If you expected every member of the House of Representatives to be calm and collected, even in opposition, regarding the freshly reinstated mask mandates (in the face of rising Delta cases), you’d be sadly wrong. Rootin’ tootin’ Lauren Boebert reportedly threw a mask before she popped onto Twitter to call Nancy Pelosi’s mandate “totalitarian.” And that’s not the end of the animosity. As reported by CNN congressional reporter Daniella Micaela, Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) and Rep. Byron Daniels (R-FL) got into “a yelling fight outside the House floor” on Wednesday.
Reps. Jared Huffman and Byron Donalds just got in a yelling fight outside the House floor.
Huffman (wearing a mask) yelled at Donalds and said he was selfish for not wearing a mask.
Donalds yelled back: “Don’t be worried about me! Mind your business!”
— Daniella Diaz (@DaniellaMicaela) July 28, 2021
This report quickly reached “confirmed” status when the two colleagues began tweet-firing at each other. On one hand, it’s great that no more legwork was required to confirm. On the other, well, two elected officials began sh*t-posting at each other, which says a lot about the ongoing state of politics.
“I just had to take a different elevator,” Huffman tweeted. “[B]ecause an unvaccinated, defiantly unmasked GOP colleague doesn’t give a sh*t about anyone but himself.”
I just had to take a different elevator because an unvaccinated, defiantly unmasked GOP colleague doesn't give a sh*t about anyone but himself.
— Rep. Jared Huffman on Threads @RealJaredHuffman (@JaredHuffman) July 28, 2021
And Donalds had a comeback. “Adding @JaredHuffman to the growing list of privileged liberals patronizing me for being a free-thinking American,” he tweeted while adding an infamous GIF (that of Kobe Bryant unflinchingly taking on Matt Barnes’ basketball-toward-the-face move) for humorous effect. “Mind your business; I said what I said.”
Adding @JaredHuffman to the growing list of privileged liberals patronizing me for being a free-thinking American.
The list:@brikeilarcnn @ChrisCuomo
Jared HuffmanMind your business; I said what I said. https://t.co/Zy64DCAasQ pic.twitter.com/kIMBrL69HP
— Byron Donalds (@ByronDonalds) July 28, 2021
Huffman was in no mood to mind his own business because of, well, all the reasons why not wearing a mask can detrimentally affect other people.
No, just for being selfish. And rationalizing it in a way that's scientificallh, factually and morally wrong.
— Rep. Jared Huffman on Threads @RealJaredHuffman (@JaredHuffman) July 28, 2021
Donalds stood firm. “The real epidemic in America is liberals continuing to tell free people how to think,” he insisted. “Jared, mind your business and I’ll mind mine.”
The real epidemic in America is liberals continuing to tell free people how to think.
Jared, mind your business and I'll mind mine. https://t.co/uIInUqjjPS pic.twitter.com/0ldUbiEBPC
— Byron Donalds (@ByronDonalds) July 28, 2021
It’s 2021, not 1918 (although it kind-of is), and people still act like wearing a mask to protect others is the most onerous ask in the entire universe.