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Senator with COVID attended GOP Oktoberfest celebration — after his coronavirus test: report
October 3, 2020 3:51PM ET
Ron Johnson speaks at a Senate hearing (screen grab)
U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, but his view on the mask mandate in his state has not changed.
Calling it an "individual responsibility" whether or not to wear a mask, Johnson said Saturday that he believes while masks can help mitigate the risk, they’re “certainly not a cure-all.”
A spokesman for Johnson said he did not attend the Judge Coney Barrett nomination ceremony at the White House — where several people appeared to have been exposed to the virus — because he was quarantining from a prior exposure, during which he twice tested negative for the virus. Johnson attended the Ozaukee County Republican Party Oktoberfest Dinner in Mequon on Friday night after taking the COVID-19 test. His camp said he stood "at least 12 feet from anybody as [he was] speaking" and that he "quickly left the dinner after his remarks."
Johnson is the third GOP senator to test positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. The other two senators who tested positive for the deadly virus were Mike Lee of Utah and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. Johnson, Lee and Tillis all attended Senate GOP lunches this week. Lee and Tillis are currently in self-isolation.
Lee and Tillis sit on the Judiciary Committee, which is now on a two-week hiatus from in-person proceedings.
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