Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is arguing against establishing a no-fly list for people that are unvaccinated against COVID-19, calling the suggestion “authoritarian.”
During Thursday’s appearance on Fox News, host Brian Kilmeade asked Paul about comments made by a former Department of Homeland Security official suggesting “vaccinated people should no longer carry the burden for unvaccinated people” in a piece for The Atlantic.
Calling the argument “obscene,” Paul explained, “If we now disagree in our personal medical decisions with the left, they’re going to declare that we’re a terrorist and that we can’t fly.”
Paul claimed even if there is a no-fly list, “Even the CDC says you’re not supposed to get vaccinated if you’ve been infected within three months. So what are we going to do? Tell people that can’t fly for three months, even according to the CDC?”
Watch the video below:
What could be more authoritarian than the no-fly list for people who disagree with you? pic.twitter.com/R7sv9imMkJ
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) August 5, 2021
The senator explained it “makes no sense,” saying it is “complete collectivism, and all of these people, are the same people who hooted and hollered and said ‘Trump is leading us to authoritarianism.’”
He asked, “What could be more authoritarian than a no-fly list for people who disagree with you?”
Juliette Kayyem, a former assistant secretary for homeland security under President Barack Obama, is the author behind the piece in The Atlantic.
She wrote, “While flying, vaccinated people should no longer carry the burden for unvaccinated people. The White House has rejected a nationwide vaccine mandate—a sweeping suggestion that the Biden administration could not easily enact if it wanted to—but a no-fly list for unvaccinated adults is an obvious step that the federal government should take.”
Kayyem added, “It will help limit the risk of transmission at destinations where unvaccinated people travel—and, by setting norms that restrict certain privileges to vaccinated people, will also help raise the stagnant vaccination rates that are keeping both the economy and society from fully recovering.”
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 165.3 million Americans are fully vaccinated, as of Wednesday morning. The director of the CDC, Rochelle Walensky, confirmed on Twitter there would be no nationwide vaccine mandate.