WATCH: Sherrod Brown Calls Out GOP’s Dan Sullivan for Not Wearing a Mask in Senate

Reed RichardsonNov 16th, 2020, 11:31 pm
 

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) called out Republican Dan Sullivan (AK) for failing to wear a mask while presiding over the Senate and possibly exposing Congressional staff who were seated around him.

During a moment in the Senate on Monday, Brown was recognized by Sullivan and quickly requested Sullivan put on a mask, which was sitting on the desk in front of him.

“I’d start by asking the presiding officer to please wear a mask as he speaks and people below him are — I can’t tell you what to do, but I know that the behavior…” Brown said stepping to the side of the podium and gesturing toward Sullivan.

“I don’t wear a mask when I’m speaking, like most senators,” Sullivan shot back.

“Well, most senators…”

“I don’t need your instruction from…” Sullivan broke in, cutting off Brown again.

“I know you don’t need my instruction, but there clearly isn’t much interest in this body in public health,” Brown said, as the screen showed a woman leaning toward and putting her hand on the presiding officer’s desk as Sullivan looked directly at her. “We have a president who hasn’t shown up at the coronavirus task force meeting in months. We have a Majority Leader that calls us back here to vote on an unqualified nominee, and at the same time to vote for judge after judge after judge, exposing all the people who can’t say anything, I understand, the people in front of you, and the presiding officer, and expose all the staff here, and the Majority Leader just doesn’t seem to care.”

Brown subsequently tweeted out the exchange, noting how his Republican Senate colleagues “refused” to wear a mask to protect those around them — and the moment quickly went viral.

That prompted Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) to join in the online fray, hitting the Ohio senator for “fake virtue” signaling and calling him a “complete ass.” But Cruz made two false statements in his short tweet. First, he said “nobody” is remotely near Brown when he speaks — when, in fact, a man can be seen exiting a door just a few feet behind the Ohio senator’s shoulder at one point. Second, Cruz then said the Sullivan was more than 50 feet from Brown during the exchange, a misleading statement that implies no one else was near Sullivan at the time — but the female Senate staffer who can be seen leaning on presiding officer’s desk was clearly just a few feet away from Sullivan’s unmasked face.

Watch the video above, via C-Span 2.

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