Michigan state Sen. Tom Barrett (R), who waged war against Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer for instituting a lockdown as the coronavirus killed hundreds across her state, has been diagnosed with COVID-19, Detroit News reported Sunday evening.
The report notes that “Barrett said he was notified of his test results Sunday afternoon” after the Michigan Army National Guard mandated screening for all of its soldiers prior to training.
Barrett, who is in the Michigan Army National Guard said: “Thankfully, I do not have any significant symptoms at this time, and I will be self-isolating according to medical guidelines. I have done my best to make contact with those I have been around in the past couple weeks so that they may also seek medical advice.”
It’s unclear how many other leaders were exposed to the virus.
Michigan’s legislature voted to limit the powers of Gov. Whitmer because she closed down the state after a particularly large outbreak of COVID-19. Groups gathered with weapons at the state capitol and demanded the lockdown end.
“We feel that we have a balance of power in state government, and we need to put more legislative control into that power balance,” he said in April after introducing the bill along with Reps Jason Sheppard (R-Temperance) and Jason Wentworth (R-Farwell).
“After that happened, when the governor tightened up some restrictions, that’s why you saw the backlash,” Barrett said last week. “The governor is no longer acting in a rational way.”
Now he’s got the virus the governor was trying to prevent.
