Politics

‘Fine The Science, Not Follow The Science’: Republican Rep. Says Pelosi’s Guidance Hurts Vaccination Campaign

Screenshot via Fox News

Michael Ginsberg Congressional Correspondent
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Republican Iowa Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks argued that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s decision to maintain a mask mandate is harming vaccination efforts.

“We could be a show of normalcy and what would happen if you got vaccinated as a motivation for people to get vaccinated,” Miller-Meeks told Fox News’ Bill Hemmer on Thursday. Miller-Meeks, an ophthalmologist and former director of the Iowa Department of Public Health, was recently fined $500 for violating the mask mandate. (RELATED: Iowa Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks Won Her Race By 6 Votes)

“This is an issue that’s very important to me,” Miller-Meeks explained. “In the beginning of April I started wearing a mask that said ‘vaccinated’ and I’ve been doing vaccine clinics and administering vaccines in the 24 counties in my district and saw the vaccination numbers going down.”

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced on May 13 that vaccinated individuals do not need to wear masks indoors or outdoors unless they are in crowded areas. Pelosi said that she would not lift the House of Representative’s mask mandate until all members are fully vaccinated.

“I felt clear guidance from the CDC if you were vaccinated you could go without your mask would help more people being incentivized to get vaccinated. So I spoke on the House floor April 22 about this issue asking for the House to lift its mandate so that we could be the leaders we’re elected to be,” she continued.

“This is something I’ve been speaking about, very outspoken about, and done interviews about the safety of the vaccines, the effectiveness of the vaccines and then addressing people’s concern about the vaccine. So it finally came to a head. I had already done several speeches on the floor about this issue. And then when the CDC released the mask mandate for indoors, that’s when I did another speech on the floor and said I’m not going to remove my mask. Nancy Pelosi wants to fine the science, not follow the science.”

“The White House and Chuck Schumer and the Senate don’t have to wear masks,” Miller-Meeks noted.

Her stance has drawn criticism from members of Congress, as well as Admiral Brett Giroir, who was a member of former President Trump’s COVID-19 task force.