Republicans taunted Gov. Cuomo on Twitter while attending NJ Christmas party with Matt Gaetz

The state of New York is now battling a violent second wave of coronavirus but despite of taking the pandemic seriously, members of the Republican Party still opted to gather for the New York Young Republican Club's annual Christmas gala.

This year, the gathering was held at an undisclosed location in New Jersey on Thursday, Dec. 3, and some Republicans opted to use that to their advantage when they shared photos from the event via Twitter. Multiple posts from those who attended the gala taunted New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D). In fact, gala attendant Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) retweeted two of the mocking posts, according to Newsweek.

The publication noted that one of the tweets read, "Hey @NYGovCuomo, I'm at the @NYYRC with @mattgaetz. Come and get me" while another also included the same type of taunting dialogue. The second tweet Gaetz retweeted read, "Catch us if you can, Commie Cuomo. The show will always go on for patriots..."

Here is one photo from the event now circulating on Twitter:

Although the tweets were deleted shortly after, it did not stop Twitter users from condemning Gaetz and his fellow Republicans' actions. The publication reports Twitter users fired back at the Republican Congressman's retweets with photos of graphs showing the alarming coronavirus statistics including the upticks in daily cases, hospitalizations and the grim, rising death toll.

Dr. Elisa Braver, an epidemiologist and adjunct professor at the University of Maryland, also chimed in with a warned that "every attendee should assume they may have been exposed to #COVID19" and urged those who attend to either quarantine and get tested. "Doctors and nurses are overwhelmed with COVID19 hospitalizations," she said. "Stop the spread."

The latest details come just days after AlterNet's initial report about former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) headlining the event despite the coronavirus pandemic. At the time, the event, which Club president Gavin Wax confirmed had "sold out," was set to be held at the The Caldwell Factory in New York. But just days before the event, that location was removed from the gala's EventBrite page and the venue details were made private.