Texas Democrat who went maskless on plane while fleeing state now demands mask mandates

Texas State Representative Donna Howard on Wednesday advocated for a return to universal mask wearing as COVID cases climb, despite being seen just one week earlier on a private plane with other lawmakers all not wearing masks.

"We need to follow the science here. Texas needs to change course and allow for universal mask-wearing to prevent spread of the highly contagious delta variant, esp as children under 12 cannot get vaccinated yet," wrote Howard.

Lone Conservative founder Kassy Dillon replied to Howard's tweet with a recent photo of Howard on a jet with over a dozen other people who were unmasked. The photo was originally posted by fellow Texas lawmaker Julie Johnson on July 12.

A tweet from NBC 5 reporter Scott Gordon July 12 once again showed a plane full of people, all unmasked.

In the wake of the Texas Democrats' mass exodus from the state, aides for both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the White House tested positive for COVID-19 after meeting with those Dems.

The Texas lawmakers were advocating for the passage of the For the People Act, which would make moot the election integrity bill their GOP colleagues are trying to pass.

Howard, along with other Texas lawmakers, were fleeing to Washington DC on July 12 to prevent a GOP-backed election integrity bill from passing in Texas by breaking quorum, or the required number of lawmakers required to be present for business to resume.

Lawmakers could potentially face arrest in Texas when they come back for this action. Governor Greg Abbott had said that they would be arrested upon return to the state.

In a White House press conference Tuesday, Jen Psaki refused to call the Texas Democrats' trip a "super-spreader event," despite more than 10 percent of those traveling in the group testing positive for COVID-19 even after being vaccinated, according to Fox News' Peter Doocy.