Pelosi calls McCarthy a ‘moron’ for opposing mask rule in House

Masks on, gloves off.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Wednesday that masks will again be required in the House Chamber — and bashed Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) over his opposition to such measures.

“He’s such a moron,” Pelosi said of McCarthy as she departed from a gaggle of reporters and entered a car.

In a statement, McCarthy had baselessly claimed on Tuesday that “bringing masks back is not a decision based on science, but a decision conjured up by liberal government officials who want to continue to live in a perpetual pandemic state.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tightened its indoor mask guidelines on Tuesday, advising that even vaccinated Americans cover their faces in schools and in regions of high coronavirus transmission.

That move came in response to surging COVID case counts and the spread of the highly contagious delta variant. Over the last two weeks, the nation’s moving seven-day average of cases more than doubled, according to CDC data.

Pelosi said House members who violate the new mask rule could face fines.

“The chair wishes to inform all members and staff that masks will be once again be required in the Hall of the House,” Pelosi said. “However, members will be permitted to remove their masks temporarily while under recognition.”