Brown, who wore a mask while speaking, said, “I’ll start telling the presiding officer to wear a mask as soon as he speaks.” Not wearing a mask, Sullivan replied sternly, “Like most senators, I don’t wear a mask when I speak.”
Sullivan addressed his hot exchange with Brown over the mask on Fox News Tuesday evening, accusing the Democrat of giving him a “lecture.”
“Some of these left-wing senators, like Senator Brown, just can’t help themselves to their willingness to speak to people on such issues, whether they’re speaking to other U.S. senators or to working families,” Sullivan said. “People recognize the challenges – we will face these challenges – but giving speeches or preaching them by senior officials is something that I think or not, I certainly don’t appreciate.”
Brown told CNN’s Chris Cuomo “Prime Time” the following Tuesday that “Senator Cruz has nothing to do with the truth in most of his public life.”
“Every time a senator speaks out, the senate’s stenographer is about six feet away and the senators who don’t wear masks endanger him,” he said. “I know that Ted Cruz doesn’t see the Senate stenographer because she is – she’s always been in these cases – she’s one of the essential workers who usually doesn’t get paid a lot and exposes herself, to essential workers, the public and He then goes home at night anxious about a possible infection to his family. “
A series of incidents have led to recent outbreaks involving wearing masks on Caspitol Hill and coronavirus cases are among the deadliest outbreaks across the country. A number of members of Congress have either tested positive or gone into quarantine after coming in contact with Kovid-19 in recent days.
Cruise said in a tweet that Sullivan was “more than 0 feet” away from his fellow senator, adding that “the last time I checked was 500 feet more than 6 feet.”
However, even when people can maintain a distance of 6 feet, people around are advised to wear masks indoors. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Guidance indicate that the use of distance masks is not an option when indoors. This is because the virus-filled particles can float in the air and accumulate in the room. “When wearing a mask at a distance of less than a foot from other people or indoors,” the CDC website said in a statement on self-defense measures at social gatherings.
Additionally, Cruz’s tweet was misleading, as Brown appeared to be referring to staffers who were only a few feet away from Sullivan when he was masked.
Brown made it clear during a press call with reporters Tuesday that he was expressing concern for Senate staff who must work on the floor, where the presiding officer is sitting nearby.
“Mitch McConnell has called back senators where all staff have to come down to the Senate floor and leave open. They have no choice, they lose their jobs or they come to work like most Americans,” Brown said.
“He was an inch away from four people who had masks, but he couldn’t defend himself,” Brown said of the confrontation with Sullivan.
“I don’t care what they tell me. I care about public health. It’s clear that McConnell and some of my Senate colleagues, like Ted Cruz, don’t care about essential workers,” Brown said.
Grassley, the most senior Republican in the chamber as pro-President Tempor, is 87 years old, putting the virus at a sensitive age. Iowa Republicans spoke on the Senate floor Monday and were seen in the Capitol talking to reporters Monday afternoon.
He tweeted, “I feel good that I will continue my work for the Iowa PPL from home.”
In his remarks directed at Sullivan on the Senate floor, the Ohio Democrats pointed out that “there are people below them,” as he puts it.
“There is not much interest in this body in public health,” he added.
Since the epidemic began, there have been many occasions during which senators, especially during the vote, have not appeared socially far enough on the structure of the Senate.
The story was updated on Tuesday with additional developments.
Ali Maine, Caroline Kelly and Kristin Wilson of CNN contributed to this report.
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