Rudy Giuliani, former New York City mayor and personal lawyer to President Trump, has been hospitalized after testing positive for COVID-19. This comes just days after he testified in front of Republican legislators for hours in the Arizona state chambers. As a result, the House and Senate recently confirmed that the two chambers are canceling all of their meetings this week, due to concerns of more positive cases among legislators.
Giuliani was present in Arizona seeking to overturn the state’s presidential election results after President Trump claimed that there were spikes in election fraud in certain states. He has recently traveled to several states trying to prove faulty election results. Despite many federal judges and legislators having refuted Republican claims of election fraud, Giuliani and other colleagues have continued to protest the results. On December 6, Trump confirmed Giuliani’s positive results on Twitter.
“[Rudy Giuliani,] by far the greatest mayor in the history of NYC…has tested positive for the China Virus,” Trump wrote. “Get better soon Rudy, we will carry on!!!”
While he was in Arizona, Giuliani spent almost ten hours at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix with lawmakers while maskless, and even asked one person to remove their mask while sitting closer than six feet away from them. Lawmakers also discussed concerns about the election results and posed for photos that the Arizona Republican Party tweeted out.
Additionally, Guiliani met privately with Republican lawmakers, members legislative leadership, and some GOP newcomers the next day, possibly further exposing additional legislators to COVID-19.
Senator Martin Quezada, a Democrat from Maryvale, addressed the Republican lawmakers in attendance said, “You owe it to the very people who work in the Capitol buildings to be better than this.”
Many Republicans were silent about the possible exposure, except Republican representative Jeff Weninger, who says his colleagues should “stop politicizing COVID.”