Ted Cruz calls fellow senator ‘a complete ass’ after argument over masks
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz recently weighed in on a viral video that showed his colleagues arguing over face masks.
On Monday, Sen. Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat, was called to speak on the Senate floor. He began by asking Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Republican from Alaska, to “please wear a mask as he speaks.”
“I don’t wear a mask when I’m speaking, like most senators,” Sullivan said. “I don’t need your instruction.”
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“I know you don’t need my instruction, but there clearly isn’t much interest in this body in public health,” Brown responded, noting that staffers in the room were potentially being exposed to COVID-19 during the in-person vote.
A clip of the exchange received over one million views. On Monday, Cruz took to Twitter to criticize Brown.
“This is idiotic. [Brown] is being a complete ass,” Cruz wrote. “He wears a mask to speak — when nobody is remotely near him — as an ostentatious sign of fake virtue. [Sullivan] was over 50 feet away, presiding. Last I checked 50 feet is more than 6 feet.”
The video shows a woman standing in front of Sullivan’s desk. While masks are mandatory in the U.S. House of Representatives, senators are encouraged but not required to wear them.
Six Republican senators have tested positive for the virus since the onset of the pandemic.
Watch the exchange over masks below:
