Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) scolded Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) for not wearing a mask on Monday night and used it as a springboard to attack President Donald Trump and Republicans for other issues that upset him.
“I’d start by asking the presiding officer to please wear a mask, as he speaks and people below him or, I can’t tell you what to do but I know that,” Brown said to Sullivan as he took the floor from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Sullivan, cutting Brown off, responded, “I don’t wear a mask when I’m speaking, like most senators. I don’t need your instruction.”
“I know you don’t need my instruction but there clearly isn’t much interest in this body in public health,” Brown shot back. “We have a president who hasn’t shown up at the coronavirus task force meeting in months. We have a majority leader that calls us back here to vote on an unqualified nominee.”
Trump has not attended a coronavirus task force meeting in five months, according to The Washington Post Sunday.
WATCH:
.@SenSherrodBrown: "I'd start by asking the presiding officer to please wear a mask as he speaks…"@SenDanSullivan: "I don't wear a mask when I'm speaking, like most Senators…I don't need your instruction." pic.twitter.com/WQH04hCD53
— CSPAN (@cspan) November 17, 2020
Referencing GOP staffers present in the chamber, Brown continued, “At the same time to vote for judge after judge after judge, exposing all the people who can’t say anything. I understand the people in front of you and the presiding officer and expose all the staff here.”
“The American people sent a clear message in this election; they voted for stability,” Brown went on, pivoting to back to Trump. “They rejected an administration that has failed them in the middle of a public health crisis and an economic crisis. People want a government that works for them and is on their side.”
“My colleagues in both parties know this. I know some of you feel like you have to humor the outgoing president, continue to make excuses for him, continue to run from the media, when they might ask a question,” Brown added.
In 2017, Brown and former Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) got into a shouting match during a tax bill debate in the Senate Finance Committee. As The Daily Wire reported, when Brown accused Republicans of caring only about the wealthy, Hatch went off on him, saying in part:
Listen, I honored you by allowing you to spout off here. And what you said was not right, that’s all I’m saying. I come from the lower middle-class originally. We didn’t have anything. So don’t spew that stuff on me. I get a little tired of that crap. And let me just say something – if we work together, we could pull this country out of every mess it’s in, and we could do a lot of the things that you’re talking about, too. And I think I’ve got a reputation of having worked together with Democrats … I’ve got more bills passed than everybody on this committee put together. And they’ve been passed for the benefit of the people in this country. And all I can say is, I like you personally very much, but I’m tellin’ ya this bull crap that you guys throw out here gets old after a while. To do it right at the end of this was just not right. It takes a lot to get me worked up like this.