Dr. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/anthony-fauci" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Anthony Fauci</a>, former director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in an interview this week that people should stop blaming public health officials for mistakes that were made during the pandemic.
CNN&#8217;s Christiane Amanpour asked Fauci what he thinks he and the scientific community &#8220;got wrong&#8221; with the policies that they pushed for and implemented.
&#8220;What are the real takeaways, the real lessons for public health?&#8221; she asked.
&#8220;I think we have to get away from the blame game because so many of the things that you have mentioned were unknowns at the time,&#8221; Fauci responded. &#8220;It&#8217;s so easy.&#8221;
&#8220;This is really big time Monday morning quarterbacking here, which is what it is,&#8221; he claimed. &#8220;So, rather than have a blame game, and that&#8217;s one of the things that we have to stay away from because there were things that happened and it was a moving target and there were things that you did not know at the time and you had to, out of necessity, make a decision.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
“We have to get away from the blame game,” says Dr. Anthony Fauci. Shutdowns were necessary, he adds, but some “schools stayed closed far too long.”
That said, he says the school where his daughter taught shut down for two weeks and “they didn’t do too badly.” <a href="https://t.co/DlPnWShomj">pic.twitter.com/DlPnWShomj</a>
&mdash; Christiane Amanpour (@amanpour) <a href="https://twitter.com/amanpour/status/1651999361981722639?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 28, 2023</a></blockquote>
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TRANSCRIPT:
<blockquote>CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: You know, there were many instances, and we could play many and repeat many, you&#8217;re obviously very familiar, but, you know, the fisticuffs with people in Congress, presidential candidates, senators, governors, DeSantis, you know, and other people who just basically blamed you. They basically blamed you. They said everything you did was contrary to saving lives. As if you were in full charge.
So, I realize you&#8217;re going to say, well, no, I wasn&#8217;t in full charge. But I want to know what you think you and the community got wrong. Was the closing of the schools too draconian? How much of a delay did the fact that nobody fully understood the asymptomatic spread of this, nobody figured out that it could actually bus through certain vaccine levels as well?
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, FORMER DIRECTOR, U.S. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES AND FORMER CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISER TO THE U.S. PRESIDENT: Yes, yes.
AMANPOUR: What are the real takeaways, the real lessons for public health?
DR. FAUCI: Yes. I think we have to get away from the blame game because so many of the things that you have mentioned were unknowns at the time. It&#8217;s so easy, and I made that comment in my response to one of the questions that Davis Wallace-Wells asked me in the &#8212;
AMANPOUR: This is in &#8220;The New York Times&#8221; profile.
DR. FAUCI: In the &#8220;The New York Times&#8221; profile. And I didn&#8217;t mean it as an affront to him, but I said, you know, this is really big time Monday morning quarterbacking here, which is what it is. So, rather than have a blame game, and that&#8217;s one of the things that we have to stay away from because there were things that happened and it was a moving target and there were things that you did not know at the time and you had to, out of necessity, make a decision.
And sometimes the decision was partially right. For example, let me give you an example of a partially right decision. I think the idea, when you having trucks, that were cooler trucks, pulling up to hospitals in order to put bodies in because the morgues were overflowing and the hospital beds were being challenged that you had a triage, you had to shut down. I don&#8217;t think anybody who has any realistic evaluation knows that you&#8217;ve got to do something dramatic.
Once that&#8217;s done, then the thing that you need to now go back and analyze, I don&#8217;t think anyone would argue with the fact that you had to shut down, is how long you keep the shut down and how complete it is, how does that relate to schools when you shut down schools, if you do. And I have been very vocal about this and I think that people who like to point fingers, I say, go look and look at the tape. You know, the tale of the tape, when I kept on saying over and over again, we&#8217;ve got to get the children back to school as quickly as possible. We&#8217;ve got to get them in school safely and we&#8217;ve got to make sure that they are not essentially out of school, at home, getting it over the negative consequences.
Different parts of the country interpreted that differently. There were schools that stayed closed far too long and longer than they should have and there were those that essentially didn&#8217;t close at all. You know, my daughter is a school teacher in New Orleans, they closed out for two weeks, and we&#8217;re essentially open for the rest of the time and other schools &#8212;
AMANPOUR: The result was?
DR. FAUCI: And the result was, you know, they didn&#8217;t do too badly. I mean, the kids got infected, a lot of them did, you know, virtually. It was very difficult to determine, and say, well, if you shut down this long, you get no negative effect on the child and minimum effect on the infection, those studies weren&#8217;t done. It was just trying to do as best as you can in these circumstances that you are in.</blockquote>

30th Anniversary White House Correspondents’ Garden Brunch

Dr. Fauci On Mistakes Made During The Pandemic: ‘We Have To Get Away From The Blame Game’

COVID

COVID-19 Vaccine

Face Masks

Fauci

U.S.

