Screenshot via Twitter.

As Covid-19 cases hit a record high in Florida — 21,683 new cases, the highest daily total since the pandemic began, according to the AP — self-proclaimed “Florida Man” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) used the contagious virus as fodder for jokes at several rallies held on Saturday, telling his audience that instead of catching the Delta variant, he had caught the “Florida variant.”

Gaetz: I got the Florida variant. I got the freedom variant. It affects the brain. pic.twitter.com/U4XGhbVqph

— Acyn (@Acyn) July 31, 2021

Gaetz kicked off his “Florida Man Freedom Tour” on Saturday and video clips from his event in Largo, Fl. showed the congressman mocking experts who had been warning people to “look out for the Delta variant, or the Lambda variant — next it’s going to be like the Chi Omega variant.”

“I got the Florida variant!” Gaetz continued. “I got the freedom variant! It affects the brain. It gets you to think for yourself, where you don’t just surrender to the truth that they’re trying to create in corrupt Big Media.”

According to Florida Today, Gaetz made similar comments about catching a “Florida variant” at the rally in Melbourne, Fl., which he claimed provided skills in “hunting, fishing, and hugging your family.”

Gaetz also called Dr. Anthony Fauci a “sniveling little twit.”

This “Florida Man Freedom Tour” follows an “America First” tour Gaetz held with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), a series of events that generated headlines both for Gaetz and Greene’s own comments and for the difficulty the duo had in finding locations willing to host them. One particular event in California was cancelled three times after venues cited security concerns.

A spokesperson for the Hilton Melbourne Beach Oceanfront, the venue for Gaetz’s Melbourne event, told Florida Today that the event had been registered under the name “Logan Circle Group” and they did not know that the Florida congressman would be speaking.

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Missouri Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R) reiterated her vehement opposition to critical race theory during a Saturday interview with Fox News, saying schools need to focus on raising their test scores and “teaching the ABC’s, not the CRT.”

Hartzler, a former teacher who introduced the No CRT For Our Military Kids Act, told Fox News’ Mike Emanuel that “the thought that our Department of Defense could be teaching our children that their country is inherently racist and certainly the children of men and women in uniform is just abhorrent.”

“I want to make sure they are taught this is the greatest country in the world. And they should be proud of our country and shouldn’t be ashamed of who they are based on their skin color,” she added.

According to the Associated Press, critical race theory “is a way of thinking about America’s history through the lens of racism” and “centers on the idea that racism is systemic in the nation’s institutions and that they function to maintain the dominance of white people in society.” The AP also noted that there is little evidence CRT as a whole is currently being taught in public schools, though certain ideas such as bias have made their way into some schools’ curriculum.

Asked by Emanuel why CRT alarms her so much, Hartzler replied, “no child should be taught that their destiny is determined by their skin color or that America is an inherently racist nation.”

“That is not reality. It is a changing of history, a rewriting of history, and it’s very toxic,” she said. “And certainly in the military, we need to be working toward unity and cohesion and not dividing our troops into different groups based on their skin color. It doesn’t make sense, and in America, we need to continue to embrace our traditional motto of E Pluribus Unum; out of many, one.”

She continued: “That is the strength of our nation is that we come from many different backgrounds, but we are all Americans and that should be the goal. That should be what we teach our kids. And that their future is limitless. The American dream is alive and well. And not be indoctrinated with something that’s going to be damaging to them and ultimately damaging to the future of our country.”

Hartzler appeared confident in the outlook of her bill, saying she thinks “we’ll get a lot of support,” and later adding, “Surely, Democrats and Republicans can embrace that we should be teaching our children that America is great and not divide them by skin color.”

The congresswoman said critical race theory is the “number one issue” she has heard about from parents amid her newly-launched senate campaign.

“Parents don’t want their children taught that their future and destiny and worth is determined by their skin color, and that children should look suspiciously on one another, she said. “They support teaching America’s greatness.”

“And as I’ve said before, I think our schools should be teaching the ABC’s, not the CRT,” she said, adding that “it’s very concerning” looking at America’s test scores in comparison to some other countries. “We have to get serious and get back to teaching academics. So that not only that our kids can have the best education possible, but so that we can compete as a nation in the future.”

Watch above, via Fox News.

A Fox News panel called out Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Saturday for removing her mask to take a photo after swearing in Rep. Jake Ellzey (R-Texas), despite a new mask mandate imposed by Capitol Police for the House side of the Capitol.

Fox News host Carley Shimkus began by noting that “another big and ever present part of the Covid-19 era has been hypocrisy.”

“Nancy Pelosi, she got her hair done at the salon when nobody else could, and this week she said masks would be required for all members of the House and it already looks like she’s breaking her rules on that front as well,” Shimkus added, before playing a video clip of Pelosi and Ellzey removing their masks.

The mask removal took place Friday outside of the House chambers — where Pelosi imposed a fine for going maskless — but did appear to violate the Capitol Police’s mask mandate.

Fox News’ Tyrus commented that Pelosi broke her own rule, contrasting her standards to those of Batman.

“You know it’s like that old Batman movie where the Joker’s like ‘you’re going to have to break your one rule.’ And you know of course Batman wouldn’t do that,” he said. “Unfortunately Batman is not in our government.”

Tryus then pivoted to criticize “politicization of medicine.”

“We’re just seeing the irresponsibleness of mainstream media, the politicization of medicine — which is never a good thing — and we are seeing how well they are prepared,” he said. “If you give an interview coming from the field of science, you shouldn’t have to use things like ‘um’ and ‘and’ and ‘hold tight,’ because you should have a prepared statement with all the facts already there.”

