Political commentator Keith Olbermann faced a backlash on Twitter Tuesday after he suggested the federal government should withhold COVID-19 vaccines from Texas because of the Republican governor’s decision to reopen the state.
“Why are we wasting vaccinations on Texas if Texas has decided to join the side of the virus?” Mr. Olbermann, who hosts his own YouTube show, wrote on Twitter.
In a subsequent tweet, Mr. Olbermann called Texas Gov. Greg Abbott a “mass murderer” after the governor announced he was ending a statewide mask mandate and allowing businesses to open at 100% capacity starting next week.
“I just announced Texas is OPEN 100%. EVERYTHING,” Mr. Abbott tweeted. “I also ended the statewide mask mandate.”
Mr. Abbott issued an executive order effective March 10 that says businesses in the state will be able to reopen at full capacity after they were previously capped at 75%.
Mr. Abbott said the mandates are “no longer needed” as the number of positive coronavirus cases and hospitalizations have continued to fall and vaccinations continue to increase.
Mr. Olbermann was swiftly accused of being callous for his comments about Texas.
Because Texas is one of these United States. And viruses don’t respect state lines. And Texans have every right to have access to the same protections afforded to the rest of us. https://t.co/Ltq2GvWig5
— G O L D I E. (@goldietaylor) March 3, 2021
Because we are all Americans.
And by the way, millions of Texans vote for Democrats, science, and vaccines. https://t.co/HzuTgKlpss
— Christine Pelosi (@sfpelosi) March 3, 2021
“People who live in states with political leadership I oppose deserve to die lonely deaths on ventilators” is absolutely depraved moral logic, even before you get to the tabletop-smooth brained understanding of how disease works. https://t.co/EoH67NuEzZ
— Adam Serwer 🍝 (@AdamSerwer) March 3, 2021
People deserve to stay safe and healthy no matter who they voted for.
— Molly Jong-Fast🏡 (@MollyJongFast) March 3, 2021
I understand your frustration, but this is a garbage take. That’s my family you’re talking about. My friends. Everyone I grew up with. Human beings with human rights. They should not be denied a life-saving vaccine because their governor is an idiot.
Delete this & apologize.
— David Slack (@slack2thefuture) March 3, 2021
over the last five years or so there have been a lot of people i thought weren’t stupid until they said something exactly like this https://t.co/w6cG6DL7g7
— Jon Bois (@jon_bois) March 3, 2021
*governor does something stupid*
me: why do we let anyone living under that governor have water? https://t.co/MFO9aPYMyC
— Rajat Suresh (@rajat_suresh) March 3, 2021
Texas is great. People in Texas are great. Texas’ political leadership is not. Keep that all separate https://t.co/uvkmrMsHtx
— Brian Floyd (@BrianMFloyd) March 3, 2021
