As people across the globe continue to hate on Twitter following Elon Musk's takeover, people like Marjorie Taylor Greene seem to be enjoying the newly relaxed regulations. Greene is taking full advantage of the understaffed platform to return to her favorite pastime of the last few years: spreading COVID-19 misinformation between misspellings and antisemitic rants about space lasers.
The GOP Rep. from Georgia had her personal Twitter account suspended last year for repeatedly spreading COVID misinformation, though her official congressional account was still active. However, last week Musk lifted the suspension of her account alongside other notoriously banned right-wing trolls, allowing her to come back and continue the misinformation trend.
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Greene wasted no time questioning scientific advice regarding COVID-19, taking a jab at those who still choose to wear a mask.
“So many people still wearing masks,” she wrote on Twitter. “I just want to ask you. If a pair of underwear, really thick ones, high quality cotton, can’t protect you from a fart, then how will a mask protect you from covid??”
Of course, Greene’s tweet quickly went viral, with more than 3,000 comments. While some of her cult followers were quick to praise her extraordinary wit, others mocked her for her lack of basic scientific literacy.
Gas particles—especially methane, the gas responsible for telling us who dealt it—are far, far smaller than viruses and the droplets that can carry COVID-19. That’s why they can travel through, say, underwear, or even a mask. The comparison is just does not make sense, but we all knew already that Greene probably skipped out on a few science courses in school.
We hate to even mention this, but it bears repeating that masks have repeatedly been proven to significantly decrease the chance of COVID-19 infection for the last three years. Whether or not you have survived COVID-19, never had COVID, or have been vaccinated or not, masks make a difference. With the holiday season upon us, it's no surprise people are masking up again. Infection rates of any transmissible virus increase during this time.
While masks are no longer required in many spaces, that does not mean they’re no longer beneficial. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “masking is a critical public health tool for preventing the spread of COVID-19, and it is important to remember that any mask is better than no mask.”
Greene, who claims to still be unvaccinated, is the last one to even be nearly qualified to speak about this issue. Many Twitter users called her out by making similarly asinine comparisons, including comparing the use of socks to condoms.
Greene seems to be sharing too much since being back on Twitter. First, she decided to share her unseasoned Thanksgiving turkey, and now this. Maybe what we’re seeing is a cry for help—why does her underwear have to be “really thick,” and why is she concerned about being protected from a fart?
Jokes aside, while the novel coronavirus pandemic may no longer be the talk of the town, it is still around. Entering its third year, COVID has killed more than 1 million people in the U.S. alone.
If masking up can save lives, why not?
Election season overtime is finally winding down, so Democratic operative Joe Sudbay joins David Nir on The Downballot as a guest-host this week to recap some of the last results that have just trickled in. At the top of the list is the race for Arizona attorney general, where Democrat Kris Mayes has a 510-vote lead with all ballots counted (a mandatory recount is unlikely to change the outcome). Also on the agenda is Arizona's successful Proposition 308, which will allow students to receive financial aid regardless of immigration status.
Over in California, Democrats just took control of the boards of supervisors in two huge counties, Riverside and Orange—in the case of the latter, for the first time since 1976. Joe and David also discuss which Democratic candidates who fell just short this year they'd like to see try again in 2024, and what the GOP's very skinny House majority means for Kevin McCarthy's prospects as speaker.