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Rashida Tlaib slammed for wearing mask only for cameras, internet calls her 'fraud'

The video was shot by the Washington Free Beacon’s Collin Anderson. This is not the first time Tlaib has come under fire for COVID-19 related issues

Democratic socialist leader Rashida Tlaib, the U.S. Representative for Michigan's 13th congressional district, is getting flak for a comment she made about her wearing masks. Tlaib was caught on video saying that she is only wearing a mask because she is being filmed by a “Republican tracker.”

On October 6, the conservative news website Washington Free Beacon shared a video of this remark on Twitter. Tlaib, who is vaccinated, was seen on Monday, October 4, greeting a maskless supporter outside an event in Detroit where Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge promoted President Biden’s infrastructure bills. 

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The supporter thought Tlaib, who was seen wearing a mask, was calling him out for being the “one unmasked guy.” That’s when she turned to him and pulled down her mask. “Oh, no, oh, not you,” Tlaib said to him. “No, no, no — I’m just wearing it because I’ve got a Republican tracker here​,” she said, pointing to her left, presumably to the person filming the exchange. The video was shot by the Free Beacon’s Collin Anderson.

This is not the first time Tlaib has come under fire for what has been perceived by her critics, mostly conservatives, as a difference in what she preaches and practices. Back in August, she was reportedly seen dancing without a mask at an indoor wedding in a county in her home state. 

Tlaib was reportedly captured on video in the Instagram Story of Bassam Saleh, a wedding band in Dearborn, Michigan, as she danced and posed for photos at the large indoor gathering. The band tagged the location as Ford Community & Performing Arts Center in Dearborn, a city in Wayne County. The video emerged on the same day the lawmaker slammed Kentucky Republican lawmaker Rand Paul, who posted a video encouraging people to resist federal guidelines.

“The KY Senator is throwing a tantrum as his state is being swallowed whole by this virus, again,” Tlaib said. “People are getting sick and dying 98 counties in Kentucky have a high incidence rate of COVID-19. He needs to put politics aside, and put people first. Start resisting the virus.”

At the time, Dearborn reportedly was rated an orange zone by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, indicating “substantial” transmission of the coronavirus and requiring masks be worn indoors regardless of vaccination status. As per a Detroit Free Press report, the Michigan health department said on Wednesday, October 6, that 7,674 new COVID-19 cases and 92 new deaths were confirmed over a two-day period. The report said that there's an average of 3,837 new cases per day.

Michigan has had at least 1,047,011 confirmed cases and 21,231 confirmed deaths since March 2020, when the pandemic began. Michigan had a test positivity rate of about 11.3 percent on October 5 -- 4,409 of 39,027 diagnostic test results were positive.

On Twitter, Tlaib was slammed for her seemingly offhand comment. “Squad member @RashidaTlaib just said the quiet part out loud, admitting she only wears a mask for optics,” said one tweet slamming her. Another tweet echoed this with, “Rashida Tlaib admits her mask is only on for the cameras.” One more such tweet said, “There’s the hypocrisy in action. Rashida Tlaib says she only wears a mask in front of Republicans!” Libertarian group Young Americans for Liberty tweeted, “.@RashidaTlaib  says the quiet part out loud, admits she's only wearing a mask as theater.”

One tweet said, “Rashida Tlaib is a fraud. While she works overtime to insure you & your children are forced to wear a mask for hours at a time.. She is allowed to gather with friends maskless. Fauci cancels Christmas but the ruling class exempts themselves.”