Rand Paul has tested positive for the coronavirus. I have some questions.
Republican Senator Rand Paul announced today that he’s tested positive for the coronavirus, though he doesn’t have any symptoms. We wouldn’t wish this virus on anyone, and we wish him a full recovery, but this development does raise some questions that need to be addressed.
First, how did Rand Paul manage to get tested, when he didn’t have any symptoms, and he didn’t come into contact with anyone who is known to have it? An average American would not have been able to get tested under these circumstances. If the official protocol is that all members of Congress are being tested as a precautionary measure in order to keep our elected government intact during a time of crisis, then fine. But if that’s the protocol, then the public deserves to know it.
Second, how is this supposed to make us feel? Again, we wouldn’t wish this on anyone. Rand Paul is a horrible politician and a bad person who deserves to be voted out of the Senate. He doesn’t deserve to catch a deadly virus. But he was the only Senator who voted against a recent bipartisan coronavirus emergency aid bill, and now he’s the one Senator who is known to have the coronavirus.
Third, Rand Paul and Donald Trump are close allies. Trump spent the first month of the coronavirus crisis insisting it was all a hoax, and even after he finally admitted it was real, he’s continued pitifully botching his response. It’s fair to argue that Rand Paul only has this virus because of Trump’s mishandling of the crisis. How is Rand feeling toward Trump right now?
