Marjorie Taylor Greene, a GOP congressional candidate in Georgia with a history of incendiary comments, asserted in a tweet on Tuesday that “children should not wear masks,” comments in sharp contrast with the recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public health professionals.
Greene claimed that masks are “unhealthy for their psychological, emotional, and educational growth” and “forcing boys to wear masks is emasculating.”
“Masculinity isn’t toxic nor dangerous,” she added. “Dem Socialism and shut downs are.” Greene included an image with her tweet highlighting low mortality rates among child Covid-19 patients.
Public health officials say masks can help prevent the spread of the virus, which has infected more than 6.3 million people in the US and claimed the lives of about 190,000, according to CNN’s latest figures. The CDC recommends that people 2 and older “wear masks in public settings around people who don’t live in your household and when you can’t stay 6 feet away from others.” The CDC acknowledges in its guidance that masks may not be possible in some circumstances that could exacerbate physical or mental conditions.
More than 513,000 US children have been diagnosed with Covid-19, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association. Children represent nearly 10% of all reported cases in the US, according to the groups’ report released Tuesday. They found that 70,630 new child cases were reported from August 20 through September 3, a 16% increase in child cases over two weeks.
CNN has reached out to Greene for comment and has not immediately gotten a response.
Greene has previously embraced the QAnon conspiracy theory and has a history of Islamophobic and bigoted remarks on social media.
Greene, who has the support of President Donald Trump, is poised to be elected to Congress this fall after winning the primary in a solidly Republican district.
This story has been updated with additional developments Tuesday.
CNN’s Jen Christensen and Veronica Stracqualursi contributed to this report.