Covidiots

Fox News reports: The effort to force a recall vote against California Gov. Gavin Newsom is looking increasingly likely as more than 1.4 million signatures have been collected as of Thursday, according to the Recall Gavin Campaign. The proponents of the recall effort hope to hit 2 million signatures by March 17th, but only 1.5 million are needed to trigger …

The Daily Dot reports: Sometimes, the stars align and the perfect villains get their comeuppance. Sometimes, police arrest a “Karen” whose name is literally Karen. That’s what happened when police in Brook Park, Ohio, responded to a call at a Marc’s supermarket about a disorderly woman who refused to wear a mask while shopping. The altercation was caught on the …

“When my wife and I first got married, we were poor and we lived in a house that wasn’t insulated. And so we had a gas heater on the inside to keep the place warm. But because there was no insulation, the walls sweat. And in the closets, especially where it was dark and stuff like this, we just had …

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports: Democratic Gov. Tony Evers on Thursday issued a new health emergency order requiring face masks in public indoor places just an hour after Wisconsin Republican lawmakers eliminated the same mandate. GOP lawmakers in the state Assembly voted Thursday to repeal the statewide mask rule by ending the governor’s health emergency order — the first measure …

NBC News reports: A video that was taken at a South Florida grocery store shows nearly every customer and employee without a mask. The footage was filmed this week at Oakes Farms in Naples. In it, not a mask is in sight and social distancing is not being followed. The store’s owner, Alfie Oakes, told NBC’s “TODAY” show he knows …

The Ohio Capitol Journal reports: Maskless and frustrated, a string of Ohioans offered tales Wednesday of their personal aggrievement since the coronavirus pandemic began. A woman told of her favorite gluten-free bake shop closing down in 2020, thus denying her access to “cheesy bread with the best freshly made marinara sauce I’ve ever tasted.” A seventh-grade student from Warren County …

The Daily Beast reports: The Wisconsin pharmacist who intentionally sabotaged hundreds of doses of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine because he thought COVID-19 was a hoax, also believes the earth is flat and the sky is actually a “shield put up by the Government to prevent individuals from seeing God.” That’s according to a newly-unsealed FBI search warrant application obtained by …

Fresno’s Fox News affiliate reports: A group of anti-mask protesters that’s been showing up at stores across Fresno caused Sprouts Farmer’s Market to temporarily shut down Saturday. Around noon, the group went to Total Wine & More. Fresno Police Department Public Information Officer Israel Reyes says some of the group members entered the store briefly, made their anti-mask viewpoints known, …

The Christian Post reports: A judge in Louisiana has rejected a motion filed by controversial Pastor Tony Spell to quash six misdemeanor charges filed against him for holding church services in violation of state orders aimed at mitigating the spread of the coronavirus. Judge Eboni Johnson-Rose of Louisiana’s 19th Judicial District Court denied Spell’s motion Monday, ruling that the constitutionality …

Gothamist reports: The co-owner of a Staten Island pub infamous for defying city and state COVID-19 health restrictions has avoided felony charges after he allegedly drove into a sheriff’s deputy who was trying to detain him outside his bar on December 6th. Daniel Presti, 34, faced charges including felony second degree assault causing physical injury to an officer, reckless endangerment, …

CNN reports: Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has tested positive for Covid-19, he said on Sunday evening. The President, who tweeted from his official Twitter account, said his symptoms are mild and that he was receiving medical treatment. “I regret to inform you that I have contracted Covid-19. The symptoms are mild, but I am already receiving medical treatment. …

The Hill reports: Former White House coronavirus coordinator Deborah Birx said in an interview aired Sunday that there were “definitely” people within the White House who believed the virus to be a hoax. “There were people in the White House … who definitely believed that this was a hoax,” Birx told CBS’ Margaret Brennan. Asked how such conspiracy theories emerged …

The Washington Post reports: Five prominent anti-vaccine organizations that have been known to spread misleading information about the coronavirus received more than $850,000 in loans from the federal Paycheck Protection Program, raising questions about why the government is giving money to groups actively opposing its agenda and seeking to undermine public health during a critical period. The groups that received …

The South Florida SunSentinel reports: A staunch opponent of wearing masks became the latest South Floridian to wind up behind bars over COVID-19 rules when she refused to cover her face inside a West Boca bagel shop, deputies say. The mask showdown happened Thursday when Cindy Falco-DiCorrado, 62, of Boynton Beach, refused to cover her face inside an Einstein Bros. …

Via press release from Democratic Rep. Brad Schneider: Last Wednesday, after narrowly escaping a violent mob incited by the President of the United States to attack the Capitol and its occupants, I was forced to spend several hours in a secure but confined location with dozens of other Members of Congress. Several Republican lawmakers in the room adamantly refused to …

The Seattle Times reports: Rep. Pramila Jayapal tested positive for coronavirus Monday night, her office said, after she was in lockdown during Wednesday’s siege of the Capitol with “Republican lawmakers who cruelly and selfishly refused to wear masks.” Jayapal’s office said she was locked in a secure room, as a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol, for “multiple hours” and several …

Insider New Jersey reports: Today, U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-12) received a positive rapid antigen test result for COVID-19. The congresswoman said she believes she was exposed during protective isolation in the U.S. Capitol building as a result of insurrectionist riots. As reported by multiple news outlets, a number of members within the space ignored instructions to wear masks. …

Oregon Live reports: Security video obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive under a public records request clearly shows Rep. Mike Nearman, a Republican from Independence, open two doors to the Capitol during a Dec. 21 special legislative session, allowing violent demonstrators who were protesting immediately outside the door to illegally enter the building. Oregon’s Capitol was and is closed to the public …

Mediaite reports: Pro-Trump speaker Clay Clark at a Washington, D.C. rally on Tuesday afternoon encouraged fellow Trump supporters to hug each other at the event in Freedom Plaza. “Turn to the person next to you and give them a hug. Someone you don’t know, go hug somebody. Spread it out, mass spreader. It’s a mass-spreader event! It’s a mass-spreader event!” …

The New York Post reports: An anti-masker who believed the COVID-19 crisis was just a “political” stunt issued an emotional plea to skeptics from his hospital bed — after becoming seriously ill with the virus. In a Facebook video shared by a pal on Monday, Chuck Stacey gasps for breath as he admits he was wrong about the pandemic that’s …