President Joe Biden said Wednesday that moves by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and others to lift statewide Covid restrictions showed "Neanderthal thinking."
“I think it’s a big mistake. I hope everyone has realized right now these masks make a difference," Biden said of the decision to lift mask mandates and other Covid mitigation measures.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican, laid into Biden for his comments Wednesday.
"President Biden said allowing Mississippians to decide how to protect themselves is 'neanderthal thinking.' Mississippians don’t need handlers," Reeves wrote in a tweet. "As numbers drop, they can assess their choices and listen to experts. I guess I just think we should trust Americans, not insult them."
In a statement to POLITICO, Abbott spokesperson Renae Eze said Abbott was "clear in telling Texans that COVID hasn’t ended, and that all Texans should follow medical advice and safe practices to continue containing COVID."
"The fact is, Texas now has the tools and knowledge to combat COVID while also allowing Texans and small businesses to make their own decisions," Eze said. "It is clear from the recoveries, the vaccinations, the reduced hospitalizations, and the safe practices that Texans are using, that state mandates are no longer needed. We must now do more to restore livelihoods and normalcy for Texans."
Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), said on MSNBC Wednesday that Abbott's move to lift restrictions "defies logic," calling on Texas to not listen to Abbott and to wear masks.
"The last time that he prematurely reopened the state we saw death, devastation, misery, both on the
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/0...s-473348health front as well as the economic front. Businesses died. People died," Escobar said.
Bookmarks