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CNN medical expert and former Planned Parenthood president Dr. Leana Wen incited mockery on social media after she claimed Monday that mask mandates are no longer necessary because "the science has changed."
Wen's comments came after New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) and Delaware Gov. John Carney (D) announced that mask mandates for schools in each state would soon end.
Speaking on CNN, Wen explained that she agreed with New Jersey's and Delaware's decisions because, in part, "the science has changed."
"There was, and is, a time and place for pandemic restrictions. But when they were put in, it was always with the understanding that they would be removed as soon as we can," Wen said. "And, in this case, circumstances have changed — case counts are declining. Also, the science has changed."
Wen, however, did not address what "science" has changed, or what "science" once showed that mask mandates in schools were absolutely necessary.
"The science has changed." @DrLeanaWen\u00a0explains why she supports lifting some pandemic restrictions and thinks the decision to wear a mask should shift from a government mandate to an individual choice.pic.twitter.com/vaiybBBF2b— Anderson Cooper 360\u00b0 (@Anderson Cooper 360\u00b0) 1644284640
Perhaps most ironic about Wen's interview is that she said the conversation about face masks must now shift from government mandates to "individual responsibility."
"In this case, I'm not saying — I don’t think anyone, really, is saying — that no one should ever wear masks. But rather that the responsibility should shift from a government mandate imposed from the state or the local district of the school ... it should shift to an individual responsibility by the family, who can still decide that their child can wear a mask if needed."
The admission comes just weeks after Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) empowered parents to do exactly what Wen suggested by signing an executive order moving the power to determine masking from school officials to individual parents.
Democrats grumbled over Youngkin's order, and White House press secretary Jen Psaki as recently as Monday complained about it — all while praising Murphy's decision.
Wen's comments triggered a tsunami of reaction online, the consensus of which went something like this: "science" has not changed — only Democrats' political standing has changed.
Right on cue, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said Tuesday that Democrats need to begin communicating "a clear off-ramp" on the pandemic.