Americans have much less confidence in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention than they did two years ago when the COVID-19 pandemic started, and now there are questions even about what the real numbers are of infections in the United States, Rep. Carlos Gimenez said on Newsmax Tuesday.
"Why the inconsistency?" the Florida Republican said on Newsmax's "National Report." "Why does the CDC continuously change its mind and give different guidance whey they're supposedly following the science? Science doesn't change that often, so obviously it seems to me like they're pulling things out of the air and making it up as they go along."
Gimenez's comments come as questions grow about the numbers of people who were hospitalized for COVID-19 infections versus people who are admitted to hospitals for other reasons and then test positive for virus.
"What's the real numbe, and what has been the real number in the United States as far as COVID is concerned, and how about the COVID deaths?" he asked. "What is the number of COVID deaths that are actually due to COVID, and not just people who happened to have COIVD? Those are some of the questions I would like to ask."
Meanwhile, Chicago is set to reopen its schools for in-class learning, and Gimenez said that's the right approach nationwide.
"The science has shown that children are much safer in school than otherwise," Gimenez said, noting that there are still some loopholes that will allow Chicago officials to close the schools again.
"In Florida, in my county, schools are open," he said. "They do wear masks, etc., but the schools are open. All the science has shown that the kids are much better off in school then being in remote learning or being out of school."
There is also federal funding that has been allocated to help schools deal with surges, including getting HEPA filters in place and to cover funding for masks, Gimenez commented.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden is in Georgia on Tuesday to campaign for voting rights legislation, and Gimenez said he thinks Democrats' call to stop the filibuster to help get the bills passed is "extremely dangerous."
"The filibuster is there for a reason; to make sure that less reasonable pieces of legislation come out of the Senate," he said. "I think it would be a very dangerous precedent to eliminate the filibuster. I also think that this is a misguided effort on the part of the Democrats."
Most Americans want voter ID, he added, and while voting laws in the red states of Texas and Georgia have come under fire, those places "actually have much greater access to voting than some of the blue states" Democrats represent, said Gimenez.
"It's just party politics," he continued. "It's a way, I think, for them to try to gain an advantage in the next elections, and I think it's completely wrong, undemocratic, and un-American, what they're trying to do."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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