Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) swore at a House staffer Friday after a GOP aide told him he did not have to wear a mask anymore according to federal guidelines.
The Hill’s Scott Wong reported the incident over Twitter:
Another verbal altercation just happened in the House:
[Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-GA)] spokesman Nick Dyer told @RepSwalwell: “Biden says you can take off your mask”
Swalwell confronted Dyer, got in his face and according to Dyer, said: “You don’t tell me what to f***ing do!”
Another verbal altercation just happened in the House:
MTG’s spokesman Nick Dyer told @RepSwalwell: “Biden says you can take off your mask”
Swalwell confronted Dyer, got in his face and according to Dyer, said: “You don’t tell me what to fucking do!”
— Scott Wong (@scottwongDC) May 14, 2021
Swalwell responded to Wong’s coverage, not disputing any part of the reported interaction and saying he should have been “more explicit.”
“I had a mask on as I stepped off the Floor. An aide with @mtgreenee yelled at me to take my mask off. No one should be bullied for wearing a mask. So I told the bully what I thought of his order. Predictably, he went speechless. I regret I wasn’t more explicit,” Swalwell, who is vaccinated, said.
I had a mask on as I stepped off the Floor. An aide with @mtgreenee yelled at me to take my mask off. No one should be bullied for wearing a mask. So I told the bully what I thought of his order. Predictably, he went speechless. I regret I wasn’t more explicit. https://t.co/o8j0DXWOBm
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) May 14, 2021
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced new guidance on mask-wearing for vaccinated people on Thursday, saying that those who have received the COVID-19 vaccine can go without wearing a mask in almost all situations. As The Daily Wire reported:
Under the new guidance, the CDC says Americans who have been fully vaccinated — those who received their final dose more than 14 days prior — don’t need to wear masks for most indoor or outdoor activities. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said the guidance update reflects new data and scientific literature.
“Anyone who is fully vaccinated can participate in indoor and outdoor activities, large or small, without wearing a mask or physically distancing,” Dr. Walensky told reporters in a virtual press conference on Thursday afternoon. “If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that we have stopped doing because of the pandemic.”
The CDC’s recommendations only apply to people who have been fully vaccinated, and don’t apply when inside of homeless shelters, corrections centers, health care facilities or in places where masks are required by law. Walensky also said immunocompromised people should consult with their physician on what they should do first.
She also warned “there is always a chance we may need to make a change to these recommendations” if things were to get worse. “But we know that the more people are vaccinated, the less cases we will have, and the less chance of a new spike or additional variants emerging,” she said.
Last year, Republicans called on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to strip Swalwell of his spot on the House Intelligence Committee after he was found to have associated with a suspected Chinese spy.
“We write to you today out of concern with Congressman Eric Swalwell’s reported, close contacts with a Chinese Communist Party spy recently reported by Axios,” a letter by 17 House Republicans said. “Because of Rep. Swalwell’s position on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, his close interactions with Chinese intelligence services, however unintentional they may be, are an unacceptable national security risk.”
Pelosi ultimately ignored the GOP calls, keeping Swalwell on the committee.
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Source: Dailywire
