The megachurch visited by Mike Pence last weekend was suffering a coronavirus outbreak among its choir and orchestra but that didn’t stop all those who were exposed from partaking in the “Freedom Sunday” celebration, mostly without masks.
As BuzzFeed News reported, five members of the choir and orchestra at Dallas’ First Baptist Church tested positive for coronavirus and one more exposed orchestra member was symptomatic and awaiting a test result. None were present during Pence’s 90-minute visit on Sunday but chances are some who did perform had been exposed.
Yet they performed without masks and many remained unmasked when they were neither playing nor singing.
Texas is suffering an all-time high COVID-19 outbreak. Yet the church seemed shockingly lax about taking health precautions. BuzzFeed News noted that neither group of performers was socially distanced.
Also attending this event were Texas Governor Greg Abbott and physician and HUD Secretary Ben Carson. The service was led by Pastor, Fox News contributor and Trump worshiper Robert Jeffress.
Some of the remarks BuzzFeed caught were priceless:
“With this governor and this president, we’ll bring Texas and America back bigger and better than ever before,” said Pence in his remarks. The congregants, some in masks, waved American flags while the choir and orchestra pumped out rapturous versions of “America the Beautiful” and “The Star-Spangled Banner” on a glowing purple stage. “Working with your governor, we will put the health of the people of the Lone Star State first,” Pence said.
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson also touted the administration’s successes under Trump and praised Pence for his work on the White House coronavirus task force, which he is also a member of. “We must learn to dominate the virus and not let the virus dominate us,” Carson said.
