GOP official on testing positive for COVID-19 after White House party: ‘I didn’t listen to the warnings’

A Massachusetts GOP leader who has COVID-19 says he most likely contacted it at a White House Hanukkah party on Dec. 9, local station WJAR reported last week.

Tom Mountain, the vice chairman of the Massachusetts Republican State Committee, was hospitalized and almost put on a ventilator just a few days after attending the event, one of the 25 holiday parties thrown at the White House this month, according to The Washington Post.

“Lets put it this way: When I went down to Washington, D.C., for the White House Hanukkah event, I was perfectly fine,” Mountain told told WJAR. “And three days later after that event, I was in the hospital … ready to be put on a lifesaving ventilator.”

Photos of Mountain from the gathering show him and many others around him without masks on. While masks were required while in line, many partygoers removed them upon entry, according to the Post.

“People would just leisurely and gingerly take off their mask to mingle, to schmooze,” Mountain told WJAR. “I don’t even think some people wore masks the entire time. And again, I was guilty as anyone else. I just wasn’t wearing a mask.”

Mountain admits he hasn’t been a fan of wearing a mask throughout the pandemic, but now is singing a different tune.

“Wear a mask,” he said. “Stay as far away from people as possible.”

Mountain is now urging others to heed the advice of health experts of social distancing.