Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Monday pointed to large maskless crowds at Sunday’s Super Bowl while taking aim at policies that impose school mask mandates on children.
McConnell, speaking from the Senate floor, singled out celebrities who dotted the massive crowd in SoFi Stadium who were seen not wearing masks, using it as a chance to question why children in some school districts still had to wear face coverings in the classroom.
“Americans who watched the Super Bowl saw rich celebrities having a grand time with hardly a mask in sight. But under Democrats’ policies, first graders who watched that big maskless party last night had to wake up this morning and cover their own faces in order to go to school,” McConnell said.
NFL guidelines indicated that attendees were required to abide by certain COVID-19 protocols, including providing proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test from the past 48 hours as well as wearing a mask at all times inside the SoFi Stadium except for when they were eating or drinking.
Despite these rules, a bulk of the 80,000 people in the crowd were seen on television on Sunday without masks on as they watched the Los Angeles Rams face off against the Cincinnati Bengals.
“Americans classrooms seem to be the last places where local, state and federal Democrats will accept that cost benefit calculations exist and zero transmission is simply not possible,” McConnell added.
Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) on Monday similarly criticized celebrities who were seen going maskless at the Super Bowl.
“I think this is just increasingly frustrating for Americans as this ‘rules for thee, but not for me’ nonsense occurs,” Crenshaw said while appearing on “Fox & Friends.”
“They really don’t believe the masks work or they are effective in these cases. They know that people can go out and live their lives. They will continue to do it and not note the hypocrisy that they are engaging in,” Crenshaw said.
Several Democratic governors in the last week have moved to ease or lift mask mandates indoors, citing a decrease in case loads and hospitalization rate, but some of those states are still requiring children to wear them in school.
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) rescinded all state-issued mask mandates in his state last week due to optimistic pandemic metrics. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) lifted mask mandates for schools in his state, which will take effect in coming weeks.
“Rate of transmission, positivity rate hospitalizations, cases in school transmissions — all going in a dramatically good direction,” Murphy said on Sunday when discussing his decision. “The fact of the matter is our experience is very different right now from the average American state’s experience.”