‘I wasn’t on the conga line’: One hospitalized with Covid after infamous GOP Christmas party

Video of the party in question was viewed more than three-and-a-half million times

At least one person who attended a New York City Republican club’s Christmas party has been hospitalized, after the event literally and figuratively went viral for a video of maskless attendees boogieing down to the BeeGees in a conga line.

James Trent, who attended the Whitestone Republican Club’s bash, told the Queens Daily Eagle, which broke the story, that he began feeling symptoms two days after the 9 December event.  

“I wasn’t on the conga line. I ate by myself,” he said. “I don’t know how I got this."

He expects to be released from a Manhasset, New York, hospital on Thursday.

"It was a wonderful time and a great party, but I’m not happy I got sick," he said.

And New York officials were not happy with the party. At the time of the event, which took place at a restaurant dance floor, the state was averaging 10,400 new cases per day. Restaurants were open at reduced capacity, but New Yorkers were required to wear masks except when sitting at a table.

“I saw the video,” New York governor Andrew Cuomo told NY1 journalist Zack Fink. "Covid conga lines are not smart. That is my official position. Why you would do an unmasked Covid conga line in the middle of a pandemic defies logical explanation.”

New York City mayor Bill de Blasio also blasted the event, and said authorities were investigating and considering handing out fines.

“We've been giving out really serious fines up to $15,000 to people who organize events or host events. We'll keep doing that,” Mr de Blasio told NY1. “So, I'm certain the sheriff and other city agencies are going to follow up,” he added.

Despite video evidence of them flagrantly violating the rules, both the restaurant which hosted the event, Il Bacco, and the Whitestone Republican Club denied any wrongdoing.

“Adults have the absolute right to make their own decisions, and clearly many chose to interact like normal humans and not paranoid zombies in hazmat suits,” the club wrote on its Facebook. “This is for some reason controversial to the people who believe it's their job to tell us all what to do.”

“That party was absolutely not in violation,” Il Bacco owner Tina Marie Oppedisano told the Eagle. “We did exactly as we were told.”

The conservative Covid conga line included officials like former Queens Assembly candidate James Martinosky and current City Council candidate Vickie Paladino, but they’re far from the only pols ignoring pandemic guidelines.

Whether it was a star-studded, maskless party for conservative student activists at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, or Democratic California governor Gavin Newsom going to an event at a high-end French restaurant for a friend’s birthday, the pandemic has not stopped the politicians of the world from partying.