted a video showing Barr walking into the meeting with Gohmert following closely behind.
“Here is a video of AG Barr and Gohmert. While Barr arrived with a mask, it was off when he walked into the hearing room, so both men were not wearing masks at this time,” she said.
ACTUALLY… here is a video of AG Barr and Gohmert.
While Barr arrived with a mask, it was off when he walked into the hearing room, so both men were not wearing masks at this time. pic.twitter.com/xm6wuq6QvW
— Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) July 29, 2020
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus in the United States, Gohmert has resisted wearing a mask since he is regularly tested as a member of Congress. He has said that “you’ll never see me without a mask” if he tests positive for the virus.
“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,” Gohmert told CNN in a June 26 interview.
Gohmert’s positive test comes days after the White House announced that national security adviser Robert O’Brien tested positive for COVID-19. O’Brien is, so far, the closest person to the president and vice president to contract the disease.
“National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien tested positive for COVID-19. He has mild symptoms and has been self-isolating and working from a secure location off-site. There is no risk of exposure to the President or the Vice President. The work of the National Security Council continues uninterrupted,” the White House said in a Monday statement.