As air quality conditions continue to worsen across New York City, Republicans are yet again boarding the mask mandate hate train and earning plenty of laughs from the hosts over at "The View."
"Oddly, this is being politicized," says Whoopi Goldberg in Thursday's episod, before providing the evidence of right-wing commentators denying the health risks posed by the smoky air.
Several Fox News anchors sound convinced that the harmful smoke — which continues to waft south from more than a hundred wildfires burning in Quebec — is merely a ploy orchestrated by the Democrats. "While Americans choke on the smoke, the far left smells an opportunity," said "The Five" anchor Jeanine Pirro during a Wednesday news segment. "Other Democrats are pumping up climate hysteria and bringing back, you guessed it — mask insanity."
Joining Pirro is conservative commentator Sean Hannity, who not only made jabs at the left "politicizing" the crisis in his Fox News show but also bragged about his own physical fitness:
"I workout regularly, so I think I'm relatively in-tune with my body," Hannity asserted. "I think if I was having difficulties breathing, I would notice."
Both Fox News clips were played during Thursday's episode of "The View" and, expectedly, received plenty of giggles and eye rolls from the panel and members of the audience.
"The Left does not smell an opportunity," said co-host Ana Navarro with wide eyes and a mocking tone. "The Left smells fire and burning and smoke!"
She added, "It is just so stupid for us to keep on denying what is now the undeniable. . . . We're all in this together. We're one big planet. You only have one. Let's take care of it."
Even conservative co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin agreed, offering her insights on the future of climate change, which she believes is being taken seriously amongst a new group of Republicans:
"Listen, the ridiculousness of those clips we played, it's just unserious. The good news though is the vast majority of young Republicans are coming around to the reality of climate change and putting in place policies that put our planet on a path for a sustainable future," Farah Griffin said. "You lose Millenials, you lose Gen-Z voters if you deny the reality of what's happening to our planet."
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Sunny Hostin unshockingly mentions her husband, citing how he was trying to convince her daughter to wear a mask to school. "She was a little embarassed to wear [the N95] mask. I said, 'Listen, he's a doctor. He's telling you this [air] could harm you.' And she's an athlete, she's a runner."
Meanwhile, Sara Haines wasn't concerned with convincing the right to wear masks. "When it was early on in COVID, you not wearing a mask affected me," she said. "You don't want to wear a mask outside? You wanna inhale this stuff? Go ahead and do it."
She continued, "The schools sent out notices they weren't sending [our kids] out for recess. They were keeping them inside. They said the elderly and the very young were at risk. People with, you know, all of the things. You don't believe any of that? You think someone is on the side, stage left pumping some orange? You think they can do that? Then you know what? Go ahead. You do you. I'm fine with whatever you choose."
Amid the hazardous air quality in New York City, Washington D.C. went under a Code Purple air quality alert on Thursday. A Code Purple alert means air conditions are unhealthy "for the entire public, not just those with respiratory illnesses."
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