Texas Democrat who tested positive: ‘I felt terrific’

Bobby Oler, Joe Donlon

Updated: Jul 20, 2021 / 07:13 PM CDT

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WASHINGTON (NewsNation Now) — Sunday morning, Texas Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer woke up in Washington, D.C. after fleeing with about 50 colleagues to delay a vote on controversial election reforms. He exercised, read the paper, got ready for a staff meeting, and took his usual rapid COVID-19 test.

It came back positive.

“Really surprised by that, because I felt terrific,” Fischer told The Donlon Report. He took another test 15 minutes later and it was also positive.

Now he says he has a “low-grade fever” but overall is thankful he’s fully vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine. “I’m only experiencing very, very minimal symptoms,” he said.

Fischer is one of at least six Texas Democrats who fled to Washington who has tested positive for COVID-19. He said he would quarantine for 10 days.

During and after that period of isolation, the fight over the voting bill he and his colleagues fled the state to prevent will continue. Fischer said if people are critical of the method they used to delay the vote, the state’s constitution should be amended to take the quorum requirement out.

“Both sides use it,” he said, citing Sen. Lindsey Graham’s threat to leave Washington to avoid voting on President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill. “These are tools in the bucket. It’s only been used five times in the history of the state of Texas.”

He also did not concede the Texas voting bill would definitely make it to the governor’s desk.

“We cannot run forever, but I don’t know when or if it will pass,” he said.