Mayor Eric Adams (D-New York City) has advised local stores to <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/03/06/adams-shoppers-should-remove-face-masks-to-show-they-arent-criminals/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bar patrons from entry</a> if they refuse to remove their face masks, saying that they are more likely to be hiding from police than from exposure to COVID.
Adams — who allowed mask mandates to persist in his city for small children in schools until the summer of 2022, and made no move to push for the state to lift mandates for public transit that lapsed in September of 2022 and that expired for hospitals and health care centers in February of 2023 — has now called for stores to implement no-mask policies in an effort to boost a facial recognition initiative aimed at slowing <a class="c-link" href="https://dailywire.com/news/thats-not-perception-thats-reality-chris-wallace-wont-let-nyc-mayor-deflect-on-crime-stats/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://dailywire.com/news/thats-not-perception-thats-reality-chris-wallace-wont-let-nyc-mayor-deflect-on-crime-stats/" data-sk="tooltip_parent">rampant crime</a> across the city.
During an interview with 1010-WINS, the NYC Mayor explained, &#8220;Do not allow people to enter the store without taking off their face mask and then once they’re inside they can continue to wear if they so desire to do so. &#8230; When you see these mask-wearing people, oftentimes it’s not about being fearful of the pandemic. It’s fearful of the police catching [them] for their deeds.&#8221;
The facial recognition initiative is designed not just to combat shoplifting but to aid police in identifying repeat offenders and suspects who might also be tied to other, potentially more serious, criminal activity.
Adams went on to say that his intent was not to make anyone feel unsafe, adding that after lowering their mask upon entry, shoppers who wanted to put their masks back on due to concerns over their health would be permitted to do so.
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The mayor also noted that the burden of ensuring shoppers adhered to the new policy would not be foisted off solely onto the business owners, saying that patrol officers would be added in areas where there were more retail stores, in part to assist with making sure patrons complied.
&#8220;We are beefing up our coverage in those BID [Business Improvement District] areas, those high shopping areas, and we’re also beefing up our surveillance and practices,&#8221; he explained. &#8220;So we have something called ‘paid detail,’ where you have uniformed officers are allowed during their off-duty hours to do some of the security at many of our stores and locations and that has always been successful.&#8221;

NFC Divisional Playoffs – New York Giants v Philadelphia Eagles

NYC Mayor Says Shoppers In Masks Are Hiding From Cops, Not COVID — And Should Be Barred From Stores

Crime

Eric Adams

New York City

shoplifting

Since President Joe Biden took office, about 724,545 Americans have died of COVID, <a href="https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Following days of revelations and claims — masks don&#8217;t work, the vaccine was mostly ineffective, and the virus likely emerged from a lab in Wuhan, China — Biden walked up to the reporters on the White House East Lawn, ostensibly to take questions before he left for yet another weekend at home at midday on Friday.
A reporter asked about Paul Whelan, the American held in Russia, to which Biden replied, &#8220;We&#8217;re working on it.&#8221;
&#8220;He then seemed ready to make a statement or engage further,&#8221; one reporter wrote in a pool report for journalists not at the White House. &#8220;As he approached the group, there was a shouted question about Covid origins. POTUS then put both hands up in a shrug, seeming annoyed, and then turned and walked away toward Marine One.&#8221;
We would, of course, check the whole exchange on the White House website, but officials there have never posted a word about the aborted presser.
But we did track down who said what. “On COVID origins, will you hold China accountable?” journalist Iris Tao of NTD Television asked, <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/03/03/biden-abruptly-bails-on-press-when-asked-about-covid-origins/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according </a>to the New York Post.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
BREAKING: President Biden <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> was going to speak but turned away upon hearing my question on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Covid?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Covid</a> origin and whether he’ll hold <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/China?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#China</a> accountable. <a href="https://twitter.com/NTDNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NTDNews</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ChinaInFocusNTD?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ChinaInFocusNTD</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/capitolreport?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@capitolreport</a> <a href="https://t.co/jsbMTNPeYb">pic.twitter.com/jsbMTNPeYb</a>
&mdash; Iris Tao (@IrisTaoTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/IrisTaoTV/status/1631760327502184449?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 3, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Biden&#8217;s dismissive pout came just days after the Wall Street Journal dropped a bombshell report that Energy Department scientists have concluded that the COVID virus most likely emerged from a Chinese lab in Wuhan.
That sent furious Republicans — many of whom have been saying as much for years — into a tizzy.
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On Wednesday, the Senate voted by unanimous consent on a bill sponsored by two Republicans to require Biden to declassify all information on the origins of COVID and on the Wuhan Institute of Virology. A Republican in the House has submitted similar legislation.
Biden, who thinks he doesn&#8217;t have to answer to the American people, loves simply walking away from reporters when they ask a question he doesn&#8217;t like. On February 16, a Post reporter asked the president, &#8220;Is your ability to deal with China compromised by your family’s business relationships in China, President Biden?&#8221;
&#8220;Give me a break, man,&#8221; Biden said with that fake avuncular affectation. He refused to take any more questions, adding, &#8220;You can come to my office and ask a question when you have more polite people with you.&#8221;
The White House has dodged questions ever since the Energy Department report came out.
&#8220;I’m not at liberty to confirm the reporting,&#8221; White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters this week. &#8220;What I can tell you is, again, there’s been no consensus on this — where COVID originated — so I’ll just leave it there and not try to get ahead of the current process.&#8221;
But over the last few weeks, much of the COVID protocol narrative has taken a hit. The New York Times published a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/21/opinion/do-mask-mandates-work.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">piece</a> titled “The Mask Mandates Did Nothing. Will Any Lessons Be Learned?” It was penned by Bret Stephens, an opinion columnist with the Times who won a Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 2013.
“The most rigorous and comprehensive analysis of scientific studies conducted on the efficacy of masks for reducing the spread of respiratory illnesses — including Covid-19 — was published late last month. Its conclusions, said Tom Jefferson, the Oxford epidemiologist who is its lead author, were unambiguous.”
“‘There is just no evidence that they’ — masks — ‘make any difference,’ he told the journalist Maryanne Demasi. ‘Full stop.&#8217;”
Then a report came out from researchers who had examined the efficacy of citywide COVID vaccine mandates implemented across the United States in 2021 and found — meh.
“These mandates imposed severe restrictions on the lives of many citizens and business owners,” the researchers said in a <a href="https://www.mercatus.org/research/working-papers/indoor-vaccine-mandates-and-covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> conducted by George Mason University’s Mercatus Center. “We find no evidence that the announcement or implementation of indoor vaccine mandates in the cities listed had any significant effect on vaccine uptake, COVID-19 cases, or COVID-19 deaths, and this is largely consistent for all US cities that implemented the mandate,” the researchers wrote.
Additionally, a &#8220;COVID Vaccine Surveillance <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1057599/Vaccine_surveillance_report_-_week-8.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Report</a>&#8221; released last year by the U.K. Health Security Agency found that about 90% of the COVID deaths after 28 days of testing positive for the virus in England from the end of January 2022 to mid-February 2022 were people who were vaccinated.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to josephcurl@dailywire.com and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.

