Leader McCarthy Pushes Back on Pelosi’s Mask Mandate

BUCK: Clay and I are about to dive into all of this with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who joins us on the line. Great to have you, Congressman. How are you doing?

LEADER MCCARTHY: I’m doing well. Congratulations, you two, on the show.

BUCK: Thank you very much. We appreciate it. So, we just had the breaking news about the D.C. mask mandate. We’ve been talking a lot about Speaker Pelosi’s mask rule and the possibility of fines or maybe even arrests. Minority Leader, what are you going to do about this?

LEADER MCCARTHY: You know, you need to understand where this comes from. We just brought in the physician for the Capitol. He based his decision on the CDC. The CDC has now become political. This is what the country needs to understand. The physician in the Capitol, Dr. Monahan, said, “Well, the CDC recommends, based upon a report that has not been printed yet.”

We then went further and asked the doctor, “Did you know this report is based upon a study in India about a vaccine that isn’t approved in America and doesn’t even have peer review?” “I did not know that.” And in the CDC recommendation, it says only for hot spots. In Washington, D.C., there’s an 85%-of-the-Capitol vaccination rate. Even in the Washington Post they write if you were vaccinated, for you to go to the hospital with a new variant is .003%.

It’s more likely you get hit by lightning than have to go to the hospital. And the most interesting part about all of this where our Speaker does not understand what science means, you’re basing something on a study in India, on a vaccine that isn’t in America. Our vaccines work. And it’s not even peer reviewed. What they’re doing is, the administration is making the CDC political.

Because what’s the next thing they did, once they got them to make this report? Every federal employee needs one. They’re going to use this to shut the schools down. They’re going to use this. You’re watching it day after day just continue to grow. That’s what they want to have happen. They first go to the House, and inside the U.S. Capitol, if you’re in the House side, you have to wear a mask or you get fined or arrested. But somewhere around the Rotunda, the science changes.

BUCK: (chuckling)

LEADER MCCARTHY: So, in the Senate, you don’t have to wear a mask.

CLAY: Congressman, I appreciate it. This is Clay. I appreciate you coming on. So what’s the response? Buck and I have been talking about earlier in the show, it feels to me — and I’m curious what you would say to your members, several of whom have already started to say this — that the response needs to be, “Come and arrest me then, Nancy Pelosi.”

If I’ve already been vaccinated and already have had covid, as several of your members have, there’s zero scientific justification for wearing a mask.

LEADER MCCARTHY: Yes.

CLAY: And I think you’re right. There needs to be a battle at some point. You guys have to start fighting for people out there, who want their kids to be in school, without having to wear masks, who want their small businesses to be able to stay open. What’s the best way to fight now?

LEADER MCCARTHY: That’s exactly what we’re doing. Watch what… If you and I were talking yesterday, no one knew how the CDC got their “science” to make this and change the country. It was the House Republicans that brought it forward. It was the House Republicans who confronted the physician. It is the House Republicans, the leader, who challenged the Speaker on the science behind it. What was her response?

To call me names.

Not to debate about the science, but to call me names. The Democrats have the majority in the House — and unfortunately, the rules of the House, all she does is she fines you $500. She won’t arrest members. But she tries to arrest staff. We tell staff, “You don’t have to.” They’re trying to make Americans, who are vaccinated, to wear a mask again. It’s about control, and if they really want people to get vaccinated, they wouldn’t take information off the internet.

They would let somebody who hasn’t been vaccinated to have all the information, so they could make a decision. They wouldn’t tell vaccinated people what the science tells you it’s not going to do anything, to wear a mask. Because it takes away the incentive for someone to get vaccinated. It’s all about control, and we’re not going to sit back. We’re not going to allow this to happen. We just did our other press conference out front. We’re united in our approach. The very best thing we could do is fire Pelosi, because she’s the one that’s fundamentally driving this behind Biden.

CLAY: What happens with the $500 fine? How they enforce that? How do they make you pay?

LEADER MCCARTHY: They take it out of your paycheck.

CLAY: They take it out of your paycheck.

