(PresidentialInsider.com)- Republican Senator Rand Paul is about to embark on a bold move. He’s going to fight against the federal mandate that passengers on airplanes wear masks while they’re traveling.
The Kentucky senator said he would introduce a bill that would overturn the mask mandate in the next few weeks. He tweeted on Thursday:
“When the Senate returns to session, I will be introducing an immediate repeal of the mask mandate on planes. Enough! Time to stop this farce and let people travel in peace!”
The mask mandate has been in place since President Joe Biden’s first day in office. On that day, he signed an executive order that requires people to wear face coverings on any form of public transportation. That includes on airplanes and in airports.
It will be a fight that Paul will take to the Senate floor in what might be a little tough to overcome, but he’ll try anyway.
Paul has been one of the most outspoken Republicans against Biden’s mask mandates and various initiatives to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Just last week, he railed against the White House’s new push to get more Americans vaccinated.
The plan, announced by Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, would have people going door-to-door in communities where vaccination rates are lower, encouraging them to get inoculated against the virus.
In response to the announcement, Paul tweeted simply: “No.”
He added:
“The gov’t doesn’t decide who gets vaccinated. You do. Do not submit to the fearmongers.”
The White House insisted that their plan was not to force people to get vaccinated, but to educate them on the benefits of doing so.
Paul himself has said he would not be getting vaccinated. In May, he said he wouldn’t be taking one of the COVID-19 vaccines, in part because he had already fought through a bout of the disease in March 2020.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has suggested that even people who have been infected with COVID-19 still get the vaccine. But, Paul said in May that until there is data that shows the immunity from a vaccine is greater than the natural immunity from infection, he wouldn’t get vaccinated.
He said:
“Until they show me evidence that people who have already had the infection are dying in large numbers or being hospitalized or getting very sick, I just made my own personal decision that I’m not getting vaccinated because I’ve already had the disease and I have natural immunity.”
He has consistently stressed that taking a vaccine is a personal choice, and should not be shoved down people’s throats. He said:
“In a free country, you would think people would honor the idea that each individual would get to make the medical decision, that it wouldn’t be a big brother coming to tell me what I have to do.”
It’s unclear what kind of support Paul’s proposal would have in Senate were he to actually put it forward.
