Republican Representatives Laughed Off Lockdown Mask Ask
As a gun toting MAGA mob stormed the US capitol on January 6, Republican Congressional Representatives brandished their own weapon while in lockdown.
They called it personal freedom, refusing to wear face masks offered to them even as they were confined to a small, poorly ventilated space with as many as 300 people in the room.
Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) was captured on video refusing to wear a mask when offered one as lawmakers sheltered in a crowded conference room during the dramatic Wednesday attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump.
In the video released by Punchbowl News, Mullin is seen standing, maskless, with newly elected Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a follower of the conspiracy theory QAnon who was condemned by House leadership for racist remarks during her campaign, also unmasked. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), masked herself, offers the two surgical masks.
"I'm not trying to get political here," Mullin says on the video, refusing to accept one as Taylor Greene smirks.
From ABC News:
Bay Area Congressman Eric Swalwell told ABC7 News he was in that same room as Watson Coleman and is not surprised. He said "dozens" of his Republican colleagues and their staff members refused to put on masks and laughed when they were asked to do so.
"Many people were laughing at our efforts to have them masked," Swalwell said. "One of my colleagues, Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware, she went and grabbed a stack of masks and asked them if they would put the masks on and they just smirked and shook their head and essentially told her to buzz off...it was disgusting."
Swalwell said he also asked the Sergeant at Arms to make an announcement asking people to put on masks.
"He was panned and laughed at," Swalwell said, "And now a member has tested positive, two members, actually who were in that room have tested positive, and it's just height of selfishness that people would do that."
https://twitter.com/RepJayapal/status/1348871117407203328?s=20
Jayapal called for "serious fines to be immediately levied on every single member who refuses to wear a mask in the Capitol."
"Additionally, any Member who refuses to wear a mask should be immediately removed from the floor by the Sergeant at Arms. This is not a joke," she said. "Our lives and our livelihoods are at risk, and anyone who refuses to wear a mask should be fully held accountable for endangering our lives because of their selfish idiocy."
https://twitter.com/RepBonnie/status/1348686673085931520?s=20
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1349027370494255105?s=20
Democratic Congressman Schneider echoed that sentiment in a statement.
"Today, I am now in strict isolation, worried that I have risked my wife's health and angry at the selfishness and arrogance of the anti-maskers who put their own contempt and disregard for decency ahead of the health and safety of their colleagues and our staff," said Schneider.
There are other non-masking Republicans in the video, including Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise, who ought to know better given that his recently elected colleague Luke Letow died on COVID-19 last week before even being sworn in.
From the Associated Press
The congressman-elect had been inconsistent in his precautions against the coronavirus, though he acknowledged the severity of COVID-19 and said in a debate that he personally knew people who had died from the disease.
Photos posted on social media from campaign events show Letlow sometimes wearing a mask when interacting with potential voters, but other times — including at his victory party, two weeks before his hospitalization — without a face covering as he posed for pictures with supporters.
Hailing from the small town of Start in Richland Parish, Letlow was elected in a December runoff election for the sprawling 5th District U.S. House seat representing central and northeastern regions of the state, including the cities of Monroe and Alexandria. He would have been sworn in next week.
Let me make myself clear here. It’s not just that these Republicans are “maskholes;” the real news here is that they’ve bought into the same misinformation ecosystem endangering the lives of Americans and the very existence of the democratic republic we live in.
The anti-vaxxers, the COVID-19 deniers and the election fraud people are all linked and have racism as the foundation of their belief systems.
While these Republicans (I can’t emphasize the word enough) were being protected from one consequence of those lies, they were endangering others with their willful ignorance.
Meanwhile, they and their enablers are filling the airwaves and op ed pages with calls for “ending divisiveness” and “unity.”
As many women have pointed out on social media, these pleas are akin to abusers trying to blame their victims.
Any political resolution to the current crisis must start with disavowing the underlying lies and acknowledging that the behavior stemming from propagating those lies was harmful..
https://twitter.com/katestarbird/status/1349011727812329476?s=20
Also…
https://twitter.com/LorenaSGonzalez/status/1349056382780116992?s=20
Hey folks! Be sure to like/follow Words & Deeds on Facebook. If you’d like to have each post mailed to you check out the simple subscription form and the right side of the front page.
Email me at WritetoDougPorter@Gmail.com