Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) is going after Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) for not wearing a mask in the Senate.
During a visit to a Columbus mass vaccination site on Tuesday, Brown acknowledged most senators wear masks, but then mentioned Paul.
“One of them that’s an M.D., isn’t, but he’s kind of a lunatic,” Brown said, as reported by the Cincinnati Enquirer.
He continued, “He thinks he wants to be different but it doesn’t serve the public interest.”
A spokeswoman for Paul responded, “Vaccine deniers, who dispute immunity after natural infection and after vaccination, should refrain from name-calling and perhaps try to get informed.”
In March, Paul engaged in a heated conversation with Dr. Anthony Fauci over whether people who are vaccinated against COVID-19 should wear masks, as IJR previously reported.
“You’re telling everybody to wear a mask, whether they’ve had an infection or vaccine. What I’m saying is they have immunity, and everybody agrees they have immunity,” Paul said during a Senate hearing.
He added, “What studies do you have that people who’ve had the vaccine or have had the infection are spreading the infection? If we’re not spreading the infection isn’t it just theater?”
Fauci replied, “No, it’s not…”
Paul pushed back, “You have the vaccine, and you’re wearing two masks, isn’t that theater?”
Fauci responded, “Here we go again with the theater.”
The health expert later hit back at Paul for the exchange, as IJR previously reported.
“He completely does not take into account the variants. He quotes literature which is selective in how he quotes it,” Fauci said.
When talking about people being “tired” of restrictions amid the pandemic, Fauci said, “We’re not saying doing this indefinitely. We’re not saying this is the way it’s going to have to be all the time. We’re saying that if you look at the data and look at the science, there is a chance that you can get in trouble if you pull back too prematurely.”
