The Atlanta funeral by civil rights icon John Lewis, who served in Congress for 33 years, attracted a giant contingent of fellow Washington lawmakers on July 30. At the time, Georgia was on the list of “high-risk” states due to the spread of COVID-19.
A post posted on Facebook on August 2 through BizPac Review’s Conservative News Today said: “The mayor of Washington DC exempts members of Congress who attended John Lewis’ funeral in Georgia from his mandatory 14-day quarantine. Let this penetrate into Array.. more than 14,000 times, with a photo of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, dressed in a mask.
BizPac Review, which says it provides “unfiltered news and research through the liberal bias that has eroded media credibility,” according to its website, responded to USA TODAY’s research into the publication.
But after being verified through some other media organization, the page uploaded a correction to the legend of its meme. “BPR would like to upload an explanation to this meme, which does not specify that the mayor’s ordinance has already exempted government activity and did not cover the U.S. Capitol. There is no special exemption” for Congress,” you read.
The meme statement has been repeated through other Facebook users without this clarification, in a photo of a tweet by Charlie Kirk that reads: “Wow: the mayor of Washington DC exempts members of Congress who attended John Lewis’s funeral in Georgia from His “mandatory” quarantine 14 days after traveling to a “high-risk zone.” Why does the D.C. elite get a special remedy from Democrats while Americans are suffering?
USA TODAY contacted Kirk for comments.
The Facebook article refers to an order issued through Mayor Muriel Bowser that took effect on July 27, three days before the funeral, related to the coronavirus.
He said a user arriving in Washington from a high-risk state traveling for non-essential reasons must remain quarantined for 14 days after arriving in the District. Those who make “essential trips” from high-risk states should self-control to detect COVID-19 symptoms for 14 days.
”If they show symptoms or symptoms of COVID-19, they go into quarantine and seek medical recommendation or tests’, the order says about other people involved in an essential trip.
A March 30 decree explains how to add “essential government activities” as well as “necessary to scale in a place of worship.”
Susan Castillo, the mayor’s press secretary, told USA TODAY via email: “Government activity is and the U.S. Capitol is exempt from the mayor’s order.”
Also: Which members of Congress conducted COVID-19 tests?
Our studies show that the mayor did not particularly exempt travelers at Lewis’s funeral from the ordinance covering travel from high-risk states. The order authorizes “essential governmental activities” under its “essential travel” provisions. In addition, the Capitol, where members of Congress meet and work, is exempt from the mayor’s order. We compare this as MANQUANT BACKGROUND.
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