President Biden Departs The White House En Route To Delaware

Ask The U.S. President A Question He Doesn’t Like, And He’ll Just Walk Away

Ask The U.S. President Joe Biden A Question He Doesn't Like, And He'll Just Walk Away

COVID-19

Joe Biden

Wuhan Institute of Virology

Sen. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ted-cruz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ted Cruz</a> (R-TX) ripped leftists during an episode of his podcast this week for virtue signaling by toting around Ukrainian flags, saying that the Ukrainian flag had turned into the new COVID mask.
Cruz made the remarks while speaking on his podcast &#8220;Verdict&#8221; with co-host Ben Ferguson while discussing the need to hold the Biden administration accountable for the seemingly endless stream of resources that the administration is giving to Ukraine.
&#8220;We don&#8217;t have nearly as much accountability as we need,&#8221; Cruz said. &#8220;The Biden administration is not providing the missiles that could take out those Iranian drones. Because their [the Biden admin&#8217;s] priority is kissing up to the Ayatollah and entering into a new nuclear deal with the Ayatollah, even if it undermines U.S. national security. At the same time, the billions that are going to the Ukrainian government that are not going for ammunition, not going for weapons, but instead are just going for general economic support, there is very little transparency, very little accountability as to where that money is going.&#8221;
Cruz said that congressional support for sending billions of dollars to Ukraine on a regular basis was quickly coming to an end now that Republicans have more power in Washington, D.C., following the midterm elections.
&#8220;With a Republican majority in the House, I think you&#8217;re going to see much more scrutiny on what funds are going,&#8221; Cruz said. &#8220;I think there will still be a willingness to provide actual weaponry, to provide ammunition or weapons that the Ukrainians can use to defend themselves. I think there will be very little interest in unrestrained checks going to the government of Ukraine.&#8221;
&#8220;I also think the focus needs to be on what our strategic national objective is. &#8230; For the Democrats, this has become a virtue signal. For the Democrats, they wear a Ukrainian flag,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;And it&#8217;s become a way, a Ukrainian flag has become like a COVID mask. It&#8217;s a sign to show your virtue.&#8221;
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WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
For Democrats, a Ukrainian flag is like a COVID mask— it&#39;s a sign to show your virtue! <a href="https://t.co/FomxIDoG2L">pic.twitter.com/FomxIDoG2L</a>
&mdash; Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) <a href="https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1629130275908198403?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 24, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
TRANSCRIPT:
<blockquote>BEN FERGUSON, CO-HOST: Do we have any accounting or any checks and balances for this now open-ended war [in Ukraine]?
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): &#8230; We don&#8217;t have nearly as much accountability as we need. &#8230; The Biden administration is not providing the missiles that could take out those Iranian drones. Because their [the Biden admin&#8217;s] priority is kissing up to the Ayatollah and entering into a new nuclear deal with the Ayatollah, even if it undermines US national security. At the same time, the billions that are going to the Ukrainian government that are not going for ammunition, not going for weapons, but instead are just going for general economic support there is very little transparency, very little accountability as to where that money is going. I can tell you in the last couple of weeks, I met with an ambassador of a NATO member and European country that is near Ukraine and we spent quite a bit of time talking about what the status of what was going on in the Ukrainian war was. And I&#8217;ll tell you, the warning I gave this Ambassador which is that I think Congressional patience for an open ended commitment to the Ukraine war is fading quickly. And with a Republican majority in the House, I think you&#8217;re going to see much more scrutiny on what funds are going. I think there will still be a willingness to provide actual weaponry to provide ammunition or weapons that the Ukrainians can use to defend themselves. I think there will be very little interest in unrestrained checks going to the government of Ukraine. I also think the focus needs to be on what our strategic national objective is. &#8230; For the Democrats, this has become a virtue signal. For the Democrats, they wear a Ukrainian flag. Zelensky has become, I think People Magazine is going to name the sexiest man alive, they&#8217;re in love with him. And it&#8217;s become a way, a Ukrainian flag has become like a COVID mask. It&#8217;s a sign to show your virtue.
Now look on the conservative side, there are a lot of us who are Reagan conservatives that believe standing up to Russia and aggression is a good idea, that want Russia to lose, that want Putin to lose. But as we see all these Leftist preening around with Ukrainian flags and you know, almost dancing with their fealty to him, it is driving millions of Americans away&#8230;</blockquote>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cruz-blasts-buttigieg-over-debacle-what-in-the-hell-does-pete-buttigieg-have-to-do-to-get-fired" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cruz Blasts Buttigieg Over Debacle: ‘What In The Hell Does Pete Buttigieg Have To Do To Get Fired?’</a>

Republican Senate Candidate Herschel Walker Holds Campaign Rally

Ted Cruz Rips Democrats For Toting Ukraine Flags: ‘A Ukrainian Flag Is Like A COVID Mask’

Ted Cruz Rips Democrats For Toting Ukraine Flags: 'A Ukrainian Flag Is Like A COVID Mask'

