Republican Rep. Thomas Massie has vowed to boycott the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for Washington D.C. restaurants by refusing to “show papers” or order from eateries enforcing the rules.
“The DC vaccine mandate kicks in this weekend. My office will not comply,” the Kentucky Congressman tweeted Thursday.
“We will not show papers. We will not order takeout from restaurants that require papers for dine-in. We will get our food from Virginia or we will bring it to work. Shame has befallen our nation’s capital.”
The order – which mirrors similar mandates in place in cities like New York City, Boston and Los Angeles – comes amid the latest COVID-19 surge caused by the recent Omicron variant.
The mandate went into effect on Sunday, requiring all people 12 years old and older to show vaccination proof to enter any restaurant, bar, nightclub, sports arena or gym.
Previously, the nation’s capital remained relatively relaxed with coronavirus mandates and restrictions, sticking to mask mandates for most places such as schools, libraries, public transportation, nursing homes, and some local government agencies.
In November – before the Omicron variant started to spread – Mayor Muriel Bowser eased the city’s mask mandate first implemented in July 2020. She previously lifted the mandate for two months over the spring and summer of last year.
At the time, private businesses were still permitted to mandate employees to wear face coverings while at work, but it was not legally required.
“I want to be very clear, this does not mean that people should stop, that everyone needs to stop wearing their mask, but it does mean that we’re shifting the government’s response,” Bowser said in November, according to NBC Washington.
Over the past few months, Republicans have slammed a variety of vaccine-related mandates, including the Biden administration’s federal mandate for large businesses.
Struck down by the Supreme Court last week, the order mandated all private businesses with more than 100 employees to require their employees to be vaccinated or subject to weekly testing.
Massie previously faced backlash for comparing carrying vaccination proof to Jewish people being tattooed with numbers while in Naxi concentration camps during the Holocaust.
He tweeted a photo that read: “If you have to carry a card to gain access to a restaurant, venue or an event in your own country…that’s no longer a free country. The photo was accompanied by the image of the well-known and somber tattoo.
Massie later deleted the tweet.
Other Republicans in Congress have also been lambasted for making such comparisons – namely Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) who connected the two as she criticized mask mandates implemented at the Capitol.
“You know, we can look back at a time in history when people were told to wear a gold star, and they were definitely treated like second-class citizens, so much so that they were put in trains and taken to gas chambers in Nazi Germany,” Greene told Christian Broadcasting Network’s David Brody at the time. “And this is exactly the type of abuse that Nancy Pelosi is talking about.”
A month later, the conservative lawmaker apologized, saying that there is “no comparison to the Holocaust.”