Sen. Ted Cruz dismissed a reporter’s request that he wear a face mask during a press event, saying the reporter was welcome “to step away.”
“Would you mind putting a mask on for us?” an unidentified reporter asked the Texas Republican on Wednesday.
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“Yeah, when I’m talking to the TV camera, I’m not going to wear a mask,” Cruz said. “All of us have been immunized.”
“It’d make us feel better,” a reporter responded.
“You’re welcome to step away if you’d like,” Cruz said. “The whole point of a vaccine — CDC guidance is what we’re following.”
REPORTER: “Would you mind putting on a mask for us?”
CRUZ: “Yeah, when I’m talking to the TV camera, I’m not going to wear a mask. All of us have been immunized.”
REPORTER: “It’d make us feel better.”
CRUZ: “You’re welcome to step away if you’d like.” pic.twitter.com/0d0rvz0OAJ
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) March 25, 2021
Guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that people who are “fully vaccinated can gather indoors without physical distancing or wearing masks” when with others who are fully vaccinated or with unvaccinated people from one other household.
Cruz was lauded on social media for the exchange, and Cruz tweeted, “Lefty reporters have lost their minds. #commonsense.”
Lefty reporters have lost their minds. #commonsense https://t.co/5yhOTutDHx
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 25, 2021
People have been literally brainwashed. https://t.co/EXFuOBDOJ4
— Sebastian Gorka DrG (@SebGorka) March 25, 2021
Like a boss. https://t.co/dbQlLU9nGF
— Derek Hunter (@derekahunter) March 25, 2021
This is exactly how to respond to a performative virtue signaling reporter pretending to be scared of a vaccinated politician https://t.co/rJ0L5gpFOi
— Cabot Phillips (@cabot_phillips) March 25, 2021
Others noted that White House press secretary Jen Psaki does not wear a face mask during press conferences.
Jen Psaki has been at the White House Press Briefing podium for the past 60 days without a mask. Nothing. Performative bullshit. https://t.co/g3v6xjP6HR
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) March 25, 2021
I don’t get it. Psaki’s been conducting briefings without a mask on in an enclosed room for 2 months. If that’s been fine, why is Cruz not wearing a mask a problem? https://t.co/XoGDQBctLw
— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) March 25, 2021
This isn’t the first time a journalist has asked a politician to wear a mask during a press event. In October, then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows stopped an interview when members of the media objected to him taking off his face mask despite him being “more than 10 feet away.”
Meadows was seen pulling a microphone away from a gaggle of reporters outside of a Senate hearing room and moved to take off his mask.
“That way, I can take this off. … I’m more than 10 feet away,” he said.
At least one person was heard protesting as he removed the mask.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Meadows then responded to the pushback by walking away.
“I’m not going to talk through a mask,” Meadows said.
.@markmeadows stops to talk to press. He pulls mic away to socially distance & takes off his mask.
When media objects, he instantly cancels the interview: “I’m not going to talk through a mask.” pic.twitter.com/WcSDFqv87g
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) October 12, 2020