Global Politics

Politics

Ted Cruz

Ukraine

Now they tell us.
The New York Times published a <a href="https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fdnyuz.com%2F2023%2F02%2F21%2Fthe-mask-mandates-did-nothing-will-any-lessons-be-learned%2F" target="_blank" rel="noopener">piece</a> on Tuesday titled &#8220;The Mask Mandates Did Nothing. Will Any Lessons Be Learned?&#8221; It was penned by Bret Stephens, an opinion columnist with the Times who won a Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 2013.
The top of the story was fascinating.
&#8220;The most rigorous and comprehensive analysis of scientific studies conducted on the efficacy of masks for reducing the spread of respiratory illnesses — including Covid-19 — was published late last month. Its conclusions, said Tom Jefferson, the Oxford epidemiologist who is its lead author, were unambiguous.&#8221;
&#8220;&#8216;There is just no evidence that they&#8217; — masks — &#8216;make any difference,&#8217; he told the journalist Maryanne Demasi. &#8216;Full stop.'&#8221;
&#8220;But, wait, hold on. What about N-95 masks, as opposed to lower-quality surgical or cloth masks? &#8216;Makes no difference — none of it,&#8217; said Jefferson.&#8221;
But hang on. There was study after study in the early days of the pandemic claiming masks worked, which prompted lawmakers at every level of government to enact mask mandates. But Jefferson says those studies were &#8220;non-randomized&#8221; and &#8220;flawed observational studies.&#8221;
So that begs the question: What about Jefferson&#8217;s study? He and 11 colleagues conducted 78 randomized controlled trials, with a total of 610,872 participants in numerous countries.
&#8220;Mask mandates were a fool’s errand from the start,&#8221; Stephens wrote. &#8220;They may have created a false sense of safety — and thus permission to resume semi-normal life. They did almost nothing to advance safety itself. The Cochrane report ought to be the final nail in this particular coffin.&#8221;
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Also this week, researchers examined the efficacy of local COVID vaccine mandates implemented across the United States in 2021 and found they didn&#8217;t work.
“These mandates imposed severe restrictions on the lives of many citizens and business owners,” the researchers said in a <a href="https://www.mercatus.org/research/working-papers/indoor-vaccine-mandates-and-covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> conducted by George Mason University’s Mercatus Center. “Yet, we find no evidence that the mandates were effective in their intended goals of reducing COVID-19 cases and deaths.”
The researchers evaluated New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, New Orleans, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.
“We find no evidence that the announcement or implementation of indoor vaccine mandates in the cities listed had any significant effect on vaccine uptake, COVID-19 cases, or COVID-19 deaths, and this is largely consistent for all US cities that implemented the mandate,” the researchers wrote.
When COVID first appeared on our shores in early winter 2020, leaders of big cities — almost invariably Democrats — enacted major lockdowns, forcing businesses to close and shutting down entertainment and sports venues. They also ordered everyone to wear masks. When vaccines were created, those same leaders issued mandates requiring millions to take them.
For instance, Philadelphia Democratic Mayor Jim Kenney said in August 2021 that science shows mask and vaccine mandates would slow the spread.
“The updated policies we announced today are critical to slowing the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19, which is more dangerous and transmissible than earlier forms of the virus,” Kenney said in a statement. “The science is clear: these measures will protect Philadelphians and save lives.&#8221;
But researchers found zero evidence to back that up.
&#8220;Our findings put into question the efficacy of city-level vaccine mandates,&#8221; the researchers found. &#8220;Indoor vaccine mandates caused large disruptions for many individuals and businesses. New York City, for example, fired 1,430 city workers for failing to comply with its vaccine mandate. A survey found that over 90% of NYC restaurants reported having customer-related challenges, such as losing customers who objected to the mandate, and 75% having staff-related challenges. Those are just a small fraction of the disruptions caused by the mandates.&#8221;
&#8220;Most supporters of the mandates claim that the associated increase in vaccination rates, and its implied reduction in the spread of COVID-19, outweigh the cost of the disruptions. However, we find that the effects of the mandates on their intended outcomes are not statistically noticeable in any of the cities they were implemented in all empirical strategies used,&#8221; the report said.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to josephcurl@dailywire.com and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.

Presidential Candidate Joe Biden And Running Mate Kamala Harris Get Briefed On Coronavirus

