Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Mandy Cohen recently shared an eyebrow-raising post that included four photos of her with U.S. senators. While she was wearing a mask in photos with Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine of Virginia, Jon Ossoff of Georgia, and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Cohen was maskless in a photo with Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah.
"Busy day meeting with Senators - appreciate the support and partnership!" Cohen's post read, seemingly indicating that all of the photos had been taken on the same day.
People on social media took notice of Cohen's inconsistent masking.
"Why the mask, but then also why no mask with Romney?" Chuck Ross of the Washington Free Beacon tweeted.
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"Mandy Cohen wears masks when meeting with Democrats but not @SenatorRomney," Matthew Foldi of The Specator World wrote. "Why?"
"Masked meeting the Dems // unmasked meeting Romney," Josh Kraushaar of Jewish Insider noted.
"What happened to your useless mask in the first photo dear?" someone else tweeted.
Cohen began serving as CDC director earlier this year.
Back in 2020, she shared a photo of herself sporting a face mask emblazoned with a photo of Dr. Anthony Fauci.
"Did you know it’s #WorldMaskWeek?" Cohen wrote on that August 2020 post. "Face coverings are one of our strongest tools to slow the spread of #COVID19 in our communities... and like my Dr. Fauci mask, they can be fun too! Join me in masking up this week & beyond – every time you leave the house."
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Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) was boisterously booed on Saturday when he took to the stage at the Utah Republican Party's organizing convention. Some hecklers called Romney a "traitor" and "communist," according to the Salt Lake Tribune.
Romney, one of the most prominent Republican critics of former President Donald Trump, appeared before 2,145 registered delegates at the Maverik Center in the Salt Lake City suburb of West Valley City. As Romney walked up to the lectern to speak, he was loudly booed by the Republican crowd. There were also cheers for the former Republican presidential nominee, but the chorus of jeers seemed to drown them out as heard in videos posted online.
Romney attempted to appease the partly hostile crowd, "So, what do you think about President Biden's first 100 days?"
"Now you know me as a person who says what he thinks and I don't hide the fact that I wasn't a fan of our last president's character issues," Romney told the audience, which in turn booed him even more intensely.
Romney then asked the crowd, "Aren't you embarrassed?"
The booing and heckling lasted over a minute, which prompted Utah GOP chair Derek Brown to intervene by walking up on stage and say, "My friends, this is the moment I was talking about, please show respect." The crowd then applauded and Romney went back to delivering his speech at the GOP event.
Sen. Mitt Romney is booed by Utah Republicans at their state convention #utpol #utgop https://t.co/FLi1W6iZ9L
— Bryan Schott (@SchottHappens) 1619898252.0
Also during the convention, Utah Republican Party voted on a resolution to censure Romney for voting to convict Trump over the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Romney escaped official censure by a vote of 798 to 711.
Romney is not up for election in 2022, however fellow GOP Trump critic Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) is up for election in 2022. The Alaska Republican Party voted to censure Murkowski in March for voting to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial.
#BREAKING: Utah Republicans vote NOT to censure @SenatorRomney for his Trump impeachment vote.711 for798 against https://t.co/WbJDTjUmFd
— Michael Locklear (@MichaelLocklear) 1619906074.0
Xavier Becerra, nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services, said Tuesday that "common ground" can be found on late-term, partial-birth abortions.
The stunning statement came as Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) grilled the former California attorney general over his position on abortion.
Romney asked Becerra why, during his tenure in the U.S. House, he voted against legislation that banned partial-birth abortions — Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 — which outlawed partial-birth abortions of babies who have heartbeats.
"Most people agree that partial-birth abortion is awful. You voted against a ban on partial-birth abortion. Why?" Romney asked.
Becerra began his response by explaining he respects that "people have different deeply held beliefs" on abortion, before claiming "common ground" can be found on the issue about which Romney asked.
He continued:
I have worked, as I mentioned, for decades trying to protect the health of men and women, young and old. And as attorney general, my job has been to follow the law and make sure others are following the law.
...
So, I will tell you that when I come to these issues, I understand that we may not always agree on where to go, but I think we can find some common ground on these issues because everyone wants to make sure that if you have an opportunity, you're going to live a healthy life. And I will tell you I hope to be able to work with you and others to reach that common ground on so many different issues.
.@SenatorRomney: "You voted against a ban on partial birth abortion. Why?" Becerra: "I understand that people hav… https://t.co/AgLgh7yAUX— Mary Margaret Olohan (@Mary Margaret Olohan)1614098226.0
The Utah Republican flatly rejected Becerra's offer of finding "common ground" on partial-birth abortion.
"I think we can reach common ground on many issues, but on partial-birth abortion, it sounds like we are not going to reach common ground there," Romney shot back at Becerra.
President Joe Biden has been criticized for nominating Becerra.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), for example, has been highlighting Becerra's lack of professional experience in health industries.
"[Becerra] is not a doctor. He has no scientific background. He has no background in virology, he has never worked at a pharmaceutical company — he's got nothing to do with health care," Cruz explained on Fox News.
"But what is he? He is a trial lawyer!" Cruz said. "And his only experience, as far as I can tell, with health care is he sued the Little Sisters of the Poor."
In the middle of a pandemic, Joe Biden nominated Xavier Becerra to HHS. Becerra has no background in virology, he… https://t.co/bHyrikjAZ2— Ted Cruz (@Ted Cruz)1614087949.0
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