A number of Republican House members expressed their support for Democratic colleague Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., who announced that he has ‘a serious but curable form of cancer’ called Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma.
In the new year, Raskin will be the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, and the committee’s incoming chair, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., was among those to provide words of encouragement.
‘Cancer doesn’t stand a chance against a fighter like Ranking Member Raskin,’ Comer said in a statement. ‘We are all rooting for him as he and his team of doctors fight this disease. My prayers are with Ranking Member Raskin and his family as he goes through treatment and beats cancer.’
Comer was joined by other House Republicans, including Reps. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.
‘Praying for @RepRaskin – I know a little about Lymphoma. You got this, Jamie. Godspeed,’ tweeted Roy, who is a survivor of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, with which he was diagnosed in 2011.
‘We disagree often, but I’ll be praying for Jamie Raskin,’ Greene tweeted. ‘Cancer is a terrible disease. I watched my father die from it, and it broke my heart. It’s good Rep Raskin has hope and his form of cancer is curable with the treatment he will be starting.’
Raskin, a member of the House January 6 committee, announced his diagnosis on Wednesday, saying that he will be undergoing outpatient chemo-immunotherapy at Med Star Georgetown University Hospital and Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. He said that most people in his situation have an ‘excellent’ prognosis following four months of treatment.
Raskin said he expects to be able to continue working as he goes through treatment but was told by his doctors to be cautious and try to reduce unnecessary exposure to COVID-19, the flu or any other viruses.
The concern is that chemotherapy can make the body’s immune system vulnerable to viruses.
Fox News’ Greg Wehner contributed to this report.