Republican state vice-chair catches COVID-19 after White House party -- and spreads it to his family

The White House has become known as a super-spreader location after several large gatherings that have disseminated COVID-19 to President Donald Trump and his staff, a slew of Republican elected officials and now a member of the Massachusetts Republican Party executive board.

WHDH news reported that after attending a holiday party at the White House, vice chairman of the Massachusetts Republican State Committee Tom Mountain tested positive.

"People would just leisurely and gingerly take off their mask to mingle, to schmooze," he said about the White House Hanukkah party on Dec. 10. "I don't even think some people wore masks the entire time. And again, I was guilty as anyone else. I just wasn't wearing a mask."

Trump has spent the better part of the coronavirus pandemic refusing to wear a mask, despite experts saying it helped stop the spread of the respiratory virus. While Mountain said he can't be certain that the party was the source, the timeline suggests it is.

"Well, lets put it this way, when I went down to Washington, D.C. for the White House Hanukkah event, I was perfectly fine, and three days later after that event, I was in the hospital at Brigham and Women's ready to be put on a lifesaving ventilator," he told WHDH.

To make matters worse, four of his family members also caught the virus off of him.

Mountain wasn't a big mask-wearer, but having the virus changed that.

"I was one of the naysayers," he said. "I am no longer a naysayer."

He's now begging anyone celebrating on New Year's Eve to wear a mask and "stay as far away from people as possible."

After a White House Rose Garden ceremony with Judge Amy Coney Barret, the coronavirus spread like wildfire. Trump along with the first lady, Sen. Thom Tillis, Mike Lee and Ron Johnson caught the virus. Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) did as well. Trump's campaign manager, the national Republican Party chair and a slew of White House communications staff were also infected.

Read the full report.