Two Democratic members of Congress are livid after testing positive for coronavirus after sheltering with maskless Republicans during the violent insurrection by supporters of Donald Trump.
"Today, Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) received a positive rapid antigen test result for COVID-19. She believes she was exposed during protective isolation in the U.S. Capitol building as a result of insurrectionist riots," her office said in a statement.
Watson Coleman is a 75-year-old cancer survivor.
Another infected Democrat had harsher words.
"United States Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) received a positive COVID-19 test result tonight after being locked down in a secured room at the U.S Capitol where numerous Republican lawmakers recklessly refused to wear masks in the moments after the January 6 attack," her office said in a statement.
Here is the thread Jayapal posted to Twitter:
I just received a positive COVID-19 test result after being locked down in a secured room at the Capitol where seve… https://t.co/wq0N80x1rW— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@Rep. Pramila Jayapal)1610430909.0
Any Member who refuses to wear a mask should be fully held accountable for endangering our lives because of their s… https://t.co/kY72RtUVxe— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@Rep. Pramila Jayapal)1610430910.0
I share the outrage and anger of those across America who have watched Trump fail to combat this raging pandemic an… https://t.co/Aq5my5Nqpi— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@Rep. Pramila Jayapal)1610430910.0
Former President Donald Trump is still obsessed with his election defeat and continues to hoover over the Republican Party like a dark cloud. However, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-N.Y.) is determined to make Trump's actions on Jan. 6 and his longterm agenda crystal clear to prevent it from happening again.
Speaking to C-SPAN's Book TV, Schiff, the Intelligence Committee chairman, explained what his intention is going forward.
"We want to show the country just how Jan. 6 came about -- and not just the mechanics of that day, in terms of the participation of the white nationalist groups ... but rather how this big falsehood about our elections propelled thousands of people to attack their own government," Schiff said on "Book TV."
He also highlighted his dominant questions.
"What did the president know about who was coming to this rally and what did he do when he found out?" Schiff asked. "Why did it go on so long? And so there are a lot of important unanswered question."
Schiff's remarks come months after Trump's second impeachment following his attempt to overturn the election that subsequently led to the deadly insurrection on the U.S Capitol. In an effort to focus on "election interference involving the Trump campaign and Ukraine," Democratix lawmakers did not succeed in having Teump convicted in the Senate.
Despite Democratic lawmakers push back against Trump, he believes their actions are a personal attack and nothing more. In a recent statement, Trump said, "The Radical Left Democrats tried the RUSSIA Witch Hunt, they tried the fake impeachments, and now they are trying once again to use Congress to persecute their political opponents."
However, Schiff argued otherwise as Democrats have a different focus now. Per the Las Vegas Sun, the New York lawmaker says, "the select committee expects to uncover fresh information about Trump's involvement that January day, as he encouraged the mob of his supporters to head to the Capitol and 'fight like hell' tho reverse his electoral defeat to Joe Biden."
Appearing on MSNBC in Saturday morning with host Ali Velshi, Rep Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands) gave her wholehearted endorsement to reports that the House select committee investigating the Jan 6th Capitol riot may subpoena Donald Trump to appear.
On Friday, Rep. Adam Schiff (DF-CA) opened the door to the prospect the former president and his running mate Mike Pence might be asked to speak before the committee.
Speaking with the MSNBNC host on Saturday morning, Plaskett said the idea is not as "farfetched" as many would believe.
"The chairman of the January 6th committee, [Rep] Bennie Thompson, has suggested that Donald Trump himself may receive a subpoena for information and possibly testimony," host Velshi prompted.
"I think that that's not something that we should consider farfetched." Plaskett immediately replied. "Bennie Thompson has made it very clear that he is going to take this select committee and its members, who are in full agreement with him, wherever the facts may lead them. They're going to be bound by the facts and the law, and if that means deposing the president, they will do so."
"You know, Ali, we've recently seen, even if it's a civil case, that the president has been compelled to give depositions and so his ability to remove himself from depositions in this matter may be farfetched," she continued. "You know, not only the deposition of the president himself, but records related to him. whether those be cell phone, whether those be Twitter accounts, communications with individuals, video tapes, if there are in the White House of what he is doing on that day."
Watch below:
MSNBC 10 16 2021 09 08 10 youtu.be
Democracy may have prevailed in the face of former President Donald Trump's attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election but unfortunately the "Big Lie" is still a problem.
According to Yahoo! News, the future of democracy is still hanging in the balance because Trump is still pushing his agenda by way of Republican candidates supporting his baseless claims.
"The single biggest issue — the issue that gets the most pull, the most respect, the biggest cheers — is talking about the election fraud of 2020's presidential election," Trump said at a rally held in Iowa as he once again claimed the election was stolen from him.
On nearly all levels of government, there are Republican candidates hoping to receive Trump's support. In order to receive that, they are echoing his post election lies. In fact their political allegiance to Trump has become so prevelant, Democrats have dubbed them as "propagators of 'the Big Lie.'"
Josh Mandel, a Republican Senate candidate in the state of Ohio, has made Trump's big lie one of the key focal points of his campaign.
"I'm the only candidate in this race who's willing to stand up all over Ohio, and all over America, and say that I believe the election was stolen from Donald J. Trump," Mandel said.
When Mandel was asked if he thought his stance would hurt him in the long run, he said, "It's the right thing to do for our country. And I don't care how it impacts me politically."
A number of election experts and political analysts have weighed in with their concerns about the message being conveyed by Trump loyalists running for key positions in government. According to Larry Norden, director of the Brennan Center for Justice, the message is clear.
"We have people who are running explicitly on the platform that the election results would have turned out different if they were in power in 2020," Norden said, adding, "And I think it's going to be up to the voters in the place where they do elect their election officials to say, regardless of party, it's not acceptable to politicize the elections."
Trump has also insisted that Republican voters may be less likely to cast ballots in 2022 or 2024 if the 2020 election is not overturned in his favor.
"If we don't solve the Presidential Election Fraud of 2020, Republicans will not be voting in ʼ22 or ʼ24," Trump said. "It is the single most important thing for Republicans to do."
However Nate Persily, a Stanford Law School professor and election expert, argues otherwise.
"The allegations of voter fraud are more about defining a set of beliefs for a political tribe than it is about persuasiveness, trying to persuade a group about the utility of their vote," Persily said. "I have not seen evidence in the U.S. that those kinds of messages lead to demobilization."
Copyright © 2021 Raw Story Media, Inc. PO Box 21050, Washington, D.C. 20009 | Masthead | Privacy Policy | For corrections or concerns, please email corrections@rawstory.com.
Don't Sit on the Sidelines of History. Join Raw Story Investigates and Go Ad-Free. Support Honest Journalism.
Subscribe Annually
$95 / year — Just $7.91/month
Subscribe Monthly
$1 trial
I want to Support More
$14.99 per month
