Rashida Tlaib caught on camera: Just wearing a mask because 'I've got a Republican tracker here'



Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) was caught on camera saying that she's only masking up because she was being tailed by what she referred to as a "Republican tracker," The Washington Free Beacon reports.

What are the details?

Tlaib made the bizarre-sounding admission while talking with an attendee at a Detroit community event with Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge.

After the event, Tlaib was talking with a group of people when a maskless attendee approached her and mistakenly thought that Tlaib was scolding him for being "the one unmasked guy" in the surrounding area.

"Oh, no, oh, not you!" she laughingly said in the video.

She then pulled down her mask and smiled at the attendee and went on to insist, "No, no, no; I'm just wearing it because I've got a Republican tracker here."

This isn't the first time Tlaib has been in the spotlight for masking snafus.

In August, she was captured dancing while maskless during an extremely crowded, indoor wedding reception in Dearborn, Michigan, despite skyrocketing COVID-19 case counts triggered by the highly contagious Delta variant.

The Washington Free Beacon reported that Tlaib's office did not return a request for comment on the video.

Caught on Video: @RashidaTlaib Admits She Only Wears Mask for Cameras"I'm just wearing it because I've got a Repu… https://t.co/Lr4UboMHyW

— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) 1633535691.0

What else?

Many social media users took to Twitter to express their feelings on what they believed was Tlaib's hypocritical statement.

Writer David Marcus wrote, "Huh. Guess my kid must have a Republican tracker at school, too."

Huh. Guess my kid must have a Republican tracker at school, too. https://t.co/1h9qvrsSXq

— David Marcus (@BlueBoxDave) 1633538599.0

Non-profit org FreedomWorks added, "CONFIRMED: Masks are a political theatre acted out by leftists."

CONFIRMED: Masks are a political theatre acted out by leftists. #ampFW https://t.co/vXEj3pj14X

— FreedomWorks (@FreedomWorks) 1633542129.0

Economist Alan Cole wrote, "This is the inevitable product of the "shame people for not following the dumb rules" culture we've invented. If we just admit that outdoor masking is dumb, this can all go away! It's all a prison of our own making!"

This is the inevitable product of the "shame people for not following the dumb rules" culture we've invented.If w… https://t.co/GtxkjhxLvM

— Alan Cole (@AlanMCole) 1633536248.0

Chicago-area sport reporter Julio Rausseo added, "So this mean [sic] @RepRashida believes the mask [sic] are ineffective?"

So this mean @RepRashida believes the mask are ineffective? https://t.co/oVWEXJpIYP

— Julio N. Rausseo (@JNReports) 1633541641.0

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MSNBC's Chris Hayes seems in favor of 'truth and reconciliation commission' for anti-maskers



MSNBC's Chris Hayes appeared to be in favor of what he called a "truth and reconciliation commission" for those opposed to COVID-19 mask wearing.

What are the details?

Hayes' declaration Monday came in response to mini-flurry of tweets that started with a question from NBC News' Michael Beschloss, who criticized President Donald Trump's brief Sunday drive after his positive coronavirus test:

Why is a sick President riding in an SUV waving to supporters outside Walter Reed, jeopardizing the Secret Service… https://t.co/jHGCS2KMwn
— Michael Beschloss (@Michael Beschloss)1601847788.0

"Why is a sick President riding in an SUV waving to supporters outside Walter Reed, jeopardizing the Secret Service agents inside the car with him?" he asked.

With that, conservative activist Matt Schlapp shot back with a question for Beschloss:

"So masks don't work? I'm so confused," Schlapp noted, a reference to the fact that Trump was wearing a mask during the drive.

And then Hayes took the battle to another level, slapping Schlapp for his tweet to Beschloss:

The most humane and reasonable way to deal with all these people, if we survive this, is some kind of truth and rec… https://t.co/yzFyNKAI9y
— Chris Hayes (@Chris Hayes)1601948073.0

"The most humane and reasonable way to deal with all these people, if we survive this, is some kind of truth and reconciliation commission," Hayes tweeted, presumably in reference to those who aren't in favor of masks or question their efficacy.

What was the reaction?

As you can probably guess, Hayes' left-wing comrades seemed just as enthusiastic about harsh treatment for those who don't abide by mask-wearing — among them famously anti-Trump conservative Bill Kristol: "How about truth and no reconciliation?"

Indeed others agreed:

  • "I'd settle for marching them off a pier. That's the truth and reconciliation they deserve. (But, seriously, in our reality-denying country, would any of Trump's people *acknowledge* the truth, never mind reconcile to it?)" one user tweeted.
  • "Somebody should look into de-programming after it's over," another user wrote. "These GOP Congress people out here cheering him on when he's obviously in respiratory distress is very disturbing. I will despise Donald Trump till my last day on this earth. It didn't have to be like this."
  • "There is no reconciliation. People at this point who don't understand masks as a safety measure are either incurably ignorant or bad faith actors," another user wrote. "A truth and reckoning commission would be more useful."

But others pushed back against Hayes' words:

  • "So you want a literal Orwellian Ministry of Truth?" one user asked.
  • "Will there be camps?" another user wondered.
  • "Answer the question Chris. Do they work? MI has had a mandate since July, and our cases are going up," another commenter declared. "The obvious answer is they don't work. They're your security blanket. That's it."

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