Pennsylvania State Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-Franklin) found out that he had tested positive for COVID-19 during a recent meeting at the White House with President and 1968 Wharton graduate Donald Trump.
Mastriano attended a meeting with Trump and other Republican officials in the West Wing on Nov. 25 to discuss strategies to overturn President-elect Joe Biden's win in Pennsylvania, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Mid-meeting, a maskless Mastriano abruptly left with his son and his son's friend, both who were also in the meeting, after finding out that they had all tested positive for COVID-19.
Prior to White House meeting, Mastriano hosted a four-hour, indoor public gathering in Gettysburg, Pa. on the same day to discuss efforts to invalidate Biden's win in the state. Mastriano was maskless at this event, which took place indoors as well.
News of Mastriano's positive test rattled Democratic lawmakers in Pennsylvania, many of whom have criticized Republicans for their refusal to wear masks in the Capitol.
"So Senator Doug Mastriano held a super spreader event in #Gettysburg with a lot of Republican lawmakers (incl Scott Perry) and now he has #COVID... How hard is it to wear a mask?" Shavonnia Corbin-Johnson, the Pennsylvania Democratic Party's political director, tweeted on Nov. 29.
Trump told Mastriano that the White House’s medical team will care for him, his son, and his son’s friend as they recover from the virus, the Inquirer reported.
Everyone who comes in close contact with the president is required to get a rapid COVID-19 test beforehand. While all attendees of the Nov. 25 meeting took a rapid test, the results were not received until Mastriano and other Republicans officials were already in the West Wing.
Following Mastriano’s abrupt departure from the meeting, Trump spent an additional half an hour discussing his attempts to reverse Biden's victory in Pennsylvania with other Republican officials, despite legal challenges by his campaign losing repeatedly in state and federal courts due to lack of evidence.
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