Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan (R) disclosed in a recent interview that he was infected with the Wuhan coronavirus over the summer, but declined to say if he is vaccinated against the virus.
In the interview with Spectrum News, reporter Taylor Popielarz asked Jordan point blank if he is vaccinated against COVID-19. In a tweet, Popielarz claimed that Jordan told him in June this year that he “hadn’t been vaccinated.”
In his response, Jordan explained that while he does not discuss his health status with reporters, he shared that he discovered he had coronavirus during the summer in Ohio and has since recovered. Additionally, he’s undergone antibody testing that shows his natural immunity is “strong.”
“I've had the virus, I don't talk about my health status with reporters, but I've had the coronavirus and recovered, and actually had my antibodies tested, or had that antibody test done, and it showed that my antibodies were strong,” Jordan said during the interview. He noted that his doctor told him he could donate plasma.
“In fact, the doctor said, ‘You’re in the strong category. You could donate plasma,” Jordan added.
Ohio's @Jim_Jordan (R), who told me in June he hadn't been vaccinated, now tells me he had #COVID19 this summer.
— Taylor Popielarz (@TaylorPopielarz) November 23, 2021
"I've had the virus. I don't talk about my health status with reporters."
Jordan, who sits on the House Select COVID Subcommittee, won't say if he's been vaccinated. pic.twitter.com/DL2rv68o2k
Jordan, who sits on the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, said in his June interview with Popielarz that he was not vaccinated.
“Look, I think we’re way past this,” Jordan said. “I think the country is ready to move on and we’re done with this, but you guys keep wanting to talk about it.”
#OH4 Rep. @Jim_Jordan (R), who sits on the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, tells me he has not been vaccinated.
— Taylor Popielarz (@TaylorPopielarz) June 4, 2021
"Look, I think we're way past this. I think the country is ready to move on and we're done with this, but you guys just keep wanting to talk about it." pic.twitter.com/1OIOTolXhV
Over the weekend, as Katie reported, Virginia Lieutenant Governor-elect Winsome Sears was asked by CNN to reveal her vaccination status. She refused to do so.
"During the campaign you encouraged people to get vaccinated but you are not saying whether you are vaccinated. Do you want to say now?" Dana Bash asked.
"As I said, America if it's about nothing else, it's about liberty, it's about being able to live your life free from the government telling you what to do. And so we understand this thing about slippery slopes. The minute that I start telling you about my vaccine status, we're going to be down the bottom of the mountain trying to figure out how we got there, because now you want to know what's in my DNA," Sears said. "You're going to want to know this, that and the other.”
Another GOP lawmaker, Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene (GA) revealed publicly this month that she is not vaccinated against COVID-19,
“I'm not vaccinated. I'm not vaccinated, and I'm not getting the vaccine because I'm an American,” Greene said on Steve Bannon’s podcast. “I can choose what I want to do with my body. I have the freedom to decide if I want to get a vaccine or not get a vaccine. I do not care who tells me to get one.”
When asked about vaccine mandates, Greene called those enforcing the mandates “vaccine Nazis” and noted that as a Member of Congress, she will not lose her job over being unvaccinated, but first responders will.
"I am a member of Congress. And guess what? No one is firing me for not being vaccinated, but all of these amazing first responders ... are being fired," she said. "I am so done with it."