Democrats and some in the media went on a wild witch hunt during the first day of the special legislative session Monday calling out any Republican who dared lift their mask to speak or eat lunch.
But the most offensive behavior was that of Democrat House Speaker KC Becker, who acted on rumor and innuendo to accuse a Republican staffer of being in attendance after testing positive for COVID last week.
If Becker had bothered to check with House Minority Leader Hugh McKean before trying to incite panic over a rumor, she would have learned the staffer did test positive, but not last week, and that her doctor cleared her return to work.
Just want to add the info @RyanHaarer learned tonight. House Minority Leader @hmckean said the staffer tested positive for COVID on Nov. 17 and had clearance from doctor to return to work. https://t.co/QDkJChovdt #coleg #copolitics https://t.co/RPN7m6ZY2b
— Marshall Zelinger (@Marshall9News) December 1, 2020
So much for medical privacy.
The staffer tested positive on Nov. 17, and the CDC requires those who actually test positive stay away from others for 10 days after symptoms first appear.
The Republican staffer came to Becker’s attention after she was captured in the background of a photograph taken by Democrat Rep. Cathy Kipp of Fort Collins who wanted to embarrass Republican Rep. Larry Liston of Colorado Springs.
Liston lifted his mask over his head while seated at his desk behind the protective partition to speak with a colleague.
It made for a goofy-looking photo, which Kipp enhanced by simply making up a paranoid scenario to accompany her photo on Twitter.
Not wearing a mask us one thing, mocking it like this or coming across the aisle maskless to greet your colleagues is just offensive.#coleg #copolitics pic.twitter.com/ztBQNHuYFT
— Cathy_Kipp (@Cathy_Kipp) November 30, 2020
From there, the photo was blown up and the staffer was outed by the Denver Post.
You know that photo of Rep. Larry Liston that’s been going around? (This one was taken by @Cathy_Kipp.) The woman with the brown hair in the background is Moroney, the GOP staffer who posted “I have COVID” on Facebook on Nov. 24. pic.twitter.com/kifc02rAeo
— Alex Burness (@alex_burness) November 30, 2020
She’s sitting alone, and she’s a recovered COVID victim who is no longer contagious. God forbid she pull the mask from her nose to catch a few breaths like every mask-wearing human being on Planet Costco.
As for Liston’s awkward mask photo, he told Colorado Politics he was not wearing it like a hat to mock masks, he was having a conversation with another lawmaker.
“I wasn’t trying to make any point at all. Why is it a big deal if I wear it on my head or over an ear? I wasn’t trying to make light of anything or anybody.”
“I have done nothing wrong and have a right to put the mask on my head, over my ear or in my pocket when trying to speak to a colleague when there is a plastic partition between us,” Liston maintained.
While several Republicans did remove their masks to speak or eat during the first day of the special mask-shaming session, Becker set the Democrat standard by apparently absorbing that large cup of coffee by osmosis.
Democrat State House Speaker KC Becker.