He continued: “We have politicization on both sides of the fence where everyone has got something to say about nothing and then when you look to the CDC to be that strong voice of just the facts and ‘this is where we are at’ and giving us bad news.”

“Americans can take bad news, they can take good news,” Tyrus said. “What we can’t take are inconsistencies and whataboutisms. We need actual facts when we’re dealing with our medicine.”

Shimkus then brought the panel back to the conversation about hypocrisy, bringing up Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) not wearing a face mask on Friday night for her indoor birthday celebration. Bowser announced a new indoor mask mandate, even for vaccinated individuals, on Thursday which took effect on Saturday, hours after the photo was taken.

“It appears we’re in for another round of rules for thee and not for me,” Shimkus said.

Watch above, via Fox News.

NBC New York’s Melissa Russo interviewed former NYC mayor and former Donald Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani this week, and in very on-brand fashion the outspoken attorney made multiple startling declarations. Of particular note, and sure to be meme’d for all time, Giuliani said that he is “more than willing to go to jail” should it come to that.

Giuliani spoke with Russo at length about the investigations into his and his former client’s activities, and specifically the federal probe into his dealings in Ukraine.

On that subject, he maintains absolute innocence, and said rather grandiosely that, should he be punished, those who enact it will “suffer the consequences in heaven.”

“I committed no crime, and if you think I committed a crime, you’re probably really stupid, because you don’t know who I am,” Giuliani told NBC. “Is the guy who put the mafia in jail, terrorists in jail, Ed Koch’s commissioners in jail, and the worst people on Wall Street — I’m not going to file (a form)? I mean, that’s just crazy.”

“I am more than willing to go to jail if they want to put me in jail,” he said at one point. “And if they do, they’re going to suffer the consequences in heaven. I’m not, I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Why are you willing to go to jail if you feel that you’re innocent,” Russo asked.

“Because they lie,” he responded. “And they cheat.”

Giuliani also brought up Hunter Biden and Andrew Cuomo to claim there’s a double standard at the Department of Justice.

“You see the differences between the way a Cuomo is treated and the way I’m treated,” he said.

Watch the clip above, courtesy of NBC New York.

Mario Tama/Getty Images

Even as the surge in coronavirus infection due to the Delta variant has forced the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to revise it’s mask guidelines, vaccination rates have been surging, even doubling in some states.

The Delta variant was just beginning to surge when the month began, and by this week its spread had not only spurred that change in mask guidance by the CDC, it also resulted in hyperbolic and often irresponsible news coverage.

But according to an analysis of CDC date by CNN, the past three weeks have also seen a significat increase in average national daily vaccinations (26%), and increases of more than double in some states with the lowest vaccination rates:

Alabama’s average, for instance, is more than double three weeks ago. The state has the country’s lowest rate of its total population fully vaccinated, at 34%. Gov. Kay Ivey on July 23 called out “the unvaccinated folks” for the rise in Covid-19 cases there.

Arkansas, with just 36% of its population fully vaccinated, also has seen its average daily rate of doses administered double in the last three weeks.

Louisiana, which had by far the most new cases per capita last week and only 37% of its population fully vaccinated, saw daily vaccination rates rise 111% compared to three weeks ago.

Missouri, also hit hard by the recent surge in new cases, now has a daily average of new vaccinations 87% higher than three weeks ago.

There has been steady coverage of the Delta variant as its prevalence increassed, but the past week or so have seen an explosion of stories about the variant, and about once-anti-vaccine people changing their minds — sometimes tragically late. Time will tell what effect that has on vaccination rates in the coming weeks.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tore off her face mask in the Capitol on Friday to take a photo with a new Republican congressman and his family — after she imposed a fine on other members who did the same, and threatened infringing visitors with arrest.

Pelosi was swearing in Jake Ellzey, who won a special election to fill the Texas House seat left vacant by the late Rep. Ron Wright (R), who died this year at the age of 67 after contracting Covid-19. Video showed Ellzey, his wife, and their two children — McCall, 12, and Jack, 9 — taking a photograph with Pelosi when someone off-camera shouted a suggestion that they should remove their masks. Pelosi obliged, followed by Ellzey and his family members.

Drug companies are still conducting Covid-19 vaccines trials for children younger than 12, which means Ellzey’s children are not likely to have been vaccinated against it.

Nancy Pelosi takes off mask, breaking her own mandate, for a photo. pic.twitter.com/dxGIs4zHtT

— The First (@TheFirstonTV) July 30, 2021

Pelosi re-instituted a demand this week that House members who refuse to wear masks in “House Office Buildings, the Hall of the House, and House committee meetings” pay a $500 fine for their first offense, and a $2,500 fine for each additional offense. It isn’t clear whether the mandate was intended to apply to the Speaker’s Lobby outside the House Chamber, where the photograph appeared to have been taken.

Capitol Police were additionally directed on Wednesday to arrest any visitors or staff members spotted without masks “throughout the Capitol grounds.” They were advised not to arrest members of Congress, but to report them.

House Republicans marched on the Senate — where members are not required to wear masks — on Thursday in protest of the measure, while Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY), Marjorie Taylor Greene, (R-GA) and Ralph Norman (R-SC) announced this week that they were filing a lawsuit against the 82-year-old “tyrant.”

Pelosi fired back on Wednesday, calling Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) a “moron” for opposing the mandate.

Watch above via Twitter.

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