Twitter slams Sen. John Cornyn for cheering Norway’s vaccination rate after he downplayed COVID-19

click to enlarge Cornyn speaks during a past appearance at the conservative CPAC conference. - GAGE SKIDMORE / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

  • Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia Commons
  • Cornyn speaks during a past appearance at the conservative CPAC conference.

Sen. John Cornyn loves to tweet. And he really loves to tweet about COVID-19, sometimes falsely downplaying its danger, sometimes making racist claims about it, sometimes making dad jokes about it and sometimes questioning medical experts over their recommendations.

Which may explain why so many Twitter users pounced Monday when the Texas Republican shared an Associated Press story about Norway’s COVID-19 restrictions ending.

“More than 76% of Norway’s population have received one vaccine dose, and nearly 70% have had both shots, according to official figures,” Cornyn tweeted in what many read as a soft-pedaled suggestion that getting a free, potentially life-saving shot might, you know, actually be a good idea.

In response, Twitter users lit up Cornyn for what they said amounts to his inability to take a firm stand against the anti-vaccine sentiment rife among the GOP base. That certainly seems to be the case in his own bright-red Texas, which ranks 29th among U.S. states in terms of people who have been fully vaxxed.

Some called the senator’s soft sell on Norway’s admirable milestone too little too late. Others torched him for over his unflinching support for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who’s repeatedly fought mask and vaccine mandates even amid the Delta variant surge.

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