Biden pans mask repeal as ‘big mistake’
Consultation of only 1 health adviser by Abbott spurs scrutiny in Austin
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden slammed Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to drop the Texas mask mandate as “Neanderthal thinking” on Wednesday amid backlash over the governor’s move to lift coronavirus restrictions during a “pivotal” period in the pandemic.
“I think it’s a big mistake,” Biden said. “Masks make a difference. … The last thing we need is Neanderthal thinking.”
The pushback from Biden is new for Abbott and other Republican governors who throughout the pandemic had been urged by Donald Trump’s White House to resist COVID-19 executive orders as much as possible.
The Biden administration, on the other hand, is now urging Texans to ignore Abbott’s latest order, which takes effect next Wednesday, and wear masks and socially distance. To be clear, Abbott has also encouraged people to take those precautions but says he is relying on Texans’ sense of personal responsibility, rather than government mandates. Abbott’s move was applauded by Republicans both in Austin and in Congress.
The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday joined the president in saying that Abbott was too quick to end the mask mandate. So far Texas is the biggest state to do so.
“The next month or two is really pivotal in terms of how this pandemic goes,” said CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky during a briefing on the virus. “As we scale up vaccination, we really do need to decrease the amount of virus that is circulating.”
Meanwhile in Austin, state law
makers scrutinized Abbott’s decision as it became apparent that the governor had consulted only one of his four COVID-19 medical advisers on rescinding the mask mandate before announcing it Tuesday afternoon in Lubbock.
Dr. John Hellerstedt, the commissioner of the Department of State Health Services, was the third medical adviser to say he did not discuss lifting restrictions with Abbott in advance.
13% of Texans vaccinated
Speaking Tuesday at a packed Mexican restaurant where few people wore masks, Abbott said he was lifting the restrictions because severe infections are on the decline and vaccinations are rising. Hospitalizations from the disease have fallen by more than half from their high of over 14,000 in January.
More than 3.5 million Texans have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and nearly 2 million have been fully vaccinated, out of a population of 29 million.
Still, the state ranks among the lowest for the percentage of people vaccinated, at 13 percent.
“Too many small business owners have struggled to pay their bills,” Abbott said. “This must end. It is now time to open Texas 100 percent.”
Testifying before the state’s committee on public health the next day, Hellerstedt, the state health services chief, told lawmakers he had not been consulted in advance.
“I did not have a personal conversation with him prior to the decision,” Hellerstedt said.
The commissioner said he has daily discussions with the governor’s staff, though, and “both the governor and I are on the same page” regarding actions to prevent COVID-19, including maskwearing and social distancing. Hellerstedt did not say whether those staff conversations included a timetable for lifting restrictions.
Hellerstedt was the third of Abbott’s four COVID health advisers to say they were not consulted on the move. That team, named at the start of the pandemic, includes three public health experts — two of whom told the Dallas Morning News on Tuesday that they also were not involved in the decision.
Only one adviser, Dr. John Zerwas, said he agreed with the policy change as Texas’ COVID-19 numbers improve. Zerwas is a vice chancellor for health affairs at the University of Texas System and a former GOP state representative.
“Now we know @Govabbott’s premature repeal of the mask mandate happened without him having a conversation with the Commissioner of @TEXASDSHS,” the Texas House Democratic Caucus tweeted Wednesday.
Renae Eze, a spokeswoman for the governor, said Abbott “speaks regularly with Dr. Hellerstedt and Dr. Zerwas, along with others in the medical community, regarding yesterday’s announcement.”
“All were in agreement that Texans should continue following medical advice and safe standards on preventing COVID-19 to protect themselves and their loved ones, just like they do on other medical issues,” Eze said in an email. “As the governor mentioned yesterday, COVID-19 has not suddenly disappeared. Removing state mandates does not end personal responsibility or the importance of caring for family members, friends, and your community.”
It’s not the first time Abbott has moved to ease COVID-19 restrictions without the buy-in of all his medical advisers. In April, Abbott pushed to reopen the state, even as Texas had yet to meet most of the benchmarks his advisers had set for doing so.
Biden plans to follow up
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday that Biden will follow up with Abbott personally. The president speaks regularly with governors, including Abbott, and “I’m sure he will raise this the next opportunity he has.”
“This entire country has paid the price for political leaders who ignored the science when it comes to the pandemic,” Psaki said. “There’s still work that needs to be done. We need to remain vigilant.”
At the same time, Republicans were backing the governor’s decision — and Abbott personally responded to the president’s criticism on Twitter, switching topics to lambaste Biden’s immigration policy.
“The Biden administration is recklessly releasing hundreds of illegal immigrants who have COVID into Texas communities,” Abbott said , an apparent reference to a change allowing 25,000 migrants to be released into the U.S. while they wait for asylum proceedings. “The Biden Admin. must IMMEDIATELY end this callous act that exposes Texans & Americans to COVID.”
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz called the repeal of the state’s coronavirus restrictions “great news,” and U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady of The Woodlands called it a matter of “common sense” with hospitalizations on the decline.
“We ought to continue to do smart things,” Brady said. “Businesses that have good safety protocols in place — keep doing good things. For individuals, there still always is risk of social gatherings in homes. You know, wear a mask when you can’t socially distance, wash your hands — just do the things we’ve been doing to tamp down these flareups. We’re not through this yet, but I think the governor’s decision was pretty common sense and appropriate.”
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn also defended Abbott’s decision, telling the Wall Street Journal that “at some point, the government needs to quit making arbitrary rules that do not have any demonstrable connection with the public health.”
“I don’t think (Biden’s) got a lot to say about preaching to my state about how we’ve handled this COVID-19 virus,” Cornyn said. “And the fact of the matter is, if you want to wear a mask, you can still wear a mask.”