Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is ditching his mask while at work in the U.S. Capitol.
“At this point I’ve been vaccinated. Everybody working in the Senate has been vaccinated,” he told CNN on Thursday.
After a reporter brought up the issue of federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, Cruz waved aside the objection.
“CDC has said in small groups, particularly with people who were vaccinated don’t need to wear masks,” he said.
When Cruz was challenged that some media members have not been vaccinated, Cruz replied, “At this point, virtually everyone here has been vaccinated. And everyone has the opportunity.”
Cruz joins Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky as the only openly maskless Republican senators.
Paul, who had the coronavirus last year, has said he now has antibodies against it.
Although the rules for the House mandate masks, the Senate has no such requirement.
Cruz became the target of CNN’s Chris Cuomo for his action, but fired right back.
Hey Chris — did your bother “believe in science” when he sent Covid-positive patients into nursing homes, killed tens of thousands of New Yorkers & then repeatedly lied about it??
Oh, I forgot, CNN won’t cover that…. https://t.co/OkEBplHFbE
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) April 16, 2021
Cruz has teed off on masks before, telling the Conservative Political Action Conference that the way medical guidance was going, citizens would be compelled to don masks for “the next 300 years.”
He added, “Not just one mask, two three, four. You can’t have too many masks. How much virtue do you want to signal? This is just dumb.”
Last month, Cruz was hectored by a reporter who wanted him to wear a mask while speaking at a news conference.
“Yeah, when I’m talking to the TV camera, I’m not going to wear a mask. All of us have been immunized,” Cruz said.
“It’d make us feel better,” the reporter insisted.
Reporter: “Would you mind putting on a mask for us?”
Sen. Cruz: “When I’m talking to a TV camera, I’m not going to wear a mask. All of us have been immunized.”
Reporter: “It’d make us feel better.”
Sen. Cruz: “You’re welcome to step away if you’d like.”pic.twitter.com/7jJlbXcTae
— Alex Salvi (@alexsalvinews) March 25, 2021
“You’re welcome to step away if you’d like,” Cruz shot back.
The CDC website has this to say about people who have been vaccinated wearing masks.
“You can gather indoors with fully vaccinated people without wearing a mask or staying 6 feet apart,” the CDC said.
“You can gather indoors with unvaccinated people of any age from one other household (for example, visiting with relatives who all live together) without masks or staying 6 feet apart, unless any of those people or anyone they live with has an increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19.”
The CDC also suggests wearing a mask in public as a precaution.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.