The New York Times Finally Admits Masks Don’t Do A @#%*& Thing

NY Times Finally Admits Masks Don't Do A @#%*& Thing

Mask Mandate

Media

New York Times

This article is a companion piece to today’s Morning Wire Afternoon Update. To listen to the podcast version, click <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
Suspected Chinese Spy Balloon Flies Over The U.S.
U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have expressed outrage after learning Thursday that a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bidens-america-chinese-spy-balloons-in-the-sky-chinese-fentanyl-on-the-ground" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chinese surveillance balloon</a> has been traveling over the continental U.S., including Montana.
In a joint statement, the GOP and Democrat leaders of a House select committee on China called for a strong response from the administration.
The statement read in part, “The Chinese Communist Party should not have on-demand access to American airspace.”
The committee leaders said the surveillance airship’s presence over the U.S. shows that the threat China poses “is not confined to distant shores — it is here at home and we must act to counter this threat.” China has issued its own statement, insisting the incursion into U.S. territory was “unintended” and that the balloon is meant for quote “mainly meteorological” research.
A Pentagon spokesman has said that the balloon “does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground” — and that they have chosen not to shoot it down thus far to prevent risk to people below. Amid the controversy over the balloon, the Biden administration has decided to postpone Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s upcoming trip to China.
Amazon Could Have Majority Robot Workforce
Investor Cathie Wood <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/amazon-could-have-more-robots-than-employees-in-seven-years-investor-predicts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">predicts that by 2030, Amazon</a> could have more robots than it has human workers at the company, pointing out that Amazon is adding “about 1,000 robots a day.”
Facebook&#8217;s Parent Company Plummets In Revenue
The net income of Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, Meta, plummeted 41% over the course of last year, as indicated by the company’s last earnings report.
 Narcan Nasal Spray Coming To Los Angeles Schools
Students at <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/los-angeles-students-to-be-allowed-to-carry-narcan-in-schools-amid-deadly-fentanyl-crisis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Los Angeles Unified School District</a> will likely soon be able to have Narcan nasal spray on them in the event of a drug overdose. Narcan is a medication used to “reverse or reduce the effects of opioids.” Like many parts of the country, LA is experiencing an explosion of opioid overdose deaths.
Ted Cruz Demands China Release Texas Prisoner
Texas lawmakers, including GOP Senator Ted Cruz, are ramping up pressure on the Biden administration to demand the freedom of a Houston businessman, Mark Swidan, who has been imprisoned in China since 2012 after being accused and convicted in 2019 of taking part in a criminal drug conspiracy.
Energy Seeks To Regulate Gas Stoves
The Energy Department <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-administration-proposes-new-gas-stove-regulations-despite-national-outrage-over-ban-comments" target="_blank" rel="noopener">proposed</a> new rules Wednesday that would mandate a certain energy consumption threshold for gas stoves even after the possibility of a nationwide ban garnered backlash.
Consumer Product Safety Commissioner Richard Trumka, Jr. said during an interview last month that gas stoves constitute a “hidden hazard” and said “any option is on the table” for a nationwide prohibition. A consumer Product Safety Commission chairman later walked back the commissioner’s comments, saying that neither he nor the agency planned to outlaw gas stoves.
Masks Make &#8216;Little To No Difference,&#8217; Study Claims
The Cochrane Institute <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gold-standard-review-claims-masks-could-be-only-5-effective-in-community-gets-slammed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">examined</a> 78 global studies on the effectiveness of masks and found that masks made “little to no difference” in the spread of respiratory infections. The studies involved more than 1 million people worldwide. Surgical masks reduced the risk of transmission of COVID or other flu-like illnesses by 5% the study found. The CDC’s latest guidance still recommends wearing masks in some situations, including indoor public transportation settings.
Sims 4 Has Transgender Options
And “The Sims 4” video game <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-sims-4-game-update-adds-trans-friendly-breast-removal-scars-binders-tucking-underwear-to-character-options" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recently</a> updated avatar options to include expanded transgender options. These include scars of breast removal surgery, chest binders, as well as additional medical wearable devices.
To listen to the audio version of this podcast, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/morning-wire/id1576594336" target="_blank" rel="noopener">click here</a>. And for more in-depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to the latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.

Getty Images

Friday Afternoon Update: Chinese Spy Balloon Over America, Study Finds Masks Make ‘Little To No Difference,’ And More

Friday Afternoon Update: Chinese Spy Balloon Over America, Study Finds Masks Make 'Little To No Difference,' And More

Amazon

Chinese Communist Party

Communist China

General

Morning Wire

Podcast

The architect of Obamacare, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, referring to the new COVID variant plaguing China, warned Americans that they should return to wearing “really high-quality masks.”
Emanuel spoke to MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell about the new COVID variant, XBB. 1.5, on Monday during her show &#8220;Andrea Mitchell Reports.&#8221;
“It&#8217;s spreading very rapidly which means it can evade and outcompete the other subvariants,&#8221; Emmanuel said. “It seems to avoid the antibodies but also bind more tightly to cells and that gives it the competitive advantage it needs. And unfortunately the antibodies therefore we have from infections or vaccines don’t seem to work. And the monoclonal antibody Evusheld we have, that a lot of immune-compromised patients don’t use doesn’t seem to be working that well.”
Emmanuel predicted that the U.S. would see a surge in COVID cases going forward.
“So, is this typical, that the variants keep coming and as infections spread this virus finds new ways to conquer our best efforts?” Mitchell asked.
“Yes. We do see when the virus spreads to lots more people that you get more variants, because the more it reproduces the higher the chance of a mutation or a recombination event, and that’s actually what’s really concerning about China,” Emmanuel answered.
He also said that China would be hit hard because of their low immunity. “They will have a lot of deaths, unfortunately, because of the low immunity they have in the population, but also that with hundreds of millions of people getting infected, likely over the next few weeks, they’re gonna have a lot more variants, and we don’t have a good line of sight into those variants and the genome, and that is what’s worrisome to other countries about the China situation,” Emmanuel stated.
Mitchell asked what measures should be taken against China, mentioning a travel ban or negative test result.
“A travel ban and the negative test results, they’re just delaying tactics,” Emmanuel proclaimed. “They’re trying to get us information; they’re not gonna help. Individually, for your viewers, Andrea, the best thing they can do at the moment, and I know a lot of them are resistant, is masks. N-95, really high quality masks. You can’t control what’s out there in the airports or what’s on a train, or what’s gonna be in a shopping mall, but you can protect yourself with these very high quality masks, and that’s what I recommend. “
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Dr. Zeke Emanuel: Covid vaccines don’t work against new variant, travel bans and testing are ”delaying tactics”; only thing that reliably works are “really high quality masks.” <a href="https://t.co/54E5ilcBTH">pic.twitter.com/54E5ilcBTH</a>
&mdash; Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) <a href="https://twitter.com/tomselliott/status/1609987065705553922?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 2, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Celebrities Visit SiriusXM Studios – April 3, 2013

Obamacare Architect Tells Americans To Return To Wearing ‘Really High-Quality Masks’

Obamacare Architect Tells Americans To Return To Wearing 'Really High-Quality Masks'

