Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert became instant online fodder (again) on December 8 2020, after a news site posted footage showing one of the Texas lawmaker’s teeth falling out as he spoke.
The brief clip from The Recount showed his tooth coming loose before he apparently swallowed it:
Gohmert had not reported any health issues going into the press conference, nor did he discuss them (or the tooth) during the press conference itself:
He also did not wear a mask during this press conference.
Gohmert has been a longtime disinformation purveyor, particularly around Donald Trump’s decisive loss to Democrat Joe Biden in the November 2020 U.S. presidential election, joining many other members of the Republican Party to do so. On December 4 2020, for example, he falsely claimed that “thousands of Americans personally witnessed election fraud and gave statements, sworn under the penalty of perjury subjecting them to jail time if false”:
In July 2020, Gohmert did reveal that he had tested positive for COVID-19 — that after repeatedly refusing to wear a mask to mitigate the spread of the disease, like many elected Republicans. A month later, the lawmaker said that he was feeling better, and credited the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine for his recovery, a drug that has been touted by several dubious sources — including outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump — and which medical experts say has no discernible benefit either as a prophylactic or a treatment.
While there are no reports of Gohmert suffering any aftereffects from his brush with COVID-19, the New York Times reported in November 2020 that some patients have reported new or exacerbated dental issues — such as teeth falling out — as part of the “long haul” symptoms that can follow recovery.
We have reached out to Gohmert’s office seeking comment, but we have yet to hear back.