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charlie-kirk-diaper-boy.png
Sarah Wasko / Media Matters

Charlie Kirk declares that he won’t wear masks because he doesn’t believe the science

TPUSA's Charlie Kirk, a top Trump ally, spreads misinformation about masks

Written by Nikki McCann Ramirez

Research contributions from Jason Campbell

Published 07/27/20 8:08 PM EDT

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As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to surge throughout the United States, killing almost 150,000 Americans and infecting millions, key surrogates to President Donald Trump and the administration continue to insist that basic safety measures are unscientific and an affront to civil liberties. Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, a top Trump ally and frequent Fox guest, has been consistently working to undermine health care experts and government officials working to enforce COVID safety guidelines.

On his podcast, Kirk bragged about refusing to wear a mask in grocery stores that require them.

Video file

Citation From the July 26, 2020, edition of PodcastOne's The Charlie Kirk Show

CHARLIE KIRK (HOST): Do not force me to wear a mask, it's that simple. I'm not gonna do it, I'm not. The only time I comply is on the airlines because I actually need to fly the airlines to be able to do my job and travel the country so I can deliver truth to you and make an income and grow Turning Point USA. So that's the fight I do not fight. But every single time I go into one of these grocery stores, "Where's your mask?"

I say, well first of all, the science around masks is very questionable, very questionable. In fact some people, some doctors think that masks actually make you sicker and have you less likely to be able to get oxygen and more likely to infect yourself, and less likely to be able to fight the virus, and actually more likely to be able to die sooner. A lot of people believe that. I've met many doctors that hold that view.

Secondly, we have a huge civil liberty issue here. Why do you have the authority to tell me what I can and cannot do with my body? I thought it was 'my body, my choice.' I thought that was the entire thought process as to why we are wrongly able to terminate a million children in the womb every single year. And so, I just don't like being told what to do generally by the federal government. I'm not a type of person who plays well when the government comes in and starts to say you must put this on your face.

Now I think there’s some restrictions that I support. I'm actually in the minority, I support seatbelt laws, because I think seatbelts actually save lives, and I actually think it's not that big of an infringement on your liberty. I kind of disagree with a lot of people on this. I mean, some super strict libertarians say ''Oh no, no seatbelts ever--" OK, if you fly through the window of a car because you didn't want to wear a seatbelt and all of a sudden I have to pay for your healthcare, that's ridiculous. A mask might not even work, a mask is questionable at best.

So the science around masks is -- needs to be debated more and the fact that these Republican governors are all "Oh you must wear a mask, you must wear a mask" I think it's nonsense. I don't think it's popular. I have never met anyone that says "I just love wearing my mask. I love it."

Yeah I mean, OK, I am not a fan, I think it's dehumanizing when I see a four-year old wearing a mask, I can't think but help we have let them down, and we have robbed them of their childhood. I think there is something innocent, and something special with a childhood about children being able to communicate with facial expressions and we have robbed them from it.

Experts agree that masks help curb the transmission of COVID-19 when worn correctly.

Kirk has repeatedly attacked the science behind wearing face coverings as a tool to prevent COVID-19 transmission. He regularly implies that there are sinister or dishonest motivations behind mask requirements.

In June, Trump spoke at a Students for Trump event presented by Turning Point Action, a 501c(4) nonprofit affiliated with Turning Point USA. Many attendees at the indoor rally did not wear masks, even though COVID-19 cases in Arizona were spiking.

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  • Coronavirus (COVID-19)

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