Throughout 2020, even as his own health officials emphasized the importance of mask-wearing as a way to slow the virus that's killed over 600 thousand Americans, former President Donald Trump railed against masks and resisted wearing one in public.
This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised Americans to begin wearing masks again in public indoor settings in high-transmission areas, regardless of vaccination status.
The reversal of May guidelines that removed mask recommendations for vaccinated Americans was in response to the skyrocketing cases of the Delta variant of the virus, whose transmissibility and severity is far worse than the original strain that upended daily life in America for more than a year.
Even as cases, hospitalizations, and deaths continue to skyrocket, the former President—a constant source of deliberate disinformation regarding the pandemic and the threat posed by the virus—weighed in to encourage his supporters not to heed public health expert.
Banned from Twitter, the statement was issued by his spokeswoman, serial liar Liz Harrington.
NEW!\n\n"We won\u2019t go back. We won\u2019t mask our children. Joe Biden and his Administration learned nothing from the last year. Brave Americans learned how to safely and responsibly live and fight back. Don\u2019t surrender\u00a0to COVID. Don\u2019t go back!"pic.twitter.com/Pp1y6BMxNI— Liz Harrington (@Liz Harrington) 1627432090
The statement reads:
"We won't go back. We won't mask our children. Joe Biden & his Administration learned nothing from the last year. Brave Americans learned how to safely & responsibly live & fight back. Don't surrender to COVID. Don't go back! Why do Democrats distrust the science? Don't let this happen to our children or our Country."
Trump urged his followers to flout public health guidelines for the sake of America's children, who are being hospitalized at much higher rates thanks to the severity of the Delta variant. Like many Republicans, Trump has come out against enforcing mask usage for children, despite a new school year looming and no vaccination eligibility for children under 12.
Trump's latest statement is dangerous, and people called him out.
Don't "surrender" to COVID? Do you think there's a scenerio where you "defeat" it without vaccines and masks? Living responsibly and safely means masking up.— Michelle Barrineau (@Michelle Barrineau) 1627433972
The defeated president says: \u201cBrave Americans learned how to safely and responsibly live and fight back.\u201d \n\nMy question: does that group of \u201cbrave Americans\u201d include the 600,000+ who died?— Keith Murray (@Keith Murray) 1627436525
It's a pandemic&You should know this.We can't "Tell" it to go back. We keep it controlled with vaccines masks & precautions.With Delta moving faster&being more contagious, we have no choice but to go back to what we were doing.Thanks to Antivax we now have Delta.— Growl (@Growl) 1627443941
This is appalling.— \u3010R.G.B.\u00a9\u3011\ud83d\udc48\ud83c\udffc \ud83c\udf0e\ud83c\udf35 (@\u3010R.G.B.\u00a9\u3011\ud83d\udc48\ud83c\udffc \ud83c\udf0e\ud83c\udf35) 1627441809
This is SO like, "Get offa my lawn."\nSad.\nPeople are dead and dying because of the people behind this account.— Lowicious Bridge (@Lowicious Bridge) 1627432799
How many Republican voters is Donny willing to sacrifice? When is his next super-spreader event?— Deb Sommer (@Deb Sommer) 1627433011
Trump is supposedly permanently banned from Twitter, after his petty insults and incessant lies sparked a deadly failed insurrection against the United States Capitol.
But Liz Harrington eagerly uses her account to issue statements on Trump's behalf, including the same lies that prompted the Capitol Riots and the same medical disinformation that's contributed to untold numbers of deaths.
People are sick of Twitter allowing it to continue.
@TwitterSafety -- this account is being used to subvert your ban on Donald Trump. She is spreading his dangerous lies and rhetoric. Do your rules even matter?https://twitter.com/realLizUSA/status/1420179237789749250\u00a0\u2026— \ud83c\udf0a \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 Beagles resist daily \ud83d\ude37\u267f (@\ud83c\udf0a \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 Beagles resist daily \ud83d\ude37\u267f) 1627480857
@TwitterSupport @jack wtf is this\u2026he is banned no?— Voodoo 7 (@Voodoo 7) 1627432480
Meanwhile, a number of Republicans in the House of Representatives are refusing to wear masks while inside the Capitol, in defiance of rules placed by the House Physician.
