[ad_1]
New York Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin has tested positive for COVID-19 — just days after attending the state Democratic Party’s convention featuring Gov. Kathy Hochul and Hillary Clinton.
“I tested positive for COVID today. Thankfully, I’m vaxxed, boosted, and in good spirits, since I’m only experiencing mild symptoms,” Benjamin said Sunday evening in a tweet.
The lieutenant governor addressed the convention Thursday, posting a video on Twitter of himself taking the stage while not wearing a mask.
He and Hochul later held hands on stage while both were maskless to acknowledge their party nominating them to their respective offices, a Twitter photo shows.
Earlier, a maskless Benjamin had greeted people, including some with hugs, in the lobby of the convention, which was held at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel in Manhattan.
Roughly half of those who gathered for the two-day Democratic convention masked up.
Clinton — a former presidential candidate and US secretary of state, as well as a former US senator from New York — delivered a speech at the event. Clinton, 74, only took her mask off to speak.
“Everybody was masked around Secretary Clinton when she spoke,” added New York Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs to The Post on Monday.
Benjamin — a former state senator — was announced in September as Hochul’s No. 2 shortly after she took over for disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo. On Thursday, Benjamin officially won the unanimous support of New York’s Democratic Party to run for the next full term.
He added to his COVID-19 Twitter posting Sunday, “Cat and our girls’ tests came back negative—praise God!” — referring to his wife, Cathleen, and daughters including Olivia, who was born in October.
“I’ll be isolating at home as they monitor for symptoms and get tested again in a few days,” the lieutenant governor said.
The state Democratic Party also nominated Hochul for governor.
A rep for Hochul did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Benjamin contracting COVID-19.
[ad_2]