Hoverson was reputed to be one of the most conservative members of North Dakota’s state legislature, and apparently, also one of the dumbest as helped organize an anti-vaccine mandate rally today in Bismarck. Only one slight problem, the unvaccinated Hoverson just came down with COVID.
BISMARCK — Rep. Jeff Hoverson says he tested positive for COVID-19 and won’t be attending a Monday, Nov. 8, rally against vaccine mandates that he helped plan.
The Republican lawmaker from Minot told The Forum that he tested positive on Friday, Nov. 5, and that he is taking ivermectin tablets prescribed for humans, which are designed to treat parasitic worms.
Hoverson said he is taking one pill per day and that he feels the pills are helping his symptoms. He said he’s not sure how he contracted COVID-19, but that he is a public figure and a priest, so he is around others regularly.
The North Dakota Legislature began its special session on Monday, and Hoverson said he is in Minot conducting business remotely. Lawmakers have proposed multiple bills that would curb vaccine mandates in North Dakota, and on Monday they will decide which bills will continue forward.
Hoverson told The Forum he does not believe being fully vaccinated would have helped prevent him from contracting the coronavirus.
North Dakota Republican Rep. Jeff Hoverson is an idiot. A #Covidiot of the first order.
Republican Rep. Jeff Hoverson posted on Facebook Sunday that he was “quarantining and each day is getting better.” The Minot lawmaker said he is taking the deworming drug ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment, and has not checked into a hospital.
“Covid is real and like a really bad flu,” Hoverson wrote.
Hoverson, a pastor, told The Associated Press that was diagnosed last week.
“I’m feeling rough,” he said Monday. “But this ivermectin is keeping me out of the hospital.”
Ivermectin is designed to fight parasitic infections but conservative commentators have promoted it as a treatment for COVID-19, despite a lack of conclusive evidence that it helps.
“It’s making me better,” Hoverson said.
The North Dakota Legislature returned to Bismarck Monday for a special five-day session during which a bill to prevent vaccine mandates will almost certainly gain approval. House Majority Leader Chet Pollert said Hoverson could participate remotely.
North Dakota’s Republican leadership and GOP Gov. Doug Burgum have said they oppose such mandates and the state has joined a federal lawsuit challenging President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine rules.
Although Hoverson will not attend the rally at North Dakota’s statehouse, he said three of his teenage children will be there.
Hoverson is among the most far-right legislators in the GOP-controlled Legislature. He introduced legislation last session to repeal mask mandates and he sponsored failed legislation that would have made it a felony to help women access abortions.
Last month, he was barred from boarding a flight at Minot International Airport after a run-in with a security agent. And as a freshman legislator two years ago, Hoverson protested a prayer by a Hindu cleric, saying he didn’t “want to be compelled to pray for a false god.”
North Dakota’s Republican leadership and GOP Gov. Doug Burgum have said they oppose such mandates and the state has joined a federal lawsuit challenging President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine rules.
Although Hoverson will not attend the rally at North Dakota’s statehouse, he said three of his teenage children will be there.
Hoverson is among the most far-right legislators in the GOP-controlled Legislature. He introduced legislation last session to repeal mask mandates and he sponsored failed legislation that would have made it a felony to help women access abortions.
Last month, he was barred from boarding a flight at Minot International Airport after a run-in with a security agent. And as a freshman legislator two years ago, Hoverson protested a prayer by a Hindu cleric, saying he didn’t “want to be compelled to pray for a false god.”