Tom McClintock doesn’t think masks should be mandatory: ‘People are very courteous’
Rep. Tom McClintock wants to make sure his mother is safe.
He tells her, “If you are in a high risk group, you do need to stay at home. I told my 89-year-old mother, ‘Mom, you’re going to have to become a hermit for a few weeks.’
“And she’s being very careful – not because anybody’s ordered her to do so, but because it’s the sensible thing to do.”
McClintock, though, does not see a need to wear a mask himself when he goes out. He just makes sure he’s careful.
The California Republican has the same standard for everyone during this coronavirus crisis: Be careful, be smart, and do what you think is safe.
People should be left to make their own decisions,” he told The Bee in an interview.
McClintock, 63, cited the experiences of Sweden and South Dakota. “You rigorously protect the elderly, you issue recommendations to citizens and then allow people to make their own decisions based on their own best judgment,” the congressman said.
South Dakota is one of the few states without a stay-at-home order, and Sweden has been operating with few restrictions. How well their policies are working, or whether they can be replicated elsewhere, is a matter of debate among experts.
What’s to prevent someone from sneezing or coughing near you without a mask?
“People are very courteous, and they’re not going to do that,” McClintock said.
McClintock’s advice on how to fight the coronavirus is to use common sense and respect the wishes of others.
If someone is more comfortable wearing a mask, or staying isolated, fine.
If parents are nervous about sending their children to school, keep them home and make other arrangements.
If you want to go out shopping or eating, do it. “If you don’t feel comfortable at a restaurant, don’t go to the restaurant,” McClintock said. “This is not complicated.”
Of course, he said, people with health problems that could be exacerbated or who are overly concerned about contact with strangers should take extra precautions, he said.
“If you don’t feel safe, don’t leave the house,” McClintock advised. “When people do see a risk, they usually change their behavior.”
Some cities, counties – and stores – have made masks a requirement, but California does not make masks mandatory statewide.
The Centers for Disease Control advises that “everyone should wear a cloth face cover when they have to go out in public, for example to the grocery store or to pick up other necessities.”
The agency also recommends people “put distance between yourself and other people outside of your home,” and to remember that “some people without symptoms may be able to spread virus.”
It urges people to say about six feet from other people, avoid gathering in groups, and “stay out of crowded places and avoid mass gatherings.”
McClintock never disagreed with those recommendations, and has consistently endorsed them.
He has said “I wouldn’t criticize anybody for wearing a mask or not for wearing a mask. As I said, if you feel safer wearing a mask, wear a mask. And if you are in a high risk group, you do need to stay at home.”
McClintock said that as he travels his sprawling 4th Congressional District, which stretches from Nevada County to Fresno County, constituents support his view. At his tele-town hall a few weeks ago he generally asked people if they supported the stay-at-home order, and about two-thirds said they did.
Last week, he asked the same question at another tele-town hall and only 31 percent backed the order. “So the public’s getting fed up,” McClintock said.
He’s been critical of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay at home order, issued March 19 and loosened somewhat this week.
“Don’t try to require a one-size-fits-all restriction on the entire population,” McClintock said. He has not yet had a chance to review Newsom’s changes.
His Democratic opponent in November, businesswoman Brynne Kennedy, said it makes sense to take regional differences into account.
“As I’ve said all along, we need to take a reasoned approach to this crisis that respects our constitutional rights, provides appropriate aid to directly affected businesses and workers, protects the medically vulnerable and applies generally accepted science and data,” she said.
“Placer and El Dorado County do not have the same density or risk profile as Sacramento or San Francisco, and state and federal guidelines should reflect these distinctions,” she said. “What they should not do — as Tom McClintock proposes — is impose a one-size-fits-all ‘non-plan’ rooted in partisanship, false choices and over-the–top rhetoric.”
What McClintock said he hears most in his district is that business owners and employees are frightened that their jobs may never come back. He’s hearing them talk politely of civil disobedience, something he never thought he’d hear from those folks.
“These are decent people and they’re scared to death,” McClintock said.
So open the businesses and restaurants. “If you don’t feel comfortable at a restaurant, don’t go to the restaurant,” McClintock said. “This is not complicated.”
Taking precautions is particularly important for the elderly, he said, and cited his mother.
“She understands completely. It’s the right thing to do,” he said of her self-quarantine. “She even disinfects the mail.”
He’ll be careful himself, but sees no need for a mask. In fact, he wants to return to Washington so Congress can do its jobs as it always does. The Senate is meeting this week, but the House postponed a planned session citing health precautions.
“We expect grocery clerks to show up for work at 4 a.m., but Congress can’t summon the courage to go back to work?” he asked. “Congress is a deliberative body. You can’t do that in Zoom meetings or over the phone.”
The way to help people? Talk to other lawmakers. Share thoughts and find common ground. “You pull someone aside or in the hall, or talk about things over dinner,” McClintock said.
This story was originally published May 6, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Tom McClintock doesn’t think masks should be mandatory: ‘People are very courteous’."
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