Former Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) attributed his decision to retire to the long-term effects of COVID-19, telling local newspaper Tulsa World that some symptoms still plague him every day.
Inhofe voted against several coronavirus aid packages aimed at helping Americans at the height of the pandemic, including the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, passed by an overwhelming majority of 90 senators in March 2020, and the American Rescue Plan in March 2021.
The 88-year-old did not say what symptoms he was experiencing. But he suggested he’s in good company, arguing that other elected representatives in Congress are also battling COVID-19 behind the scenes.
“Five or six others have (long-term) COVID, but I’m the only one who admits it,” Inhofe told the Tulsa World.
At least one Democratic senator, Tim Kaine of Virginia, has spoken candidly about his experience with lingering symptoms after contracting COVID-19.
via the Associated Press
Inhofe’s chief of staff, Luke Holland, announced that the senator had a “very mild case” of the virus almost exactly a year ago, the same day Inhofe announced he was retiring.
His seat was filled in a special election by Markwayne Mullin, a Republican who represented the people of Oklahoma in the House.
Inhofe was known for labeling climate change a “hoax.” But as COVID-19 began to spread rapidly in the United States, he urged caution even as he ignored the precautions.
“You know I’d be the first to say we’re overreacting because we are, but we’re not,” Inhofe told the Tulsa World in a March 2020 interview in which he recalled trying to scare a reporter from the New York Times. York Times. with a handshake.
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