WASHINGTON — Recently-elected House member Marjorie Taylor Greene (R - 14th Dist., Ga.), posted a message on Tuesday, blaming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the spread of COVID-19 among some members of Congress who hid during last Wednesday's deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol.
As House members were sequestered, several Republican members refused to wear masks, as dictated by House rules enacted since the beginning of the pandemic.
House member Pramila Jayapal (D - 7th Dist., Wash.), posted a tweet saying she had received a positive COVID-19 test result after being locked down in a secured room where several Republicans refused to wear masks and mocked colleagues and staffers who offered them one.
Videos online show Greene refused a mask from colleagues during the Capitol riot lockdown.
On Tuesday, Greene, while responding to Jayapal, directed her ire at Pelosi.
"Before you point fingers at me or anyone else, you need to talk directly to @SpeakerPelosi about exposing ALL of us to covid when she called back POSITIVE covid House members last week for votes for Speaker," Greene said in her tweet.
When she was asked about her statement by 11Alive News, Greene continued to insist that anyone who received a positive COVID-19 test was due to the actions of Speaker Pelosi.
"Healthy people do not spread COVID. COVID positive people spread COVID. Everyone was exposed ALL week by the COVID positive members who Nancy Pelosi brought into the Capitol and into Washington DC," Greene said in a statement via email. "It is absolutely ridiculous and insane to blame those of us who did not have COVID or symptoms. The blame lies squarely on Nancy Pelosi and the positive COVID members bringing COVID in the Capitol! It’s absurd to say they caught it during the safe room."
It's important to note that health experts have said for months that people can spread COVID-19 unknowingly, by being asymptomatic.
In the past, Greene, along with others in the Republican Party, has notably eschewed wearing masks
Greene has a history of supporting the so-called QAnon conspiracy theories. She has not indicated, however, when her most recent negative COVID-19 test was.
MSNBC reports that House members could be fined if they do not wear masks on the House floor.