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Republicans are slamming the Democratic Party’s dramatic shift on mask mandates, saying the “science” it claims to follow changes with the “political winds.”
Exactly one year after he said the lifting of mask mandates in Republican-led states amounted to “Neanderthal thinking,” President Biden gave his first State of the Union address Tuesday to a crowd of maskless Democrats who once led the way in backing lockdown orders and mandates over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.
With 215.7 million Americans now fully vaccinated, almost every state, with the notable exception of Hawaii, has eased or eliminated mask mandates, and Congress and the White House formally ditched their requirements in the days leading up to Biden’s historic address. Many have called into question the timing of the decision to lift the mandates, which Democrats insist is based purely on science.
“The Democrats’ mask obsession is about politics and control–not science,” Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., told Fox News Digital in a statement Wednesday. “The Democrats’ ‘science’ changes as the political winds shift.”
Members of President Biden’s Cabinet and Republican senators listen to Biden deliver the State of the Union address during a joint session of Congress in the U.S. Capitol’s House Chamber March 1, 2022, in Washington, DC.
(Win McNamee/Getty Images)
“Democrats shouldn’t be thanked for no longer pointlessly hurting children, flouting the constitution, and shutting down businesses,” Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., told Fox News Digital.
“And Republicans shouldn’t just forget what happened,” Banks added. “These restrictions hurt millions of Americans and they were driven by politics. We need to hold the perpetrators accountable.”
“Masks down, fences up. I’m sick and tired of @SpeakerPelosi using the People’s House as a political prop,” Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., tweeted. “Getting rid of masks just in time for the State of the Union and putting the fences back up are decisions made based on politics, not safety.”
During his address Tuesday night, Biden unveiled a new COVID-19 initiative to return Americans to “more normal routines,” apparently recognizing a shift in the public’s perception of the need to move on from the virus.
“Americans can remove their masks, return to work, stay in the classroom and move forward safely,” the president said Tuesday.
President Biden delivers his first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol, Tuesday, March 1, 2022, in Washington.
According to a recent poll by Monmouth University, 70% of Americans say it’s time for the country to move on from the pandemic, and a decreasing number of Americans support COVID-related mandates. Biden’s approval ratings on handling COVID, once a strength, are also underwater, according to the poll, with 43% approving and 53% disapproving.
Less than a month after that poll was released, Biden’s polling firm, Impact Research, issued a memo to Democrats saying they should “take credit for ending the COVID crisis phase of the COVID war” and “stop talking about restrictions.”
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“If we focus on how bad things still are and how much worse they could get, we set Democrats up as failures unable to navigate us through this,” Impact Research’s Molly Murphy and Brian Stryker wrote in the Feb. 24 memo, which was first published by Punchbowl News.
“When 99% of Americans can get vaccinated, we cause more harm than we prevent with voters by going into our third year talking about restrictions. And, if Democrats continue to hold a posture that prioritizes COVID precautions over learning how to live in a world where COVID exists, but does not dominate, they risk paying dearly for it in November.”
