Conservatives Sound the Alarm as Biden Returns to Masking
Progressives aren’t very creative. When they find something that more or less works in their favor — as in giving them more power — they’re eager to try it again.
That’s the tune that must have whistled through the vacant spaces of Joe Biden’s mind when he found out his wife Jill Biden tested positive for COVID on Monday. A light bulb went off in the dim recesses of Joe’s cobweb-addled mind. Bring back the masks!
Nothing too radical at first. President Biden donning an indoor mask will showcase him leading by example. It’s a good way to gauge whether or not the progressive base, at least, will buy into the whole masking thing again. If they do, maybe they’ll comply with mandates without too much fuss. Maybe even lockdowns. Conservatives, of course, are another story.
It was left to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre to set the plan in motion on Tuesday. She updated the press room on Jill Biden’s condition and the precautions the president will employ as this round of the virus circulates through the country, Fox News reported.
“I can tell you that the first lady is experiencing mild symptoms and will remain in Delaware for the week,” Jean-Pierre began. “President Biden tested negative last night for COVID-19 and tested negative again today. He’s not experiencing any symptoms. As far as the steps he is taking since the president was with the first lady yesterday, he will be masking while indoors and around people in alignment with CDC guidance.”
There it is, the good old “CDC guidance.” We’ve seen that before. It’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks when the old ones worked so well.
“As has been the practice in the past,” Jean-Pierre added, “the president will remove his mask when sufficiently distant from others indoors and while outside as well.”
Biden’s willingness to go back to masking at the drop of a hat sparked immediate retaliation from conservative social media users who unloaded on X, the social media platform formerly called Twitter.
DC Draino posted, “They’re bringing back masks.”
🚨Joe Biden will be officially wearing a mask again
Alex Jones was right
They’re bringing back masks
— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) September 5, 2023
Deputy Spokesman for Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy Chad Gilmartin posted, “‘I’m going to shut down the virus.’ —Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign promise.”
“I’m going to shut down the virus.”
—Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign promise https://t.co/yz6lYrYNuy
— Chad Gilmartin (@ChadGilmartinCA) September 5, 2023
Conservative talk show host Buck Sexton wrote, “Masks do not work, but Biden is announcing he will be wearing a mask. This is true mental illness. The country has lunatics at the helm.”
Masks do not work, but Biden is announcing he will be wearing a mask. This is true mental illness. The country has lunatics at the helm.
pic.twitter.com/Rm7jHO9ENA— Buck Sexton (@BuckSexton) September 5, 2023
Another X user pointed out, “Day after Labor Day, it’s announced that Jill Biden has Covid and Joe is going to wear a mask again. We are OFFICIALLY in 2024 Presidential Campaign Season.”
I’m amazed at the clock work.
Day after Labor Day, it’s announced that Jill Biden has Covid and Joe is going to wear a mask again.
We are OFFICIALLY in 2024 Presidential Campaign Season.— Conservative Momma (@conmomma) September 5, 2023
It’s been known since at least 2021 that masks are largely ineffective when it comes to COVID. Dr. Paul Elias Alexander published an article in December 2021 for the Center for Neurology and Spine that compared 150 studies on masks. The conclusion? “The body of evidence indicates that face masks are largely ineffective.” Nothing has changed much since then, though there’s still plenty of controversy swirling around the subject.
The debate about whether or not face masks work to effectively prevent respiratory infections such as COVID continues to split the scientific community, as it has for years. Nothing’s changed there, either. The debate will continue, just like it will concerning climate change.
The point is, at best, the jury is still out on whether masks are effective when it comes to COVID. If it makes any difference, Jill Biden was double-vaccinated and twice boosted against the virus, according to Fox. And yet this is the second time she has been infected with the virus. The first time was in August 2022.
How many people do you know who were vaccinated and still came down with the virus? Claims that vaccinated people do not get sick are somewhat specious because they assume the person would have gotten more ill if they had not been vaccinated. But they were vaccinated, so there is no way to ascertain if they would have more severe cases of COVID if they had not been vaccinated. Each person is different. Predicting what might have happened is largely conjecture on a case-by-case basis. That’s not science.
Whatever the case — I’m no doctor, and I don’t play one on the internet — conservatives are right in sounding the alarm about Biden’s willingness to mask up. If he actually listened to both sides of the mask argument, he’d know that masks are at the very least suspect when applied to COVID.
Conservative media personality Katie Pavlich was to the point in her X post: “Your regular reminder that masks are garbage against COVID/Wuhan coronavirus and do not work. In fact, they cause harm with lung damage and cancerous materials.”
Your regular reminder that masks are garbage against COVID/Wuhan coronavirus and do not work. In fact, they cause harm with lung damage and cancerous materials. Not to mention the massive environmental pollution. https://t.co/6xKhLyXVcj
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) September 5, 2023
Federalist senior editor Benjamin Weingarten summed it up best when he posted, “They never stop. They never quit.”
They never stop. They never quit. https://t.co/UKihHAQRPc
— Benjamin Weingarten (@bhweingarten) September 5, 2023
Progressives are like a virus. They never quit. The problem with Biden is that he’s stuck on the old version of COVID. If he tries to implement mask mandates again, he’ll find that loads of Americans on both sides of the political divide will simply not comply.
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