GOP Rep. Cawthorn likens vaccine mandates to ‘modern-day segregation’

Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) compared vaccine mandates to “modern-day segregation” during a television appearance on Tuesday, Mediaite reported. 

Newsmax host Chris Salcedo asked Cawthorn about an incident at a New York City restaurant last week in which a hostess was assaulted by three women who were denied entry due to not having proof of vaccination. 

The women, who are Black, said the hostess made a racist remark, which the restaurant denied, according to Mediaite.

All restaurants in the city are required to confirm customers’ vaccination status before allowing entry, Mediaite reported. 

When Salcedo noted the high rate of vaccine hesitancy in the Black community, Cawthorn responded with his comments about segregation.

“I can’t believe I’m actually agreeing with them, but this is weaponized mandates, when no American, regardless of skin color, should be giving up their personal liberty so easily. … Right now, what you’re seeing is, you’re seeing this medical apartheid, which is causing modern-day segregation,” Cawthorn said. 

“Every single minority activist should be up in arms right now, saying, ‘You are hurting the people who need help the very most with this actual mandate.’ It should be rescinded, and we should never be a country that forces mandates down the throats of Americans,” he added.

Cawthorn’s comments come as the U.S. is seeing another wave of COVID-19 infections, with the highly contagious delta variant hitting unvaccinated populations particularly hard.

President Biden announced earlier this month that all private employers with 100 or more employees will be required to mandate COVID-19 vaccines or weekly testing.