GOP senators who traveled with Pence won’t get tested as broader debate continues
Grassley was asked why he hadn’t sought out testing to ensure he is healthy, something that could protect his staff and other people near him.
“All I can do is take the advice of doctors,” Grassley said, adding later, “I’m talking about the advice that the (vice president’s) physician has made public just through his public comments.”
A Grassley aide, standing with the senator, further explained that if Pence — who is tested regularly — had the virus, the vice president’s doctor would follow procedures and contact the senator and that hasn’t happened.
GOP Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa also said she didn’t plan to be tested, “because I haven’t been with anybody who has it,” she said.
Asked if she has any concerns the virus could spread from Pence’s press secretary to the vice president to her, she replied, “No, I don’t.”
Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the second-ranking Republican leader, said “it would be a fair expectation” that Grassley and Ernst could be tested right away, but didn’t know when or if the testing issue for members would be resolved.
Thune said Ernst told him she had not had contact with the people who were pulled off of Pence’s plane “with the exception of the vice president.”
Thune added: “I do think from a testing standpoint, there is a good rationale that if somebody’s been exposed in some ways to somebody who has it, yeah, you got to test them.”
2020-05-11 21:19:11
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