Ezekiel Emanuel

Health

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a new report on Monday that recommends once again returning to the practice of social distancing and wearing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/face-mask" target="_blank" rel="noopener">masks</a>. 
The department commissioned the <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mask-mandate-return-hhs-report-wants-encourage-mandate-masking-stop-long-covid" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a>, which was created by Coforma, a research group. Its suggestions reportedly come from patient interviews, and it recommends that the once-common <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/covid" target="_blank" rel="noopener">COVID-19</a> prevention practices should be imposed again to assist people who are struggling from potential “Long COVID,” a persisting form of COVID-19. 
The report <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/healthplus-long-covid-report.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">seemed</a> to suggest that Americans should alter their daily lives in order to assist those who have changed their habits due to longterm illness, as well as protect themselves from getting COVID-19 or potentially getting &#8220;Long COVID.&#8221; It pointed out that people with “Long COVID” do not enter public areas or attend events because they are afraid of being infected again or possibly making their symptoms worse, as well as due to the effects on their health. 
“Some may experience PTSD symptoms as a result of trauma they incurred during their acute infection. The lifting of mask mandates and indifferent attitude towards masking and social distancing typical in many public and private places further isolates people with Long COVID,” it stated. 
The report recommended “[e]ncourag[ing] or mandat[ing] policies and protocols regarding masking and social distancing in public spaces that protect people from infection or reinfection and possible Long COVID.”
The report recommended that federal and state policies that require schools and employers to accommodate people with disabilities, as well as those with &#8220;Long COVID,&#8221; be changed. It also said that the Work Opportunity Tax Credit should be broadened “to include hiring people with disabilities.” There should also be efforts to expand the public&#8217;s awareness about Long COVID. 
According to the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/long-term-effects/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a>, no test exists that can &#8220;diagnose post-COVID conditions,” and people can also have lots of symptoms that might be the result of other health conditions. 
“This can make it difficult for healthcare providers to recognize post-COVID conditions,” the CDC noted. 
“Listening to and learning from the experiences of long COVID patients is essential to accelerating understanding and breakthroughs,” Rachel Levine, the Assistant Secretary for Health, said. 
Levine added that the new findings were “evidence of our commitment to engaging communities to provide patient-led solutions.”
Last week, as the New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/11/22/mask-mandates-should-be-reinstated-to-help-long-covid-hhs-report/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>, the Biden administration was set to ask for additional funding for the COVID-19 pandemic, even as most Americans have entirely returned to their normal pre-pandemic routines. The administration was <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/biden-administration-renew-fight-covid-funding-10-billion/story?id=93285418" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expected</a> to ask Congress for $10 billion for the efforts before new legislators take office next year, with $750 million of that going towards long COVID. 
The recent HHS report also said there should be “financial support for families who need to provide additional care to children with Long COVID.” It also noted that once a person meets the qualification for “disabled” who has Long COVID, their place of work must give them “reasonable modifications,” according to federal civil rights legislation. It stated that lots of employers and schools, however, are not ready for this task.
“As a paramedic, there are really no accommodations for me. I have to be able to run into a burning building, no matter what. I can’t have cognitive dysfunction when I’m drawing up meds to distribute to somebody,” one person with Long COVID, who was identified as Amanda, said. “So for these types of jobs, it is basically fireable because there are no types of accommodations for this. There needs to be better support for folks in this situation to find a new line of work entirely.”

FAC77C9A-6231-4AB8-9254-0A7B0BB79665_1_201_a

New Report Suggests Going Back To Masks, Social Distancing Because Of ‘Long COVID’

New Report Commissioned By HHS Suggests Going Back To Masks, Social Distancing Because Of ‘Long COVID’

Department of Health and Human Services

Dr. Anthony Fauci denied that he misled the American people on COVID mitigation measures and policies.
In an interview with ABC&#8217;s Jonathan Karl on &#8220;<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/dr-fauci-prepares-exit-reflects-legacy-covid-decisions/story?id=91553536" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This Week</a>&#8221; that aired on Sunday, Fauci said the biggest misconception about him was that he misled the public when narratives changed, especially regarding face coverings and school closures.
&#8220;So, what&#8217;s the biggest misconception about you?&#8221; Karl asked.
&#8220;I think the misconception is that I was misleading people,&#8221; Fauci replied. &#8220;You know, to say that I, who have been adviser to seven presidents, and have never ever veered one way or the other from an ideological standpoint, and for somebody to say that, you know, I&#8217;m&#8230; political, I mean that&#8217;s completely crazy.&#8221;
But Fauci acknowledged that mistakes were made, resulting in changes as health officials learned more about COVID and how it was transmitted.
&#8220;Would you take back what you said about masks?&#8221; Karl asked. &#8220;Obviously, the guidance changed&#8230; but you were very definitive. You said there&#8217;s absolutely no reason for people to be wearing masks.&#8221;
&#8220;Yes. I mean, sure, if I had to do it over again, of course. I would have analyzed it a little bit better,&#8221; said Fauci.
Karl then asked Fauci if it was a mistake to close schools for much of the pandemic.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t want to use the word &#8216;mistake,&#8217; Jon, because if I do it gets taken out of the context that you’re asking me the question on,&#8221; Fauci equivocated. &#8220;I would say that what we should realize and have realized, that there will be deleterious collateral consequences when you do something like that. This idea that this virus doesn&#8217;t afflict children is not so. It does. We&#8217;ve lost close to 1,500 kids so far&#8230; So, it isn&#8217;t without consequences.&#8221;
&#8220;If you go back, and I ask anybody to go back over the number of times that I’ve said we&#8217;ve got to do everything we can to keep the schools open, no one plays that clip. They always come back and say, &#8216;Fauci was responsible for closing schools.'&#8221;
&#8220;But a lot of schools were closed,&#8221; Karl pressed. &#8220;[T]here was a lot of remote learning&#8230; It went on&#8211; in some jurisdictions for the better part of two years&#8230; And we&#8217;ve seen the impact. We’ve seen what’s happened in terms of lower reading scores, lower math scores&#8230; And who knows the psychological impact&#8230; I mean it was a steep cost.&#8221;
&#8220;It was,&#8221; Fauci admitted. But &#8220;[t]he most important thing is to protect the children,&#8221; he added.
In August, Fauci announced plans to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-fauci-reveals-he-will-retire-this-year-pursue-next-chapter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">retire from his posts</a> as the president’s top medical adviser and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
“I will be leaving these positions in December of this year to pursue the next chapter of my career,” he said. “After more than 50 years of government service, I plan to pursue the next phase of my career while I still have so much energy and passion for my field.&#8221;
“I want to use what I have learned as NIAID Director to continue to advance science and public health and to inspire and mentor the next generation of scientific leaders as they help prepare the world to face future infectious disease threats.”

