WATCH — Ted Cruz Denies Reporter Request to Wear a Mask: ‘You’re Welcome to Step Away’

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) brushed off a reporter’s request to wear a mask at a Wednesday press conference, video footage shows.

“Would you mind putting on a mask for us?” the reporter asked, according to the video.

“Yeah, when I’m talking to the TV camera, I’m not going to wear a mask. All of us have been immunized,” said Cruz.

“It’d make us feel better,” said the reporter.

“You’re welcome to step away if you’d like,” said Cruz.

Current guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says fully vaccinated people should still wear masks and socially distance in public places, but they can also visit other fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or having to social distance.

Full vaccination, as the CDC defines it, means two weeks have passed since receiving the second dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines or two weeks after the single-dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine.

This is not the first time during the pandemic that reporters have asked Cruz to put on a mask while speaking to them. In October, a CNN reporter asked Cruz if he would put on a mask while speaking to them outside the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing room.

Cruz refused, saying he was already six feet away from the reporters.