The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention went past its authority on mask mandates, and extended the rule for airlines and other forms of mass transit twice because it wanted "more time to do a study that they don't want to talk about," and never gave a reason for keeping the masks, Rep. Byron Donalds told Newsmax on Wednesday.
"That's not the process of rule-making in the United States," the Florida Republican said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America," while noting that he agrees with U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle in Florida, who earlier this week struck down the federal mask mandate for all forms of public transportation.
"If you're going to come out with an order, you have to give the public an opportunity to understand why," Donalds said. "All the CDC was doing here was continuing the extension because they wanted to. They never gave the public a reason. They never gave the airlines a reason. I think the judge's order is appropriate and glad she made the decision."
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in March that her agency wanted to continue to study the science behind COVID-19 transmission, as well as the possibility of encountering a "variant of concern or a variant of interest in our travel corridors."
Donalds, however, argued that the data is already out there from the airlines that because of filtration systems, planes are safe for travel, and if not, "we would have known about it way before today," as the spread would have shown up during the omicron and delta variants of COVID-19.
He further said that in his travels, he has noticed that most people, even though being required to mask up, end up with them "drooping off their faces."
The Biden administration has said they may appeal Mizelle's decision, based on what the CDC may recommend, but Donalds called on the White House to "get real, follow the science for once, and stop dealing with this silly mandate on aircrafts."
The congressman also on Wednesday commented on White House press secretary Jen Psaki and her tearful comments about the Florida parental rights bill, when she became emotional during a podcast appearance and called the legislation "harsh and cruel to a community of kids."
"Jen Psaki needs to save her tears for the 13 men and women who died under Joe Biden's stale leadership in Afghanistan, [and] to save her tears for the young girls who are being raped due to Joe Biden's reckless immigration policies because, yes, young girls are being raped as they're being trafficked into the United States," said Donalds.
He also defended the Florida bill, which prohibits in-school discussions about gender or sexual orientation with children in grades K-3.
"In what world is it OK to talk to an 8-year-old about their sexual identity?" said Donalds. "It's crazy to me that we're even having this conversation. I have three sons. There is no way I would want any teacher talking to any one of my sons when they were in the third grade about their gender identity or their sexual orientation.
"It is incomprehensible, but this is proof positive of where the radical left has gone. They would rather kids be indoctrinated on this stuff, but they would have no problem with young girls being raped as they're being trafficked into the United States."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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