Pelosi Calls McCarthy A ‘Moron’ For Criticizing Mask Mandate

On Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) called House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) a “moron” for criticizing House’s new mask mandate on Tuesday night.

“Make no mistake—The threat of bringing masks back is not a decision based on science, but a decision conjured up by liberal government officials who want to continue to live in a perpetual pandemic state,” McCarthy tweeted.

The new mask rule was ordered by Brian Monahan, the Capitol physician, in response to growing cases of delta variant of the COVID-19. 

“All individuals should wear a well-fitted, medical-grade filtration mask (for example an ear loop surgical mask or a KN95 mask) when they are in an interior space,” Monahan said. “For meetings in an enclosed US House of Representatives controlled space, masks are REQUIRED.”

On Wednesday morning, Pelosi showed up in a lower House chamber with her mask per Monahan’s new guidelines.

“That’s the purview of the Capitol Physician … the mandate from him. I have nothing to say about that except we honor it,” Pelosi told reporters on Wednesday.

In response to McCarthy’s tweet the night before, Pelosi simply said: “He’s such a moron.”

In these recent few weeks, the number of COVID-19 cases has been surging across the country, even among fully vaccinated people.

CDC has said that it is closely monitoring the situation and looking at reevaluating the current COVID-19 guidelines amid the growing cases caused by more highly contagious strands like delta variants.

Tensions between two party leaders in the lower House are growing amid the clash in selecting members for the special committee.

On Monday, McCarthy called Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming) and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Illinois), “Pelosi Republicans” as the Speaker handpicked them to be on the special committee. 

This remark comes as two of McCarthy’s choices were rejected by Pelosi, who refused to accept congressmen who had promoted conspiracy theories on the committee.

Article by Dongyoon Shin