Exercising one's right to freedom of religion may be more difficult in the days of coronavirus, but there is no reason churches can't be open if it's done safely, Sen. Rick Scott said Tuesday.
"We have to wear masks, whether we like it or not," the Florida Republican said on Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "They are hot and no fun to wear. We have to social distance. If you are doing those things, there's no reason you should not be able to exercise your First Amendment right."
Scott pointed out that while he was governor of Florida, there were hurricanes, and part of his job was to educate everyone, and the current situation is the same.
"We know if we wash our hands, we know if we wear a mask, we are probably not going to get this and we stay safe," said Scott. "People shouldn't be getting close to each other, they should do it very safely. We have to get our economy reopened, we have to be able to worship and the First Amendment exercises our right to practice religion.
In other matters, Scott last week filed a bill about protecting American vaccine research from China, and he said Tuesday that it's known that China wants to be in a "Cold War" with the United States.
"They are not coming here and impacting our ability to get our vaccines done," said Scott. "I want to make sure that before anyone comes here, before it has anything to do with the research, they will make sure that they will not impact the ability to get this vaccine done. That will ensure that we keep the world safe."
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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