Buck Sexton took to Twitter yesterday to comment on the efficacy of cloth masks and condescendingly questioned why people still choose to wear them. His tweet was puzzling, considering he has spent the better part of the past 18 months championing the right of people to make their own decisions regarding their health. More importantly, his tweet regarding the efficacy of cloth masks was patently false.
“It is stunning that there are still so many people walking around with cloth masks on as though it will protect anyone from COVID,” he wrote. “We’re in the eras of iPhones and SpaceX, but millions still obey mask superstition like medieval peasants terrified of the number 13.”
Whatever one’s opinions on masks, they do at least somewhat hinder the transmission of COVID-19. No, they are not 100% effective, and yes, cloth masks are of less utility than others. But nearly all studies show that one is at least slightly less likely to spread the virus while wearing one.
Sexton criticized those wearing cloth masks as if it won’t protect anyone from COVID-19. But an August study conducted by researchers from esteemed universities Yale and Stanford revealed that cloth masks are 37% effective at stopping the spread of COVID-19 and “filtering out virus particles.” This is not the only study to draw such a conclusion, either. The bottom line is that cloth masks have some effect, unlike the number 13.
Many pundits on the Right have acquired an unhealthy obsession with mask-wearing, in that the mere sight of others wearing masks triggers an irrational rage. Why not just let people make their own decisions, the way you at least claim you want them to be able to do when it comes to vaccination?
Not only is Buck Sexton wrong, but he is also applying a double standard. If the whole idea behind protesting mask mandates was to allow people to make their own choices without scorn or ridicule, then let people wear their 37% effective cloth masks in peace.
