Lansing Sun

After Sen. Tom Barrett (R-Charlotte) recently tested positive for COVID-19, he spoke with WJR’s Frank Beckmann Aug. 3 about his experience with the coronavirus and whether it has changed any of his political positions on the current pandemic.

Barrett has been a critic of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s policies, and he sponsored a bill in April that would remove one of the laws Whitmer has used as the basis for the powers she has claimed under the state of emergency, which has been ongoing the past four months. 

Barrett told Beckmann that he had already been asked by a reporter whether testing positive had changed his position in regard to Whitmer’s actions during the pandemic.

Sen. Tom Barrett | #MiSenateGOP

“My contracting of the coronavirus doesn’t have anything to do with the governance of our state,” Barrett told Beckmann. “We should not have individual control of our state government placed under one person, and that’s true today, and it was true before I had this positive result.”

Barrett had been taking precautions, such as wearing a mask while in public and practicing social distancing, in the time leading up to his positive test result.

“I wouldn’t say I was paranoid about the virus, but I definitely took reasonable precautions, like I think most other people do,” he told Beckmann. 

While Barrett said he had been feeling fatigued, as a father of three and with the Senate in session, he had not found that unusual, he told Beckmann. He does not know yet where he may have contracted the coronavirus, though he had been on a recent trip to Detroit to promote bipartisan cooperation.

“It’s very possible that could have contributed, or it’s possible I just got it at the grocery store... There's no way of knowing,” he told Beckmann.

A 20-year U.S. Army veteran who has since transitioned to the National Guard, Barrett was found to be positive for the virus during a National Guard screening. Barrett told Beckmann that the screening was part of the lead-up to the annual summer training exercise for his unit.

In addition to missing the annual training, Barrett said that the positive test will prevent him from participating in Michigan Senate votes during his quarantine period.