Joe Biden, the “unity president,” referred to the decision by Texas and Mississippi governors to lift mandates on wearing a mask in public as “Neanderthal thinking.”
“I think it’s a big mistake. Look, I hope everybody realizes by now that masks make a big difference. We are on the cusp of being able to fundamentally change the nature of this disease because the way in which we are able to get vaccines,” Biden told reporters.
“The last thing we need is the Neanderthal thinking that, in the meantime, everything is fine, take off our mask, forget it,” he added.
Well, of course, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves never said to take your mask off and forget it. They didn’t even suggest it or hint at it, and it’s extremely doubtful they even thought it.
What both governors did was lift the mandate that forces people to wear a mask. They are giving their citizens the option — the “freedom” if you prefer — to wear a mask to protect themselves. Biden and the Democrats might see that as revolutionary but this is how normal Americans think and act.
Biden said that the U.S. risks thousands of more deaths to Covid-19 if Americans drop basic guidelines to stop the spread, including masks and social distancing.
“It is critical, critical, critical that they follow the science,” Biden said of the governors.
But Gov. Reeves was offended by Biden’s description that Mississippians need “handlers.”
President Biden said allowing Mississippians to decide how to protect themselves is “neanderthal thinking.”
Mississippians don’t need handlers. As numbers drop, they can assess their choices and listen to experts. I guess I just think we should trust Americans, not insult them.
— Tate Reeves (@tatereeves) March 3, 2021
Reeves said he lifted the restrictions in response to a drop in COVID-19 cases and deaths. Mississippi has been under a variety of COVID-19 restrictions since the first case was reported in the state a year ago. Masks are still required where social distancing isn’t possible at K-12 schools in Mississippi. Restrictions are also in place for indoor arenas.
Big businesses in Mississippi and Texas announced that masks will still be required. Target, Kroger, CVS, Walgreens, Best Buy, JCPenney and Toyota are among the companies that will mandate masks for customers and employees.
How dare these governors give their citizens the freedom to choose? Outrageous!
Some people are choosing to require masks, others are not. Begging your pardon, Mr. President, but isn’t that pretty much what America is based on?
Certainly, the wisdom of lifting the mask mandate can be questioned. But does the president of the United States have to treat governors of two sovereign states like stupid schoolboys?
Abbott had a few choice words for Biden.
Abbott told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that the comment was “not the type of word that a president should be using” and blamed the spread of the coronavirus on immigrants crossing the southern border. The Republican governor said the Biden administration has “refused to test” them for the virus.
“The Biden administration has been releasing immigrants in South Texas that have been exposing Texans to Covid. Some of those people have been put on buses, taking that Covid to other states in the United States,” Abbott told CNBC. “That is Neanderthal-type approach to dealing with the Covid situation.”
According to The Border Report, “dozens” of asylum seekers bussed to Brownsville, TX and released have tested positive for the coronavirus.
In the Gulf Coast city of Brownsville, 108 migrants released during the past month have shown to be carrying the coronavirus, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, said Wednesday. And he says that is putting the South Texas border community, as well as the volunteers who help them, and the border agents, at risk.
“They tested some of the people who got put at the bus station in Brownsville and according to the rapid tests, about 108 tested positive. So basically that creates a situation that they are letting people who are positive (for coronavirus) get on buses and with the permission of Homeland Security they can go anywhere in the United States,” Cuellar said during an online news conference.
Why isn’t Biden “following the science” and getting those asylum seekers tested? Sometimes the magic works. Sometimes it doesn’t.
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