House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) appeared to describe House GOP leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as a “moron” on Wednesday over his opposition to a re-instituted face mask mandate for members of the House. After Capitol physician Dr. Brian Monahan put that new mask-wearing mandate in place amid a rise around the country of COVID-19 cases, McCarthy insisted on Twitter that the “threat of bringing masks back is not a decision based on science, but a decision conjured up by liberal government officials who want to continue to live in a perpetual pandemic state.” What does that even mean? The “pandemic state” wasn’t made up by Democrats. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have died, but McCarthy continues to ignorantly whine as though the situation isn’t serious.
Asked on Wednesday about Monahan putting the mask mandate back in place, Pelosi said that she had “nothing to say about that except we honor it.” After that point is when a reporter asked Pelosi about McCarthy’s opposition to wearing masks, at which point she appeared to describe McCarthy as “such a moron.” Check out footage of the moment from CNN reporter Daniella Diaz below:
When asked by @frankthorp about @GOPLeader’s criticism of the mask mandate being reinstated in the House, @SpeakerPelosi responds as she’s getting in her SUV: “He’s such a moron.” pic.twitter.com/2WUwE3A9wR
— Daniella Diaz (@DaniellaMicaela) July 28, 2021
Pelosi addressed the issue again at a subsequent Wednesday press conference. As Pelosi put it, when asked whether McCarthy is a “moron”:
‘I said earlier in my comments science, science, science, and science. On almost every subject that you can name, science is the answer, whether it’s the climate crisis, whether it’s the health crisis, whether it’s our preeminence in the world in technology — science, science, science, science. To say that wearing a mask is not based on science, I think, is not wise, and that was my comment.’
Check out those comments below:
Reporter: “Is [House Minority Leader] Kevin McCarthy a moron, and if so why?”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who called McCarthy a moron this morning: “To say that wearing a mask is not based on science, I think, is not wise.” pic.twitter.com/jHBLc5cDG7
— The Recount (@therecount) July 28, 2021