Anthony Fauci

Dr. Fauci: ‘The Misconception Is That I Was Misleading People’ About Face Masks, School Lockdowns

Dr. Fauci: 'The Misconception Is That I Was Misleading People' About Face Masks, School Lockdowns

School Lockdowns

This Week

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/north-carolina" target="_blank" rel="noopener">North Carolina</a> Superior Court judge ordered a prospective juror to spend 24 hours in jail after he refused to wear a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/face-mask" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mask</a> in the courtroom.
Judge Charles Gilchrist is the only judge in the courthouse who enforces a mask mandate after North Carolina Democratic Governor Roy Cooper <a href="https://governor.nc.gov/news/press-releases/2021/05/14/following-new-cdc-guidance-face-coverings-governor-cooper-lifts-many-covid-19-restrictions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lifted</a> a statewide mask mandate for most indoor settings over a year ago. Gilchrist found 47-year-old Gregory Hahn of Harnett County in contempt of court for his refusal to follow the judge’s mask order, WRAL News <a href="https://www.wral.com/mask-dispute-lands-potential-harnett-county-juror-in-jail/20520640/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
“The irony of all this is the judge was talking to me without a mask,” said Hahn, a Navy veteran who <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/north-carolina-judge-sends-prospective-juror-jail-for-refusing-wear-mask-mask-optional-courthouse" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> served on the President&#8217;s Honor Guard at Arlington National Cemetery. “If safety was such a concern, I go to jail [with] no mask requirements with inmates.”
Clerk of Superior Court Renee Whittenton said in a statement that each of the prospective jurors were told of Gilchrist’s mask rule when they checked in, and the court provided them with masks if they did not have one, but Hahn said he was not made aware of the mandate, and it was not listed on Hahn’s court summons. The courthouse does not have any signs that state masks are required.
“You can go in any district courtroom without a mask, you can come into superior clerk court without a mask and the [district attorney’s] office without a mask, but with Judge Gilchrist he has a mandate that you must wear a mask,” she said.
A joint order by Harnett and Lee counties from March stated that masks are optional in hallways, foyers, restrooms, meeting rooms, and similar areas, but the order allowed presiding judges to decide whether they wanted a mask mandate in the courtroom.
The Navy veteran and single father said Gilchrist asked him twice if he was refusing to wear a mask, and Hahn said he was. The judge then reportedly ordered Hahn to spend 24 hours in jail, and he was handcuffed and taken away minutes later. Hahn said he asked Gilchrist if he could call his son who was at home, but the judge refused his request.
&#8220;I never thought this could happen in this country,&#8221; Hahn said.
&#8220;I&#8217;m jailed for doing my civic duty and not doing anything,&#8221; he added. &#8220;It&#8217;s mind-boggling.&#8221;

Gavel and Mask

A Navy Veteran Showed Up For Jury Duty. The Judge Sent Him To Jail For Not Wearing A Mask.

Judge Sends Prospective Juror To Jail For Not Wearing Mask

Court

Judge

North Carolina

Veterans

No, this isn&#8217;t a Babylon Bee article. The government of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ukraine-now-admits-the-ghost-of-kyiv-never-really-existed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kyiv, Ukraine</a>, is really asking its wartime city to mask up against <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">COVID</a> amidst rising cases.
In late September, Kyiv&#8217;s city government <a href="https://www.rte.ie/news/coronavirus/2022/1003/1326878-coronavirus-global/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked</a> residents to wear masks on &#8220;public transport, in places that serve clients, and in educational facilities.&#8221;
According to the city&#8217;s healthy ministry, there were 44,137 new registered cases in Ukraine, 6,667 people hospitalized, and 161 people who died from COVID during the week ending on September 25.
In light of that, Kyiv&#8217;s Deputy Health Minister Igor Kuzin warned that an &#8220;increase&#8221; in COVID would strain the health system already struggling due to Russia&#8217;s invasion of the country.
&#8220;Since the beginning of the invasion, 18 facilities welcoming Covid patients were destroyed, another 15 were partially destroyed, and more than 100 are under forced occupation,&#8221; Kuzin explained.
Still, Kuzin acknowledged that the new masking suggestions would be hard to implement because most Ukrainians were &#8220;focusing on another enemy.&#8221;
Kyiv isn&#8217;t alone in bringing back the masking craze. Across American college campuses, schools are reimplementing the mandates due to the latest wave of cases as well.
In Massachusetts, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, and Hampshire College each <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/massachusetts-colleges-enforce-mask-mandates-indefinitely" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> new indoor masking mandates, according to Fox News.
&#8220;I am sorry to say that because of the relatively high confirmed COVID-19 case counts on campus (approximately 50 per week since the start of the semester), we will need to continue our indoor mask mandate until further notice,&#8221; Mt. Holyoke President Beverly Daniel Tatum said in late September.
&#8220;While I am eager to move us from a mask mandate to a &#8216;masks welcome and encouraged&#8217; policy in all campus indoor spaces, it is clear that the current levels of infection have taxed our campus health care system and residential services to the limit,&#8221; she added.
Without getting into the science of it, it is safe to say that the zeal for mask mandates, or even face-covering suggestions, is steadfastly more of a leftist phenomenon, which in turn has made it a globalist phenomenon.
In recent years, there have been many globalist phenomena that are more often than not carried out by woke foot soldiers mindlessly following whatever Legacy Media, the Democratic Party, and cultural Marxist professors tell them to do. It&#8217;s the new <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/why-is-legacy-media-so-boring-cnn-pushes-climate-change-blm-reparations-and-more-while-discussing-king-charles-iii" target="_blank" rel="noopener">American imperialism</a>.
Those sorts of progressive fads have become such a mainstay of modern discourse that the very idea has become meme-ified into being known as &#8220;The Current Thing.&#8221;
As the memes below show, &#8220;the current thing&#8221; is whatever the globalists are pushing a the time — radical gender theory, BLM, COVID mandates, and more. You&#8217;re not allowed to question any of that, lest you want to be labeled a bigot, a Russian stooge, and a purveyor of disinformation threatening democracy.
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This version though! 🤣🤣🤣 <a href="https://t.co/V33rSraBv3">pic.twitter.com/V33rSraBv3</a>
&mdash; Antonio Lievano (@AntonioJLievano) <a href="https://twitter.com/AntonioJLievano/status/1503277573874151425?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 14, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Well now, you can support the old current thing — COVID masking — with the new current thing — Ukraine.
Whatever you do, just <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bazooka-joe-bidens-endless-military-supply-for-ukraine-is-a-sight-to-behold" target="_blank" rel="noopener">don&#8217;t you dare question</a> the narrative on those topics.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Ukraine Flagstock photo

