CNN tried to embarrass Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, after he clashed with a reporter who asked the lawmaker to put on a mask during a news conference, despite being already vaccinated.
Cruz approached the microphones on Wednesday, but was interrupted before he could speak by the unidentified reporter, asking, “Would you mind putting on a mask for us?”
“Yes, when I’m talking to the TV camera, I won’t be wearing a mask,” replied Cruz. “We were all immunized, so …”
When the report replied that wearing a mask “would make us feel better,” Cruz replied, “You can walk away if you want to.”
CRUZ SWATS TAKES OFF THE REPORTER’S REQUEST TO USE A MASK: ‘YOU ARE WELCOME TO STAY AWAY IF YOU WANT’
“The main point of the vaccine – the CDC’s guidance is what we are following,” added the senator with a laugh.
In Thursday’s “New Day” broadcast, CNN anchor John Berman began by asking the correspondent chief physician, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, to give a “diagnosis” to the “curious case of Ted Cruz” before playing a clip from exchange.
“So charming, right?” Gupta reacted with sarcasm.
MSNBC’S ANDREA MITCHELL BOTCHES ATTEMPT TO VERIFY THE SEN. TED CRUZ AT SHAKESPEARE QUOTE
Gupta rejected Cruz’s claim that he was following the CDC’s guidelines, citing the agency: “Even if you have been fully vaccinated, you still need to continue taking precautions in public places – wear a mask, stand two meters away, avoid crowds.”
“I know this reflects the conversation that the majority of society is now having in terms of what you can do if you have been fully vaccinated,” acknowledged the CNN doctor. “The concern is that for him, he is very well protected, I admit … but [the vaccines] are not perfect, so he can still get sick. In addition, the big wildcard here, as we have already talked about, are these variants. Even though he must be very well protected against serious illnesses and hospitalization because of the variants, he may not be as well protected against moderate illnesses, mild illnesses and the possibility of still transmitting the virus to someone else ”.
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“So when he’s not wearing a mask, he’s potentially putting other people in that room at risk. It’s as simple as that … When enough people have been vaccinated, when we’ve reduced the rates of viral transmission down , is when we can probably start to back off on that, “concluded Gupta.
There was no mention during the segment that neither President Biden, who was also vaccinated, nor the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, wear masks whenever they speak in public.