not holding back
Sherrod Brown describes Rand Paul as being 'kind of a lunatic'
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) did not miss an opportunity on Tuesday to once again call out Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) for not wearing a mask while around his colleagues.
Brown was in Columbus visiting a mass COVID-19 vaccination site when a reporter asked him about senators who don't wear masks, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. Brown responded that most are being courteous and wearing face coverings, except "one of them that's an M.D. isn't, but he's kind of a lunatic."
Brown was referring to Paul, an ophthalmologist who last spring was the first senator to announce that he had tested positive for COVID-19. Paul, Brown added, "thinks he wants to be different but it doesn't serve the public interest." In response, a spokeswoman for Paul said "vaccine deniers, who dispute immunity after natural infection and after vaccination, should refrain from name calling and perhaps try to get informed."
This isn't the first time the two have tangled: In February, Brown scolded a maskless Paul while on the Senate floor, and asked him to "show the respect to his colleagues to wear a mask" while conducting business. Brown has been fully vaccinated, and told reporters at the mass vaccination site that he continues to wear a mask to "make sure everyone is safe and to set that tone."