Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz wants to know one thing: Why are reporters only concerned when Republicans aren’t wearing masks? During a news con...
Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz wants to know one thing: Why are reporters only concerned when Republicans aren’t wearing masks?
During a news conference Tuesday, Cruz slammed his fists on the podium and lambasted a PBS reporter who asked him about why he didn’t have a facial covering on, even though he was speaking.
Cruz noted, too, that White House officials — including President Joe Biden and Press Secretary Jen Psaki — didn’t wear facial coverings at the podium, either.
According to the U.K. Daily Mail, the move came during a media briefing by Republican senators to discuss Biden’s push for voter rights.
“As far as I know, everyone here has been vaccinated, been double-vaccinated, been boosted,” Cruz said.
“I do know Dr. Fauci’s been all over the map on it. He’s said yes masks, no masks, he’s said, ‘Oh, I lied to the American people because they couldn’t handle it,’” he continued, referencing the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director’s initial recommendation, at the beginning of the pandemic, that people not wear masks.
“At some point, the American people ought to be able to exercise their own freedom and make their decision,” Cruz said.
“And by the way, on the question of hypocrisy, you just asked, you people at the podium are speaking without masks,” Cruz said.
“Just once, I’d like to see a reporter say to Joe Biden when he stands at the damn podium in the White House without a mask, ‘Mr. President, why aren’t you wearing a mask?’” a visibly angry Cruz continued, slamming his fists on the podium.
“Just once, I’d like to see you say to Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, when she stands at the podium with no mask, ‘Ms. Psaki, why don’t you have a mask?’ The questions are only directed at one side, and I got to say the American people see the hypocrisy.”
During that portion of the news conference, Cruz slammed his hands on the podium.
Cruz added that “there’s been wild hypocrisy from the Biden administration when it comes to COVID policies, whether mask mandates where Joe Biden rightly said we shouldn’t have mandates, whether vaccine mandates where Joe Biden said we shouldn’t have vaccine mandates. As far as I know, everyone here has been vaccinated, been double-vaccinated, been boosted.”
It’s also worth noting that, given the current omicron strain, regular masking isn’t necessarily effective, a virus researcher from Virginia Tech told NPR. And, as one person on Twitter noted:
This isn’t the first time that Cruz has gone after reporters over masking. In March of last year, when a reporter asked him to put one on, he told them, “You’re welcome to step away if you like.”
And, of course, neither President Biden nor anyone around him gets in trouble when they don’t mask up.
PBS, presumably, wasn’t as concerned about any of this.
That’s why Cruz went scorched-earth — and he had every reason to.
After all, if it weren’t for double standards — both on masking and on everything else — the left and the media wouldn’t have any standards at all.
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