Ted Cruz mocks Biden administration for abandoning mask mandate in Congress before his speech on the state of the Union
- On Sunday, a congressional doctor announced that face masks would no longer be required on Capitol Hill
- On February 14, the mayor of Washington announced that the indoor mask mandate would be revoked on March 1.
- Mayor Muriel Bowser said the decision was made because the COVID transmission rate is low and falling
- The doctor’s decision meant that Joe Biden’s address on the state of the Union was the first time in two years that Congress was full of people exposed.
- Critics such as Ted Cruz said Biden had staged the move to show in an act of political theater that he was winning the war against COVID.
- Jen Psaki, a White House spokeswoman, said earlier Tuesday that the doctor’s statement had “nothing to do with the timing of the state of the Union.”
senator Ted Cruz on Tuesday questioned the timing of the revocation of Congress’ mask mandate, noting that it coincided with Joe Bidenthe first reference to the state of the Union and mockingly describes it as a “miracle”.
On Sunday, a congressional doctor said it was safe to be without a mask in Congress.
“Individuals can choose to disguise themselves at any time, but this is no longer a requirement,” Capitol doctor Brian Monahan said in a note.
He said masks in the Chamber’s hall and elsewhere in the Capitol were no longer mandatory after about two years.
The city’s mask mask mandate was also revoked on Tuesday, meaning Congress was full of masked politicians for the first time in two years.
The abolition of the mandate was announced by Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser on February 14.
But Cruz thought it was more than a coincidence.
“This is a miracle for the state of the Union!” He tweeted on Monday.
The mandate for masks in Washington was canceled on Tuesday, just in time for the address on the state of the Union
Jim Jordan, a staunchly conservative Ohio congressman, agreed, saying “science has not changed.” Only politics.
On Tuesday, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki denied lifting the ban was in line with the state of the Union.
“The president is very strong, but he could not make us in the green zone we are in in the District of Columbia at the moment,” she told a news briefing on Tuesday.
“That’s why we won’t be required to wear masks.
“It had nothing to do with the state of the Union.”
Washington currently has a weekly incidence rate of 73.1 per 100,000 – less than 324 per 100,000 a month ago.
Monahan noted in his letter that the Washington region of the District of Columbia is now “green” or low under the new CDC leadership.
He added that positive levels of tests for COVID-19 in the Capitol have fallen to 2.7 percent in the past two weeks, below the current rate for the DC metropolitan area of 4.7 percent.
A White House spokesman confirmed ABC News that masks are no longer needed for fully vaccinated individuals on the White House campus as of Tuesday.
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