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Republicans Start Pretending They’ve Always Supported Masks – Now That COVID-19 Is Surging in Red States

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When blue states like Washington, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Massachusetts were hit with coronavirus in large numbers, Republicans from President Donald Trump to Fox News were vehemently opposed to mask wearing. But now that coronavirus is surging in red states, like Texas, Florida, Arizona, and Georgia, they’re changing their tune – and pretending they’ve always supported mask wearing.

“If Americans submit to wearing masks,” Fox News host Laura Ingraham asked one month ago, “what other rights and freedoms can be taken?”

Fast forward to this week.

Here’s Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell:

The President of the United States still refuses to wear a mask in public, and has made clear he remains vehemently against them, but his son, Donald Trump Jr., on Tuesday out of the blue declared mask-wearing is no big deal.

“You know, I don’t think it’s too complicated to wear a mask,” Jr. told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo in an interview discussing the upcoming GOP convention.

Former White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney Wednesday said that President Trump should tell Americans that wearing a mask “is the best thing you could possibly do,” and suggested he “start wearing them to send that message.”

“Fox & Friends” co-host Steve Doocy seemed to mock RNC chair Rona McDaniel on Tuesday for her apparent continued opposition to mask-wearing – and her defense of the President’s refusal as well.

“I think that if the president wore one, it would just set a good example. He’d be a good role model. I don’t see any downside to the president wearing a mask in public,” Doocy said. “MAGA should now stand for ‘Masks Are Great Again.’ Let me give you some marketing advice right there.”

Here’s uber-conservative Republican Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee:

Unofficial Trump advisor, Fox News host Sean Hannity, acts like he’s always supported mask-wearing – even though he called the coronavirus crisis a hoax. In fact, as Yahoo News reported in April, Hannity suggested “the pandemic might be a ‘deep state‘ plot to hurt the economy or, at another point, claiming concerns over the novel virus was a ‘new hoax‘ designed to ‘bludgeon’ Trump.”

Now, coronavirus is real and “masks work.”

This week we’ve seen Vice President Mike Pence wear a mask. In fact, the White House posted this image of the VP at a rare coronavirus task force meeting Tuesday:

Not all Republicans are on board.

Like President Donald Trump.

And Senator Rand Paul.

 

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Trump Admin Official: ‘Your Government Is Failing You’

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October 31, 2025

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U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, appearing to depart from official administration messaging, told Americans affected by the federal government shutdown and the loss of essential food assistance programs such as SNAP that their government is “failing” them.

“My message to America is, first, the fact that your government is failing you right now,” Secretary Rollins told reporters on Friday at a press conference with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.

“That poverty is not red or blue. It is not a Republican or Democrat issue,” she continued.

“It doesn’t matter who you voted for, or even if you voted, that if you are in a position where you can’t feed your family, and you’re relying on that $187 a month for an average family in the SNAP program, that we have failed you,” she admitted.

READ MORE: ‘Disturbing’: Johnson Scorched for Saying He’s Starving SNAP to ‘Pressure’ Democrats

Speaker Johnson, who opposes any measures to fund food stamps or other safety-net programs without reopening the government, quickly stepped in.

“And it’s — clarifying,” Johnson said. “When she says, ‘we have failed you,’ she means ‘we, the Democrats,’ okay?”

“Because, as we’ve just explained, Republicans have voted 14 times to get this done,” he said of Senate votes to pass the House’s clean continuing resolution.

Democrats have refused to vote to reopen the government without legislation that would restore the Obamacare premium subsidies. Without those funds, some Americans are already seeing premiums for next year skyrocket.

Rollins was not the only Republican on Friday who appeared to veer from the GOP’s standard message.

U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke told Fox Business that inflation and food prices are high — contrary to remarks President Donald Trump has repeatedly made.

READ MORE: Americans Turn Against Trump’s Crime Crackdowns: Report

 

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‘Our Economy Is Not Great’: Republican Congressman Says Inflation and Prices Are High

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October 31, 2025

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In a rare break from President Donald Trump and Republican orthodoxy, one GOP congressman is acknowledging what many Americans already feel: times are tough.

“Our economy is not great,” U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT), who served as Secretary of the Interior during the first Trump administration, told Fox Business on Friday.

“There’s a lot of strain” on the economy, he added, while talking about the federal government shutdown, now in its 31st day.

“This injects another degree of uncertainty, distraction, in the economy, and it’s going to affect, and we’re gonna see WIC go away. We’re gonna see benefits of people that really need help. They won’t be able to get it.”

READ MORE: ‘Disturbing’: Johnson Scorched for Saying He’s Starving SNAP to ‘Pressure’ Democrats

Speaking about President Trump’s highly controversial plan to allow massive amounts of beef from Argentina into the U.S., Zinke admitted that inflation and prices are high. President Trump has repeatedly claimed he has brought food prices far down, and inflation to at or near “zero.” Both claims are overall false.

“I do know what the president was doing,” on Argentinian beef, Zinke said.

“He’s looking at high inflation, high cost, high beef, and no different than what he’s doing with oil prices and commodities — bringing the cost down because the consumer price inflation’s a really big deal.”

READ MORE: Americans Turn Against Trump’s Crime Crackdowns: Report

 

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‘Pain Is Coming’: Trump Admin Blames Dems for SNAP Shutdown

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18 hours ago

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October 30, 2025

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The Trump administration is blaming Democrats for the impending shutdown of SNAP benefits and for its own decision not to use the $5–$6 billion in contingency funds that Democrats say could keep the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program running after Friday.

Vice President JD Vance was asked about the 42 million people who are expected to lose their SNAP benefits this weekend, and why the administration has found ways to pay troops and federal law enforcement but not low-income Americans who rely on the government to help them pay for food.

“Would there be some push, perhaps, in the next 48 hours so Americans don’t go hungry?” the reporter asked.

“Well, here’s the problem,” Vance replied, explaining that in prior shutdowns, “sometimes the president has tried to make the shutdown as painful as possible on the American people.”

READ MORE: ‘Disturbing’: Johnson Scorched for Saying He’s Starving SNAP to ‘Pressure’ Democrats

“I give the President of the United States great credit and the entire team for trying to make this as painless as possible,” he said, before blaming Democrats.

“The Democrats are acting irresponsibly,” Vance told reporters, claiming that President Trump “doesn’t want the American people to suffer because of it.”

“But look, right now,” he continued, “this government, this administration, we’re like guys running around, you know, with a leak in a dam wall, trying to plug it with bubble gum.”

He challenged Democrats to “just stop this entire charade and reopen the government so that we don’t have to try to make this thing work on a shoestring budget, which is what we’re trying to do.”

Democrats have refused to vote to reopen the government because they are trying to get Republicans to vote to reinstate the Obamacare subsidies that expire at the end of the year. Some Americans are starting to see premiums double and triple.

READ MORE: Americans Turn Against Trump’s Crime Crackdowns: Report

“The unfortunate reality, and we’re starting to see this with our aviation industry, we’re gonna find out the hard way with SNAP benefits,” Vance said.

“The American people are already suffering, and the suffering is gonna get a lot worse,” he declared. “Not because the President of the United States has failed to make the shutdown painless. He’s tried to do everything that he can to make it as un-painless as possible.”

“The reason that pain is coming, and the reason it’s building is because we’re not passing the clean bill to reopen the government, it’s a very easy thing to do,” he claimed.

Vance went on to blame President Joe Biden for Obamacare premiums skyrocketing.

READ MORE: ‘How Authoritarians Rule’: National Security Experts Blast Trump’s New Nuclear ‘Fear Show’

 

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