Ukraine Capital Asks Residents To Mask Up As COVID Cases Surge

Kyiv

Ukraine-Russia War

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/youtube" target="_blank" rel="noopener">YouTube</a> appears to have amended its policies so that it is now acceptable to express skepticism about <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/face-mask" target="_blank" rel="noopener">masks</a> on its platform.
Journalist and podcaster Tim Pool posted before-and-after screenshots from YouTube&#8217;s misinformation policies to Twitter. The screenshots show that a rule that bans users from claiming that face masks do not play a role in preventing the spread of COVID-19 has been removed from the policies page. The amended rules come nearly a year after the platform suspended several high-profile conservative leaders with massive followings for violating the policy.
&#8220;Youtube updated its policies to no longer ban claims that masks do not play a role in preventing spread of COVID,&#8221; Pool captioned the photos. &#8220;Essentially, you are now allowed to claim masks don&#8217;t work.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Youtube updated its policies to no longer ban claims that masks do not play a role in preventing spread of COVID
Essentially, you are now allowed to claim masks don&#8217;t work <a href="https://t.co/SI3wF9jov8">pic.twitter.com/SI3wF9jov8</a>
— Tim Pool (@Timcast) <a href="https://twitter.com/Timcast/status/1561906311125680138?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 23, 2022</a></blockquote>
The screenshots are taken from Youtube&#8217;s &#8220;<a href="https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9891785?hl=en&amp;ref_topic=10833358" target="_blank" rel="noopener">COVID-19 medical misinformation policy</a>.&#8221; Under the headline &#8220;Prevention misinformation,&#8221; Youtube bans content on its platform that includes &#8220;[c]laims that masks do not play a role in preventing the contraction or transmission of COVID-19.&#8221; It also bans &#8220;[c]laims that wearing a mask is dangerous or causes negative physical health effects.&#8221; Pool&#8217;s second screenshot shows the same section, with both those rules removed.
A screenshot of the rules page from the Internet Archive&#8217;s <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220000000000*/https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9891785?hl=en&amp;ref_topic=10833358" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wayback Machine</a>, dated April 13, shows the policies still on the site. But they were quietly removed shortly afterward, as they do not appear in a screenshot of the site dated May 31.
A number of YouTubers who had allegedly been banned for violating the rules during the height of the pandemic reacted to the changes.
&#8220;I think I got a strike for this,&#8221; user @matthewprewett tweeted. &#8220;I wasn’t allowed to do certain actions during that time as my account was restricted. This is the problem with a company deciding to be the arbitrator of truth.&#8221;
&#8220;In March 2021, @YouTube banned a video of me telling @GovRonDeSantis that there was no high quality evidence that force masking children protects anyone from covid,&#8221; Stanford School of Medicine Professor <a href="https://twitter.com/DrJBhattacharya/status/1562138852965376003?s=20&amp;t=91PYRAGaKT7PoBDIUQM_aw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dr. Jay Bhattacharya</a> wrote. &#8220;Shame on YouTube for censoring to support CDC propaganda. The Science(tm) changed, but the science didn&#8217;t.&#8221;
&#8220;Smh. I got a strike over this,&#8221; YouTuber and former police officer <a href="https://twitter.com/TheOfficerTatum/status/1562086185836560385?s=20&amp;t=91PYRAGaKT7PoBDIUQM_aw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brandon Tatum</a> replied.
YouTube suspended a number of other high-profile leaders in the conservative movement in 2021 and early 2022 allegedly for violating the policy. As tweeted by Bhattacharya, in April 2021, YouTube took down a video of Florida Governor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/youtube-pulls-video-of-desantis-medical-experts-for-saying-children-dont-need-masks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ron DeSantis</a> (R) discussing the efficacy of masks in schools. Then in August, YouTube removed a video and suspended Senator <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/im-not-sure-when-youtube-became-an-arm-of-the-government-rand-paul-slaps-back-after-youtube-suspension" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rand Paul</a> (R-KY) discussing “a variety of topics, including the science behind masks,&#8221; The Daily Wire reported at the time.
YouTube&#8217;s move prompted the senator to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/they-just-want-my-silence-rand-paul-quits-youtube-slams-big-tech-censorship" target="_blank" rel="noopener">leave the platform altogether</a> in January. YouTube also permanently suspended conservative talk show host <a href="https://www.thewrap.com/dan-bongino-youtube-suspension-covid/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dan Bongino</a> in January 2022 after he questioned mask policies on the platform, prompting him to migrate his content to the alternative video platform Rumble.

YouTube

YouTube Appears To Update Policy Banning Claims That Masks Don’t Stop The Spread Of COVID

YouTube Appears To Update Policy Banning Claims That Masks Don't Stop The Spread Of COVID

Censorship

Tim Pool

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