Republican congressman who filed a lawsuit over masks last week tests positive for COVID this week
Republican Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina was in the news a little over a week ago as he, and two other congressional Republicans announced they were suing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over a mask mandate requiring all people on the House floor to cover their yaps. Rep. Norman was flanked by bats in the belfry Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who submitted legal arguments that the mask mandate “has been used to force Plaintiffs and other members of the minority party to be instruments for fostering public adherence to this ideological point of view that Plaintiffs find unacceptable.” As with all ironies, the irony of three television vampires like Norman, Greene, and Massie complaining about political theatre was lost on the Republicans.
When dealing hypocrisy and irony in the GOP sphere, one must always strap on their karmic seatbelts. Buckle up, because here we go: One of these Congresspeople will be doing their work from the comfort of a quarantine bunker. According to Rep. Ralph Norman, he’s tested positive for COVID-19. According to Norman—grain of salt and all of that—he has been “fully vaccinated” since February, but began “experiencing minor symptoms” Thursday morning. He says that “thankfully,” since he was vaccinated, his “symptoms remain mild.”
Rep. Norman joins Republican Reps. Vern Buchanan of Florida and Clay Higgins of Louisiana in announcing they contracted COVID-19 after promoting nothing but anti-public health measures. It also comes just days after Sen. Lindsey Graham announced that he, too, tested positive for the virus and would be quarantining for the next couple of weeks. Maybe they can all quarantine together on Buchanan’s yacht—the one he bought with the millionaire tax cuts he voted for in 2018.
You may remember Rep. Norman as the guy who pulled a loaded firearm and laid it on a table during a discussion with constituents on gun violence. The context of that story only makes the headline all the worse. However, it is just one of the many ways in which Norman, like Greene and Massie, is the same tragically pedestrian and corrupt GOP official we have come to expect over the years.
Responses to Rep. Norman’s announcement came in many forms. Factual:
Diplomatic:
Spiritual:
And simple: