The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made the somewhat surprising call on Thursday to ease indoor mask requirements for those who have been fully vaccinated — this coming after President Joe Biden made a show out of wearing a mask last week, even when outdoors.
The change comes as Biden faces a number of crises, from rockets raining down on ally Israel from Hamas terrorists, to a ransomware attack that shut down the largest fuel supplier on the Eastern Seaboard, to the crisis on the southern border, which may be as bad as it has ever been in history, the world seems to be on fire. And that doesn’t include last week’s dismal jobs report and growing concerns about inflation that’s reportedly impacting the stock market.
All of which has U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., chair of the House Freedom Caucus, smelling a rat over the CDC announcement on masks.
“While the new mask guidance is encouraging, the CDC and my far radical left colleagues only chose to do this to distract from the consequences of catastrophic policy decisions that have been heard around the world,” Biggs said, according to Fox News. “Inflation is rising, the Middle East is in shambles, the working class can’t fill up their gas tanks, our border is being overrun and the Biden Administration’s leadership is nowhere to be found.”
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., seems to feel the same way.
“Why today? The science hasn’t changed,” Blackburn tweeted, taking into account that until Thursday the CDC was singing a different tune.
Why today? The science hasn’t changed.
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) May 13, 2021
Fox News reported that CDC Director Rochelle Walensky’s announcement “marked a significant departure in recent guidance from the agency, which warned as recently as late March of ‘impending doom’ as some states loosened restrictions.”
States such as Texas and Florida. Red states.
Biden appeared in the White House Rose Garden — sans a mask — to essentially take credit for the “great milestone.”
“I think it’s a great milestone, a great day,” Biden said. “It’s been made possible by the extraordinary success we’ve had in vaccinating so many Americans so quickly.”
President Biden issued remarks on Thursday following new guidance from the CDC, which said that fully vaccinated Americans no longer need to wear a mask in most indoor and outdoor settings. https://t.co/IlnSKBlBBG pic.twitter.com/0eomKJqVUL
— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 13, 2021
U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., a member of the Freedom Caucus, referenced the Colonial Pipeline shakedown — the company reportedly paid a $4-5 million ransom to Eastern European hackers to get its operation back up.
“I welcome the relaxed CDC guidance, but presidents need to walk and chew gum at the same time,” Griffith said. “The White House has not shown great vigor in handling our other immediate national challenges, such as the cyberattack on Colonial Pipeline. I think the American people recognize that fact despite the CDC announcement, which merely caught up to the science on vaccines.”
The attack on the pipeline prompted panic-buying of gasoline in many states and the East Coast saw massive lines that haven’t been seen since the 70s, with many gas stations running out of fuel.
“About 68% of gas stations in North Carolina reported fuel outages, according to Gas Buddy. Roughly half of the gas stations in Georgia, South Carolina, Washington, D.C., and Virginia also reported outages,” Fox News reported.
When asked by reporters if he knew about the ransom payment, the president could only muster a “no comment.”
As for the southern border, 20 Republican governors submitted a letter to Biden this week blaming the crisis on his lax immigration policies and calling on him to start taking the crisis seriously and put a halt to it. The governors rejected attempts by his administration to house illegal aliens in their communities.
Speaking of governors, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk tweeted that the CDC mask announcement was a prelude to vaccine passports, calling on every governor in America to “get ahead of this curve and ban vaccine passports immediately.”
If you don’t see today’s CDC guidance as the groundwork for vaccine passports, you’re not paying attention.
Every GOP Governor in America should get ahead of this curve and ban vaccine passports immediately.
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) May 13, 2021
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The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
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