My colleague Matt Margolis covered the news that Vice President Kamala Harris’s communications director tested positive for COVID after attending a bill-signing ceremony. And PJ Media’s Cameron Arcand reports that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi also tested positive after attending the same event.
But the real super-spreader event occurred on Saturday night at the annual Gridiron Dinner as more than a dozen politicians and media types have all reported contracting the coronavirus.
Among them: Reps. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Joaquin Castro (D-Texas.); Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo; and Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser announced she tested positive. Also testing positive: Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont; Rochester, N.Y., Mayor Malik Evans; Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan; Austin Mayor Steve Adler; and Arizona Democrat Rep. Tom O’Halleran.
Are Republicans suddenly — dare I say it — immune?
Tom DeFrank, a contributing columnist for National Journal and president of the Gridiron Club, said that as of Wednesday afternoon, the group knew of 14 guests who had tested positive.
“There is no way of being certain about when they first contracted covid,” he said in a statement. “But they did interact with other guests during the night and we have to be realistic and expect some more cases.”
See what happens when you don’t mask up?
About half of the cases appeared to have been clustered at three tables, he said, and the club was taking steps to notify anyone who sat next to or across from the infected guests.
How many of the infections began at the dinner and how serious the outbreak will prove to be remains unclear. Many of the guests have jobs that require regular testing that catches some asymptomatic cases. Castro and Raimondo said they are suffering only mild symptoms while Schiff said he is “feeling fine” — and touted the value of vaccinations and boosters.
But the outbreak at the Gridiron — where some of the comic skits featured actors dressed as the coronavirus, like large, green bouncing balls with red frills — highlights the personal risk-benefit balancing act much of the country will be negotiating as the pandemic subsides.
Almost all of the Democrats say they’re asymptomatic, which means it’s not even worth reporting. Might as well report on the number of cases of dysentery from that Gridiron Dinner.
But as a matter of “social justice” and schadenfreude, ’tis sublime.
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