Christine Pelosi, a political strategist and daughter of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., endorsed the 2017 assault of Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., after the lawmaker revealed he tested positive for the coronavirus.
“Rand Paul’s neighbor was right,” Christine Pelosi wrote on Twitter Sunday evening in reaction to the announcement, reported FoxNews.com.
Paul’s neighbor, Rene Boucher, was charged with assault and sentenced to 30 days in prison for tackling the senator over a yard dispute and breaking five ribs.
Doctors removed part of Paul’s lung damaged from the incident.
The Federalist co-founder Sean Davis was among many who slammed Christine Pelosi’s tweet.
“Nancy Pelosi’s daughter just endorsed the felony assault against Sen. Rand Paul,” he wrote.
The Daily Wire’s Jessica Fletcher wrote on Twitter: “You should probably take anything about ‘love’ out of your bio.”
Paul’s announcement led Utah Republican Sens. Mitt Romney and Mike Lee to self-quarantine as well.
Paul defends decision
Paul on Monday defended his decision not to voluntarily quarantine while awaiting the results of his coronavirus test.
“For those who want to criticize me for lack of quarantine, realize that if the rules on testing had been followed to a tee, I would never have been tested and would still be walking around the halls of the Capitol,” Paul said in a statement. “The current guidelines would not have called for me to get tested nor quarantined. It was my extra precaution, out of concern for my damaged lung, that led me to get tested.”
Paul’s office announced on Sunday he tested positive for the virus and was “feeling fine.”
His staff fired back against claims that he was seen at the Senate pool and gym on Sunday morning, calling them “completely false.” But his office’s message on Twitter misstated the charge, made by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., and others, which was that he was awaiting test results while at the Senate facilities.
The reaction by Paul’s office assumed the charge was that the senator went swimming after the diagnosis.
“We want to be clear, Senator Paul left the Senate IMMEDIATELY upon learning of his diagnosis,” the tweet said. “He had zero contact with anyone & went into quarantine. Insinuations such as those below that he went to the gym after learning of his results are just completely false & irresponsible!”
Republican senators told CNN that Paul was in the gym with colleagues Sunday morning.
The Kentucky senator was at a black-tie social event in Louisville, Kentucky, two weeks ago where several attendees have subsequently tested positive.
His office said he sought to get tested “out of an abundance of caution.”
Paul was criticized by some Republican senators, including Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia.
She told that CNN Paul’s actions concern her because “his office is right next door to mine.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said it’s “common sense” not to expose oneself until the test has come back.
“Now, it’s not time to beat Rand up — I hope he gets better. But from this we all need to learn. I mean, this is a case study of I think what not to do between the time you’re tested and your results come back,” he said Monday.
