Rep. Greene defends going maskless, pushes back against Dem accusations of spreading COVID-19

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene defended her decision to not wear a mask when locked in a secure room with other House members during the Capitol riots and the Georgia Republican pushed back against Democrats who are now blaming her and other maskless GOP members for their recent coronavirus positive tests.

Greene said she tested negative for COVID-19 on Jan. 4 at the White House and doesn't believe that healthy Americans should be forced to muzzle themselves with a mask.

"It is absolutely ridiculous and insane to blame us," Greene told Fox News. "[We] did not have COVID or any symptoms."

The newly elected House member stated that "Healthy people do not spread COVID" and pointed out that "COVID positive people spread COVID."

Asymptomatic and presymptomatic people can still spread COVID-19 to others even when they don't feel sick. That's why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends keeping six feet apart and wearing a mask to stop the spread.

Greene was one of six House Republicans caught on video by Punchbowl News huddled together -- and maskless -- during the lockdown as pro-Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6. Democratic Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware approached the GOP members offering them masks, but they refused.

After the prolonged lockdown, the Capitol attending physician told Congress on Jan. 10 that members who were cloistered together for hours in the safe room during Wednesday’s riot may be at risk for coronavirus. 

"Individuals may have been exposed to another occupant with coronavirus infection,"  Dr. Brian P. Monahan wrote to House members on Sunday. 

ILLINOIS DEMOCRAT THE THIRD LAWMAKER TO TEST POSITIVE FOR CORONAVIRUS SINCE SHELTERING AT CAPITOL

Since then at least three Democrats have tested positive for coronavirus and have blamed their time in the safe room for their exposure: Reps. Brad Schneider of Illinois, Pramila Jayapal of Washington and Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey. 

Schnieder Tuesday lambasted his GOP colleagues for going maskless in the same room as him and called out their "selfishness" and "disregard for decency."

"Today, I am now in strict isolation, worried that I have risked my wife’s health and angry at the selfishness and arrogance of the anti-maskers who put their own contempt and disregard for decency ahead of the health and safety of their colleagues and our staff," Schneider said in a statement. 

Jayapal also blasted her maskless GOP colleagues for her COVID-19 test result saying they "cruelly refused to wear a mask but recklessly mocked colleagues and staff who offered them one." Jayapal was seen maskless while taking cover in the House chamber during the Capitol siege and holding a gas mask.

JAYAPAL TESTS POSITIVE FOR COVID-19

Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., posted the video of the maskless GOP members in the safe room and blasted them for "recklessly endangering the lives of my colleagues, staff and reporters."

Greene has been adamantly opposed to coronavirus restrictions and previously called masks "oppressive." She wants states and businesses to reopen and believes the shutdowns are too harsh in comparison to the survival rate of those who contract the virus. She says she wears a mask around her father who has cancer because it's important to keep people in extreme risk groups safe.

MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE TAKES ON SHUTDOWNS, FAUCI DURING FIRST WEEK IN WASHINGTON

Greene said if anyone is to blame for the coronavirus outbreak at the Capitol it is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., for letting Rep. Gwen Moore, D-N.J. come to the Capitol and vote on the House floor for her speakership after testing positive for coronavirus. She said Pelosi put fellow members at risk to win a narrow vote for speaker. 

"It is absolutely stupid for people to blame us when Rep. Moore and others came into the chamber, Capitol building and the city with COVID," Greene said. 

"The blame lies squarely on Nancy Pelosi and the positive COVID members bringing COVID to the Capitol," Greene added.

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., called out Pelosi too.

"Nancy Pelosi put us all at risk by bringing a COVID positive member into the House chambers," Boebert said. 

Moore was not in the secure room during the lockdown with the other members who were recently diagnosed with coronavirus, according to her office. 

Moore said she tested positive for coronavirus 11 days before the speaker's vote and said she was cleared to travel to the Capitol by her doctor.  Moore, who showed up to vote for Pelosi for Speaker on Jan. 3, said she was diagnosed with the virus on Dec. 23.

Moore released a statement on her diagnosis on Dec. 28, six days before the Speaker’s vote -- which likely sparked the initial fervor that she might be traveling to DC in the middle of a quarantine. 

Moore, who was seen wearing a mask on the House floor, said she did not put her colleagues at risk.

"I would like to reassure all of my colleagues, constituents, and the people who work within the Capitol complex that I have complied with all doctor and CDC guidelines following my COVID-19 diagnosis and isolation, and that I am COVID-recovered and safe to work and vote on behalf of the people of the Fourth Congressional District of Wisconsin," Moore said in a statement at the time. "While I quarantined immediately upon exposure on December 22nd and tested positive the next day, I have been diligent in working with doctors to put my health and public health first."

REP. GWEN MOORE SAYS SHE TESTED POSITIVE 11 DAYS BEFORE SPEAKER VOTE

The CDC recommends staying home for 14 days after exposure to coronavirus and to isolate for 10 days after the first symptom develops, or 10 days from a positive test if no symptoms develop. Sunday, Jan. 2, would have been the 10th day since Moore’s positive test, though she didn’t say if symptoms had developed.

A Democratic aide told Fox News that the attending physician cleared Moore to be on the House floor and the leadership doesn't interfere with the doctor's work. "There's no way the source of this was Gwen Moore," the aide told Fox News.

"If a doctor cleared Gwen Moore to be on the floor, she was not a risk."

Meanwhile, three other members of Congress were allowed to vote for Pelosi for speaker via "special arrangements" because they were still in their quarantine windows despite testing negative for the virus, according to Politico.

In addition to Greene, the other GOP members seen in the secure room refusing to wear masks in the video were Reps. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania and Michael Cloud of Texas.  Fox News reached out to all the congressmen about why they didn't wear masks and when they last tested negative for coronavirus. They did not respond to the requests for comment.

A sixth member of Congress, Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., is also seen in the video maskless, but his office said it was because he had just sat down at the table to eat.

"He was clearly eating and drinking at the time of this video and his mask was next to him on the table," Mark Spannagel, chief of staff for LaMalfa, told Fox News.

Like Greene, LaMalfa's office called out Pelosi and the Democrats for hypocrisy.

"Given that Speaker Pelosi pressured COVID positive Democrats to come to Washington and put them in the House Chambers to ensure her election as Speaker, Democrats should take a long look at their hypocrisy of their caucus before attacking Republicans," said Spannagel, who declined to name specific members. 

Spannagel also blasted the leaked video of the secure location for the purpose of "partisan grandstanding." 

HOUSE BARRELS TOWARD NEW TRUMP IMPEACHMENT, WILL VOTE ON RESOLUTION CALLING FOR USE OF 25TH AMENDMENT TUESDAY

At least 64 current and incoming members of Congress have tested positive for coronavirus since last year. One incoming member, Rep.-elect Luke Letlow, R-La., died on Dec. 29 after contracting the virus.

House leadership has responded to the latest outbreak at the Capitol with a clampdown on masks. The House was set to vote on a rule Tuesday night that would impose a $500 fine on members who don't wear masks on the House floor and $2,500 for a second offense, according to a senior House Democratic aide.

Fox News' Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.