‘Americans Be Damned’: Rand Paul Goes Ballistic On Senate Floor Over Vaccine, Mask Rules

Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky slammed vaccine mandates during a Thursday speech on the Senate floor during which he tried to repeal a mandate for Senate pages.

Paul introduced a resolution to end vaccine and mask mandates for Senate pages, according to a Thursday release. Paul asked for unanimous consent to pass the resolution, but Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland objected, the Washington Examiner reported.

WATCH:

“It is the height of – the height of malpractice to subject young people to the greater risk of vaccination simply to satisfy mandates designed to protect bureaucrats from accountability. I’m told that the Democrats will object to this today. The Democrats will stand up and say they know better than your parents,” Paul said in a 25-minute speech on the Senate floor. “The Democrats will say they know better than these kids’ doctors. By golly, you want to be on the Senate floor, you have to have three vaccines. Guess what, I’ve got zero. I’m standing right here, zero vaccines.”

“I had Covid in the first month of the disease. I likely would have gotten vaccinated, but I got the disease early on. Then all the evidence pointed towards immunity being gained from having the disease, so – being gained from having the disease,” Paul continued. “We recommended our elderly in-laws get the vaccine. The thing is, we made that choice. Here I sit without a vaccine.”

Paul also targeted mask mandates during his remarks, which came two days after Rosemary Hills Elementary School in Montgomery County, Maryland, imposed a mask mandate for certain students, citing the presence of COVID-19 cases in a letter sent to parents.

“I won’t wear a mask because they don’t work either, yet then we’re telling them – in a month, are we putting them back in masks? The Democrats want everybody in masks,” Paul said. “They want the hysteria to return. Why? They don’t think any of us are smart enough to make our own decisions. They want to make the decision for us. The common man be damned, the working class be damned… Americans be damned.”