Fact Check: Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s Executive Order DOES NOT Mandate Wearing Face Masks
Shane Trejo
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Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) has cowered under the pressure and announced an executive order on Thursday that he claims will force everyone in his state to wear a mask to supposedly stop COVID-19 from spreading.
“COVID-19 is not going away, in fact it’s getting worse. Now more than ever, action by everyone is needed until treatments are available for COVID-19,” Abbott said in a video released over social media. “We must do more to slow the spread without locking Texas back down.”
However, public policy analyst Daniel McAdams has found that Abbott is not being forthright about his executive order. Upon closely analyzing the text, McAdams discovered that there is nothing in the order that actually mandates Texans to wear masks in public.
The order reads in part: “Every person in Texas shall wear a face covering over the nose and mouth when inside a commercial entity or other building or space open to the public, or when in an outdoor public space, wherever it is not feasible to maintain six feet of social distancing from another person not in the same household; provided, however, that this face-covering requirement does not apply to the following…”
McAdams notes that the order is written to be deliberately confusing and mislead Texans into believing they have to wear masks, but it actually does not create a mask mandate in most locations.
“That comma after the word “space” is essential. It establishes “outdoor public space” as a clause within the sentence, meaning both indoor AND outdoor are covered by the exception “wherever it is not feasible to maintain six feet of social distancing.” This is critically important, as it means even in stores or other indoor spaces masks are not required as long as it is possible to “social distance.” That would include every grocery store and reasonably-sized commercial establishment,” McAdams wrote in a blog for the Ron Paul Institute.
McAdams blasts Abbott for cravenly wording his order “in such a purposely weasel-like manner that it will be universally accepted and reported as such.”
“Many honest Texas officials saw the “second wave” spike coming because they saw how the game was being rigged. But Abbott fell for it and he has declared war on Texans and on liberty,” McAdams wrote.
“This is not rocket science. Politics is at play in the “second wave” coronavirus in Texas and elected officials are either too dense or too corrupt to take a stand for truth,” he concluded.
While Abbott acts like a conservative champion, he has shown himself to be another sad sack oathbreaker under the pressure. He does not have the guts to stand against the media pressure to oppose the virus regime that is an existential threat to U.S. liberty. He will be remembered among the Benedict Arnolds of our age.
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