LEADER MCCARTHY: You have to understand what the Democrats have done in the House. It’s total control. Never in the history of Congress, has the Speaker picked who could be on committee for the minority side. She then instituted past rule, that they would fine you $500 if you didn’t have a mask on. They take it directly out of your paycheck. She magnetometers before the House chambers.

I don’t understand. It’s only for members themselves. If you go around it, it buzzes and you go through, you get fined $5,000 taken directly from your paycheck. The most interesting part is, Clyburn, the whip, because he has security, he walks around it. It’s the same thing as before. Remember when Nancy Pelosi wanted the country shut down, said, “You can’t get your hair done,” but she goes and gets it done?

CLAY: (chuckles) Of course.

LEADER MCCARTHY: Remember when Nancy Pelosi said inflation is not a problem? Her husband and her just made $5 million in the last couple of months. How? Not because he invested in stocks or buildings. He bought option calls. What did he buy it on? He bought it on tech stocks. When did he buy it? In the time that we were debating the bills and legislation before tech. You think that’s right?

BUCK: No, it’s clearly not.

LEADER MCCARTHY: She says one thing, and the law does not abide by her.

BUCK: We’re speaking to Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy here. And, sir, I just want to know what do you think people out there — because they ask us — what should they do about this continued covid authoritarianism? I mean, it’s in D.C. right now. It’s in Los Angeles County. I’m worried. I’m here in New York City. I think I might be next. Although, we’ll see. What should people, who don’t want their kids masked up, and don’t want to have deal with this do? What should their next moves?

LEADER MCCARTHY: Let’s go to the foundation of where they’re bringing this premise: From the CDC, which they made political. Let’s look at the study. The study that the CDC is basing it on, is it printed? The study is based on a study in India on a vaccine that isn’t in America — our vacancies work — and it’s not peer reviewed. How can any scientific belief harbor from this?

But they utility this to make the other cities, to control us more. Why are they doing it today? Because they’re coming after your schools next. They’re going back into our restaurants. They’re going back to our small businesses. The only thing they care about is control. If that wasn’t the case, why would why would they put magnetometers around the Hill to get in?

Why would they make you $500 if you don’t wear it on the floor? It’s all about control. In the exact same building, you walk halfway across, it no longer lies there. In the Senate, you don’t have to wear a mask. If the Capitol police officer works on the House side, he’s told to arrest people, if they don’t have one. Later in the day, if he works on the Senate side? No, they don’t have to wear a mask over there.

BUCK: (chuckling) So ridiculous.

LEADER MCCARTHY: Where is the science behind it? America needs to stand up, play by the science, and show them that they’re wrong. We cannot take this any longer.

CLAY: So I think you’re 100% right on all of this. Do you get the sense…? Buck and I have been talking about this. Do you get the sense that the American public is finally fed up? Because I do. This newest shift from the CDC after the White House and everything else said and the bargain was, “Get the vaccine. You never have to wear a mask again.” And suddenly, they’re coming back, and saying we have to wear masks again? Republicans are fed up. But I get the sense that reasonable Democrats — to the extent they still exist — and lots of independents are sitting around saying, “This is covid madness.”

LEADER MCCARTHY: This is covid madness. They were afraid they were losing control. Why don’t you put it out public? How could they make a decision on a study that’s not even public, that you can’t read, that’s based upon a vaccine that’s not even in America? How could that stand on its merit? But this is what they do. They take that to control the rest of our lives.

America will not stand for this, and it’s not about a Republican or Democrat or anybody else. It’s the Americans themselves. We’re not going to go backwards. It’s .003% if you’re vaccinated. We were told if we got the vaccine, we could go back to work, back to school, back to health, back to normal. Now they’re trying to take us back, because somehow they’re losing control.

You’ve watched every step of the way from Pelosi getting her hair done when they said you can’t have it, from Gavin Newsom going to the restaurant when he tells you no one else can. This is fundamental. They want it one way. They want to control us and live another way. That is not right. That is not fair. That is not the American way. And it shouldn’t fundamentally be one side. We need to stand up and fight this.

CLAY: House Minority Leader McCarthy, thank you so much for joining us, sir. We appreciate your time today.

LEADER MCCARTHY: Thank you. Join with us!