Healthcare

Rand Paul: ‘Dr. Fauci needs to put up or shut up’

Published

8 months ago

March 24, 2021

Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul’s ongoing mask feud with Infectious Disease Expert Dr. Anthony Fauci continued on Fox News Tuesday.

Paul spoke with host Neil Cavuto to talk about his recent exchanges with Dr. Fauci regarding forcing people to wear face masks after they have received the coronavirus vaccine.

“If the government is going to tell you can’t go anywhere unless you’re wearing a mask, they should tell you why and they should present the evidence,” Paul said.

Paul is asking the government to provide evidence that those who have been infected with the coronavirus or those that have been vaccinated are still transmitting the disease.

Paul went on to describe Fauci’s approach to masks as “emotionalism and fear-mongering.”

“Dr. Fauci needs to put up or shut up,” Paul told Cavuto. “He needs to show us the scientific evidence that it’s a problem after you’ve been vaccinated or after you’ve already got the disease naturally.”

Paul said the choice to wear a mask or not to wear a mask should be left to the individual.

“I’m unequivocally for freedom, for a free society. Each individual would make their own decisions,” he said, adding that those with increased health risks may prefer to continue wearing masks.

Paul explained that if Fauci presented evidence proving that vaccinations or prior infection were not effective against new virus variants, he would reassess his stance on masks.

“But so far all he’s telling me is his opinion,” Paul said. “Really their opinion is, look, they had another one of these vaccine doctors on television, he was like, ‘Oh, it’s about civility.’ Civility is not science. For goodness sakes, show us some evidence to back up these mandates.”

Cavuto asked Paul if he has continued to follow the mask mandate after receiving the vaccination.

“We do what we’re forced to do to live in Dr. Fauci’s world,” Paul said.

Follow Annaliese Levy on Twitter @AnnalieseLevy

Healthcare

American and Southwest stand by vaccine mandate, despite Abbott’s ban

Published

2 months ago

October 13, 2021

Staff Writer

American Airlines and Southwest Airlines are still planning to comply with President Biden’s executive order regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. The order requires all their employees to be vaccinated by Dec. 8t. As a result, they will be ignoring Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s ban on vaccine mandates.

Folks, vaccination requirements work. pic.twitter.com/XuBsOQxGaN
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 9, 2021

Abbott announced his own executive order, effectively banning mandates even from private employers, on Tuesday. “In another instance of federal overreach, the Biden Administration is now bullying many private entities into imposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates, causing workforce disruptions that threaten Texas’ continued recovery from the COVID-19 disaster,” Abbott said. “The COVID-19 vaccine is safe, effective, and our best defense against the virus, but should remain voluntary and never forced.”

Yet both airlines are requiring their employees to be vaccinated by Nov. 24. This comes despite Southwest’s impromptu cancellation of over 2,000 flights over the weekend. At the time, the airline blamed the cancellations on air traffic control and weather conditions. However, SaraACarter.com was unable to verify that any other airline had to cancel near as many flights for the same reasons. This has left many to speculate that Southwest actually cancelled flights due to their employees walking out as a direct result of the mandate.

Just got passed this flyer from a Southwest employee #FreedomFlu pic.twitter.com/Q5gXGhxoma
— Handbrake Poso (@JackPosobiec) October 13, 2021

Reporter Jack Posobiec tweeted out a flyer circulating among the anti-vaxx Southwest employees. Currently, they are planning a protest outside of Southwest headquarters next Monday. The protest will be called “Freedom Not Force.”

Southwest told Reuters it “would be expected to comply with the President’s Order to remain compliant as a federal contractor.” In addition, American similarly said Abbott’s order does not change anything.

You can follow Jenny Goldsberry on Twitter @jennyjournalism.