In response to the presence of Senators Lee and Tillis at the second day of Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Protect Our Care’s Coronavirus War Room Director Zac Petkanas released the following statement:
“The reckless, dangerous behavior of Senate Republicans continues to run rampant through this super-spreader hearing. For the second day in a row, Senator Mike Lee is deliberately endangering his colleagues, journalists, and Senate staff by appearing in person and maskless less than two weeks after testing positive for coronavirus. Now he is joined by Senator Tillis.
“It is outrageous that they would enter the chamber without producing a single negative test to suggest that they are no longer contagious — let alone the two tests that Dr. Fauci recommends.
“The willingness of Senate Republicans to risk the lives of others in an illegitimate effort to pack the Supreme Court is nothing short of shameful. Especially when at these same hearings, Republicans gleefully talk about the prospect of finally dismantling the Affordable Care Act and ripping away protections for preexisting conditions in the middle of a killer pandemic.
“Protections that will be needed by the more than 7.8 million people who’ve been infected with coronavirus and don’t have the privileged access to the best medical care in the world that Senators Lee and Tillis enjoy.”