# More GOP Senators Have COVID Than Have Acknowledged That Joe Biden Won **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 20, 2020, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-gop-senators-have-covid-than-have-acknowledged-that-joe-biden-won/926064 "2020-11-20T18:45:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2020, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-gop-senators-have-covid-than-have-acknowledged-that-joe-biden-won/926064/1 "2020-11-20T18:45:49Z")
> [@](#): > > Here’s a guessing game that perfectly suits the sad state of affairs in the [U.S. Senate](https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/us-senate): How long until the number of [Republicans](https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/republican-party) who accept [Joe Biden](https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/joe-biden) as the president-elect surpasses the number of them who have tested positive for the coronavirus? > > At the moment, the virus is winning. > > Rick Scott of Florida announced Friday that he has tested positive for COVID-19, making him the seventh GOP senator infected by the deadly disease. The others are Chuck Grassley (Iowa), Mike Lee (Utah), Bill Cassidy (La.), Rand Paul (Ky.), Thom Tillis (N.C.) and Ron Johnson (Wis.). Paul was the first to test positive, back in March; Grassley and Scott revealed their infections this week. > > Meanwhile, it’s been nearly two weeks since Biden won enough states to become the president-elect but the vast majority of GOP senators are refusing to publicly acknowledge it. > > As of Friday, HuffPost counts just five Senate Republicans who have said Biden won or referred to him as the president-elect: Mitt Romney (Utah), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Susan Collins (Maine), Ben Sasse (Neb.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.). > > That leaves the remaining 48 GOP senators complicit in President [Donald Trump](https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/donald-trump)’s efforts to undermine people’s faith in democratic institutions to try to make it look like he won. > **[More GOP Senators Have COVID Than Have Acknowledged That Joe Biden Won](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/republican-senators-covid-joe-biden-election_n_5fb7d9bbc5b6f6adf949f36b)** > > The deadly virus has taken hold more than reality. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2020, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-gop-senators-have-covid-than-have-acknowledged-that-joe-biden-won/926064/2 "2020-11-20T18:53:38Z")
I think it would more accurate to say those Senators ‘have or have had’ COVID. I don’t think Rand Paul, for example, currently has COVID. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2020, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-gop-senators-have-covid-than-have-acknowledged-that-joe-biden-won/926064/3 "2020-11-20T19:29:07Z")
Interestingly enough, I looked this up today and [Coronavirus is much more partisan in the Senate than the House](https://www.npr.org/2020/04/15/833692377/how-the-coronavirus-has-affected-individual-members-of-congress). Of the Senators who have gotten COVID, 7 are Republican and 0 are Democrat. In the House, 16 are Republican and 9 are Democrat. It’s not immediately obvious why Democratic House members are much more vulnerable to COVID compared to Senate members. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2020, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-gop-senators-have-covid-than-have-acknowledged-that-joe-biden-won/926064/4 "2020-11-20T19:34:24Z")
I think this is more appropriate for Politics and Elections than the Quarantine Zone. Colibri QZ Moderator ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2020, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-gop-senators-have-covid-than-have-acknowledged-that-joe-biden-won/926064/5 "2020-11-20T19:59:01Z")
The lead snip in the OP’s huffpost article says it all: > The deadly virus has taken hold more than reality. If the virus watched Fox then things would be different. But it’s too smart for that. That’s right; a few strands of almost-naked RNA is smarter than half the Senate. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2020, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-gop-senators-have-covid-than-have-acknowledged-that-joe-biden-won/926064/6 "2020-11-20T20:17:55Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > If the virus watched Fox then things would be different. But it’s too smart for that. That’s right; a few strands of almost-naked RNA is smarter than half the Senate. I wouldn’t say that. It’s just that RNA’s ambitions are lower. And its morals are higher. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2020, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-gop-senators-have-covid-than-have-acknowledged-that-joe-biden-won/926064/7 "2020-11-20T22:09:40Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > Interestingly enough, I looked this up today and [Coronavirus is much more partisan in the Senate than the House](https://www.npr.org/2020/04/15/833692377/how-the-coronavirus-has-affected-individual-members-of-congress). Of the Senators who have gotten COVID, 7 are Republican and 0 are Democrat. In the House, 16 are Republican and 9 are Democrat. > > It’s not immediately obvious why Democratic House members are much more vulnerable to COVID compared to Senate members. My guess is that it’s because all the Democratic house members were up for election and thus were more likely to be interacting with the public. In the senate I think something like 1/4 of the Democratic senators were running for re-election, with only one of those running in a competitive race. It goes without saying why more Republicans than Democrats have become infected. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2020, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-gop-senators-have-covid-than-have-acknowledged-that-joe-biden-won/926064/8 "2020-11-20T22:13:12Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > Interestingly enough, I looked this up today and [Coronavirus is much more partisan in the Senate than the House](https://www.npr.org/2020/04/15/833692377/how-the-coronavirus-has-affected-individual-members-of-congress). Of the Senators who have gotten COVID, 7 are Republican and 0 are Democrat. In the House, 16 are Republican and 9 are Democrat. > > It’s not immediately obvious why Democratic House members are much more vulnerable to COVID compared to Senate members. Arizona US House Rep for District 3 Raul Grijalva blamed Republicans for not masking on his having Covid. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2020, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-gop-senators-have-covid-than-have-acknowledged-that-joe-biden-won/926064/9 "2020-11-20T22:14:38Z")
> [@kitap](#): > > Arizona US House Rep for District 3 Raul Grijalva blamed Republicans for not masking on his having Covid. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s right about that. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2020, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-gop-senators-have-covid-than-have-acknowledged-that-joe-biden-won/926064/10 "2020-11-20T22:20:39Z")
This is a wee bit unfair. Most of them don’t believe that COVID could kill them, but they _do_ believe that – if only politically – admitting that Biden is #46 … could.