Organizers of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) were met with boos from attendees after asking them to wear masks.
“Does the Bill of Rights matter? The First Amendment, it matters,” CPAC executive director Dan Schneider said.
He added, “We conservatives believe in the rule of law, because we know that when the laws enforced, our rights are protected.”
Schneider explained, “I know this might sound like a little bit of a downer, but we also believe in property rights, and this is a private hotel and we believe in the rule of law. So we need to comply with the laws of this county that we’re in. A private hotel just like your house gets to set its own rules.”
He turned it over to CPAC planner Carly Conley where she told attendees, “We are in a private facility and we do want to be respectful of the ordinances that they have as their private property.”
Watch their comments below:
CPAC organizers were met with boos this morning as they encouraged the crowd inside a Florida hotel ballroom to put on face masks in compliance with the host venue’s policies. https://t.co/LwxuF3kHig pic.twitter.com/BjfooM8Tl8
— POLITICO (@politico) February 26, 2021
She continued, “So please everyone, when you’re in a ballroom when you’re seated, you should still be wearing a mask. So if everybody can go ahead, work on that.”
Shouts of “freedom!” spread across the crowd accompanied by boos.
Conley responded, “I know, I know it’s, it’s not the most fun.”
Schneider chimed in, “You have the right to set the own rules in your own house, and were borrowing somebody else’s house.
He added, “So we need to comply with their rules. So thank you all for putting on your masks. I wear a mask when I’m in the halls, and we’re going to comply with their rules.”
They left the stage and told the attendees to have a good conference and received some applause.
On Monday, the United States reached 500,000 COVID-19 deaths, as IJR reported.