On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) stated that “We’ve beaten COVID. Time to take off the masks,” argued that “This is not the way Americans were meant to live,” and mocked “elites” being exempt from mask rules.
Gallego said, “I think this country is on a recovery. We have to admit things have not been great. People really have felt this kind of overwhelming kind of grayness because of COVID. But we’re coming out of it. Unfortunately, I’m here on probably the last day where we still have to wear masks. But people are going to feel, I think, a little more upbeat.”
After host Bill Maher said that the audience currently has to wear masks Gallego joked, “We’re the elites. We don’t have to wear masks.”
Gallego added, “What we need to do now is we need to accept victory. We’ve beaten COVID. Time to take off the masks, time to go get back to life, let’s open up our businesses, and let’s everyone go back to having as normal a life as we can. It’s okay to succeed. It’s okay for us to say, we have moved on from COVID. I think there are some people that are still afraid of doing that. But we can’t continue living this life. This is not the way Americans were meant to live, and I think you can sense that right now.”
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