Texas and Mississippi hit back at President Joe Biden after he called them “neanderthals” for lifting all coronavirus restrictions.
President Biden said allowing Mississippians to decide how to protect themselves is “neanderthal thinking.”
Mississippians don’t need handlers. As numbers drop, they can assess their choices and listen to experts. I guess I just think we should trust Americans, not insult them.
— Tate Reeves (@tatereeves) March 3, 2021
Both Republican states announced this week that they’d be ending all coronavirus lockdown orders, including mask mandates.
In response, Biden accused GOP Govs. Greg Abbott of Texas and Tate Reeves of Mississippi of “neanderthal thinking” for abandoning the “scientific” consensus of partisan bureaucrats like COVID czar Anthony Fauci and others who have projected a long recovery period.
“Look, I hope everybody’s realized by now, these masks make a difference,” Biden said.
“We are on the cusp of being able to fundamentally change the nature of this disease because of the way in which we’re able to get vaccines in people’s arms,” he added. “The last thing—the last thing we need is Neanderthal thinking that in the meantime, everything’s fine, take off your mask, forget it. It still matters.”
Abbott pointed out that Biden was hypocritically criticizing his decision to lift COVID-19 restrictions while allowing thousands of illegal immigrants who could potentially be carrying the virus to enter his state.
“The Biden administration was spreading COVID in south Texas yesterday because of their lack of constraint of testing and quarantining people who come across the border illegally,” he told Fox News.
“The Biden administration was exposing Texans to COVID,” he added. “That is a Neanderthal type approach to dealing with the COVID situation.”
Reeves slammed Biden for insulting Mississippi’s residents, arguing they don’t need government “handlers.”
Both GOP governors argued the restrictions are unnecessary at this point because citizens know how to deal with this virus without direction from government officials.
“We are still strongly advocating that every Texan follow the best practice,” Abbott explained.
“Where we are today is completely different from where we were this time last year when Texans and Americans didn’t know how to deal with this for an entire year,” he continued. “Texans have learned the best practice, and that is to wear a mask.”
