Ted Cruz refuses reporter's request to put on a mask: 'You're welcome to step away if you like'
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) hit out at a reporter after the journalist requested the senator put on a mask during a Wednesday news conference.
What are the details?
Cruz held a news conference Wednesday with other Republican senators in order to discuss the crisis at the U.S southern border.
In a video of the conference, a reporter can be heard asking, "Would you mind putting a mask on for us?"
Cruz responded, "Yeah, when I'm talking to the TV camera I'm not going to wear a mask, and all of us have been immunized," gesturing to his fellow lawmakers.
The reporter pressed further and insisted that Cruz putting on a mask would "make us feel better."
Cruz, however, fired back, "You're welcome to step away if you like," and added that the "whole point of a vaccine" was so that he no longer had to wear a mask.
It seems fair to point out that White House press secretary Jen Psaki, who does not wear a mask during her White House press briefings, and has defended that move by saying, "If health and medical experts told me I should wear a mask while I was briefing, I would do it. But I am following the guidelines they are giving us, as is the president."
Cruz on Thursday morning shared a clip of his interaction with the reporter and captioned it, "Lefty reporters have lost their minds. #commonsense."
Anything else?
Cruz in October also pushed back on wearing masks during a gaggle outside a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing room.
A CNN reporter at the time asked if Cruz would put on his mask to deliver remarks, to which the Texas lawmaker curtly responded, "No, because I'm going to talk to the TV. Stand six feet apart, which is what the CDC guideline [is]."
Cruz insisted that a mask was unnecessary and said that he was clearly standing six feet from others at the time.
Sen @tedcruz says “no” he won’t put his mask on when asked politely to by pooler @kristin__wilson, citing how he’s… https://t.co/vSQjHtzKZE— Ali Zaslav (@Ali Zaslav)1602782721.0
Sacha Baron Cohen demands YouTube follow leftist playbook and ban President Trump: 'Do the right thing'
Rabid far-left actor Sacha Baron Cohen of "Borat" infamy has demanded that YouTube go along with the progressive crowd and ban President Donald Trump — just like Facebook, Twitter and other online entities.
Virtually every social media company has removed Trump...EXCEPT YouTube.Trump's YouTube channel is STILL showing… https://t.co/c00FhfwSWx— Sacha Baron Cohen (@Sacha Baron Cohen)1610377207.0
"Virtually every social media company has removed Trump…EXCEPT YouTube," Cohen tweeted Monday. "Trump's YouTube channel is STILL showing videos of his election lies to MILLIONS of people!"
He then pressed his followers to retweet his post and tell Google — which owns YouTube — to "do the right thing!" Cohen added a hashtag that read "BanTrumpSaveDemocracy."
Just days ago Cohen called Trump's bans from Facebook and Twitter the "most important moment in the history of social media."
"The world's largest platforms have banned the world's biggest purveyor of lies, conspiracies and hate," he added. "To every Facebook and Twitter employee, user and advocate who fought for this--the entire world thanks you!"
Hollywood mob hops to it
Indeed, fellow left-wing celebrities took to Cohen's appeal like joyous puppies and did as they were told:
- Actor Mark Ruffalo — who earlier this year called Trump "public enemy number one" — echoed Cohen's tweet and told YouTube that "your platform is still allowing misinformation to spread like wildfire."
- Comedienne Chelsea Handler — who once admitted she verbally assaulted conservatives in airports over Trump frustrations — also got on board.
- And another so-called funny woman, Amy Schumer — who has suggested that white NFL players are guilty of racism if they don't kneel for the national anthem — also called for retweets of Cohen's post.
How did folks react?
As you might guess, Cohen has a fair number of admirers among his 760,000 Twitter followers — but certainly not all commenters on his post were aligned with his way of thinking:
- "Do you like censorship?" one user asked. "If you do your comedy might also be next."
- You Nazi moron! F*** your censorship! We should call for the banning of your unfunny BS you call art," another user exclaimed. "You suck!
- "An artist that's for censorship," another commenter said. "Wow."
- "You are ... absolutely clueless on what Democracy means," another user declared. "Amazing that more s**ts comes out of your mouth than your ass."
Another commenter had a visual message for Cohen:
@SachaBaronCohen @Google @sundarpichai @YouTube @SusanWojcicki @ADL @ColorOfChange @CommonSense @LULAC @mozilla… https://t.co/3kXLnOdJ1O— Ex_Citizen_BuckTweet (@Ex_Citizen_BuckTweet)1610395104.0
This story has been updated
Twitter removes White House coronavirus task force member's tweet saying masks don't work
Dr. Scott Atlas, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, had one of his tweets removed by Twitter on Sunday. The tweet in question, had Atlas claiming that face masks don't prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Atlas, who is a neuroradiologist and health care policy expert, wrote on Saturday: "Masks work? NO: LA, Miami, Hawaii, Alabama, France, Phlippnes, UK, Spain, Israel. WHO:'widesprd use not supported' + many harms; Heneghan/Oxf CEBM:'despite decades, considerble uncertainty re value'; CDC rvw May:"no sig red'n in inflnz transm'n"; learn why."
Atlas, who is a Hoover Institution Senior Fellow, also shared a link to an article in "The American Institute for Economic Research" that argues against the effectiveness of face masks against coronavirus.
Atlas quote-tweeted his original post with a follow-up post that read: "That means the right policy is @realDonaldTrump guideline: use masks for their intended purpose - when close to others, especially hi risk. Otherwise, social distance. No widespread mandates. #CommonSense."
Twitter stated that the tweet violated the social media company's rules on disputed or misleading information: "If we determine a Tweet contains misleading or disputed information that could lead to harm, we may add a label to the content to provide context."
Twitter's official blog from May defines "misleading information" as "statements or assertions that have been confirmed to be false or misleading by subject-matter experts, such as public health authorities."
Atlas told Newsweek that "he didn't understand why Twitter had deleted his tweet, which included abbreviated citations of multiple sources, some months old, on the effectiveness of widespread mask wearing."
"Twitter seems to be censoring the science if it goes against their own goals of public indoctrination," Atlas said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people wear face masks to help reduce the spread of coronavirus.
"We are not defenseless against COVID-19," said CDC Director Dr. Robert R. Redfield. "Cloth face coverings are one of the most powerful weapons we have to slow and stop the spread of the virus – particularly when used universally within a community setting. All Americans have a responsibility to protect themselves, their families, and their communities."
The removal of Atlas' post comes a week after Twitter flagged one of President Donald Trump's tweets about COVID-19. Twitter censored the president because he declared that he is "immune" to COVID-19.
"A total and complete sign off from White House Doctors yesterday," Trump wrote. "That means I can't get it (immune), and can't give it. Very nice to know!"
Twitter also locked the official account of the New York Post after the paper published an article that featured alleged emails from Hunter Biden regarding his reported overseas dealings. The New York Post's Twitter account appeared to be still locked as of early Sunday afternoon.
Previously, Atlas caused a stir in July when he told Glenn Beck, "There is zero science to back up claims that the schools should be closed or even opened with any constraints whatsoever."
"Frankly, one of the most egregious failures of the policy people is, not just allow[ing] fear to infiltrate their own thinking and do lockdowns, which are severely harmful," Atlas told Beck. "But secondly, they have failed to reassure the public about the facts, and about the relative risk here. It's a very serious dangerous disease — for a group of people. And we know who those people are. They are high-risk, elderly people with comorbidities. Everyone else, it's not a high-risk disease."