Rand gripes over a masked gym rat

Sen. Rand Paul said he was harassed by a “Karen” at a gym for refusing to wear a mask while on a treadmill.

“I was on the treadmill the other day and some Karen goes and tells the people, ‘He’s on a treadmill, and he’s running without a mask,’ ” the Kentucky Republican said on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on Friday.

“Is this the world we’re going to live in, where everyone is reporting everyone and the Gestapo is going to come arrest you?”

Paul also attacked Dr. Anthony Fauci, now serving as President Biden’s chief medical adviser, claiming that he was lying about the risks of coronavirus spread among immune populations in order to promote mask compliance overall.

“There are no news reports and no scientific studies saying that after vaccination that there is some sort of widespread contagion that people vaccinated are spreading the disease,” Paul said.

“What Fauci won’t tell you is that he’s telling you a noble lie. He’s lying to you because he doesn’t think we’re smart enough to make decisions. His fear is if the vaccinated quit wearing the mask, the unvaccinated will say what the hell, I’m not wearing a mask either.”

Like a large number of his colleagues and officials in Washington, DC, Paul is a COVID-19 survivor, having contracted the virus back in April 2020.

Fauci has pushed back against Paul, telling him in a Senate hearing on Thursday that masks were not “theater.”

“When you talk about reinfection, and you don’t key in the concept of variants, that’s an entirely different ball game, that’s a good reason for a mask,” Fauci told him.