The state’s coronavirus numbers are rising quickly

From Sean O'Leary at the WV Center on Budget and Policy:

Active cases are up 63% (1,259 to 2,057)

— Sean O'Leary (@OLearySW) July 30, 2021

And here is our local congressional representative, David McKinley, leading by example:

Nancy Pelosi has become unhinged - authorizing arrest of House staffers and visitors for not wearing a mask? What is she thinking? pic.twitter.com/Fpx4T6aZwC

— David B. McKinley (@RepMcKinley) July 29, 2021

The Main Event: McKinley vs. Cawthorn

Speaking of McKinley, Politico wrote about him earlier today:

A pair of House Republicans got into a verbal brawl on the floor on Thursday afternoon that at least one onlooker feared was about to turn into a fist fight, per Sarah and Olivia.

The shouting match took place between Reps. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) and David McKinley (R-W.V.), after the North Carolina Republican said he was added to a bill that he did not support. Things got heated, with McKinley repeatedly referring to Cawthorn as "junior.” After Cawthorn left the floor, he waited for McKinley in the speaker’s lobby to have another chat with the West Virginia Republican.

It apparently all started when Cawthorn wanted to be on a telehealth bill, but says he was put on a 340b drug pricing bill instead. Cawthorn went to McKinley’s office to correct the mistake, but couldn’t find the GOP lawmaker and instead complained to his staff. Later, McKinley approached Cawthorn on the floor to say, “I heard you were attacking my staff members,” according to Cawthorn’s account. (McKinley’s office did not comment.)

And here was Cawthorn’s reaction to McKinley as quoted by Politico:

"When you threaten the career politicians' lifestyle and the fact that they're meaningless and they don't actually matter to the American people, they just don't like you. It's OK to live with."

(Note – I have no idea what Cawthorn is saying, either.)

Republican ethics

By the way, Cawthorn does agree with McKinley on the issue of mask-wearing and he’s even fundraising off it:

Madison Cawthorn is fundraising to bail out mask rule-breakers — but the money goes to his campaign https://t.co/FE0IV7Eo73

— Salon (@Salon) July 30, 2021

Stay classy , Republicans!

7/31 Updates

I missed this Metro News report on Governor Jim Justice's Thursday response to the coronavirus upsurge:

Justice said he decided to take some actions after being asked to meet in person with Clay Marsh, the state’s coronavirus response coordinator, and James Hoyer, who leads the state’s multi-agency response team.

As Marsh and Hoyer laid out the risks of inaction, Justice said at today’s livestreamed briefing, his initial response was “Excuse me, I’ve got to go pee and throw up.”

And Madison Cawthorn, apparently trying to improve his "plays well with others" grade, sent this note to Congressman McKinley:

Following altercations with Rep. McKinley and his staff over mistakenly having been put on a bill, Rep. Madison Cawthorn wrote letters in an attempt to smooth things over. pic.twitter.com/775PEIwXQz

— Juliegrace Brufke (@juliegraceb) July 30, 2021