Sen. Rand Paul, who on Sunday was revealed to have tested positive for coronavirus, "did just about everything wrong" by not self-quarantining in the days before his test results came back, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, the White House adviser for health policy under former President Barack Obama, said Monday.
"He got tested because he suspected it and then rather than self-quarantine, which we advise everyone to do after a test until they get the result, went out and he literally spread it," Emanuel said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "Multiple times, Rand Paul sort of violated his basic oath of being a physician that he should model good, healthy behaviors."
The Kentucky Republican, an eye surgeon, had been informed over the March 14-15 weekend that he'd potentially been exposed during a fundraiser in his home state, reports The New York Times. Other people at the event self-quarantined, but Paul went on with his everyday schedule.
He spoke and voted on the Senate floor last Wednesday, and attended his party's closed luncheon Thursday and Friday. Also, Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, told fellow Republicans that he saw Paul swimming at the senators-only gym on Sunday, the same day his diagnosis was announced.
Sens. Mike Lee and Mitt Romney, both R-Utah, have gone into self-quarantine after having been in contact with Paul.
"The Senate is a perfect Petri plate, even (worse) than Florida, because everyone is together," said Emanuel. "They have to negotiate and sit side by side down there on the Senate floor. This is a very bad situation."
Paul's actions, he added, were "totally irresponsible."
"We should be looking to our elected officials to be models of behavior," said Emanuel. "We have a lot of politicians that are not models."
Even the White House Coronavirus Taskforce is not practicing self-distancing, he added, because several people crowd in behind President Donald Trump during news conferences.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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