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State Sen. Whatley: ‘If you don’t want to wear a mask, then you shouldn’t have to’

Earlier this week, Gov. Kay Ivey extended her “Safer at Home” order in the name of mitigating the spread of COVID-19, which includes a mandate that individuals under some circumstances wear a mask.

Not everyone agrees with Ivey’s use of authority under the tenets of an emergency order, even as the coronavirus is dominating headlines with President Donald Trump’s positive test announcement on Thursday.

While acknowledging masks work, State Sen. Tom Whatley (R-Auburn) told Mobile radio’s FM Talk 106.5 that he disagreed with Ivey’s decision and did not think people should be forced to wear a mask. Whatley said he would put the onus on businesses to mandate masks, if they deemed it necessary.

“Let’s just start first by saying — obviously, masks work,” he said. “But they don’t just work against coronavirus. They work against flu. They work against colds. They probably work against the spreading of germs in general — just like washing your hands, not touching your face, and just being hygienic in general helps stop the spread of germs. Staying at home when you’re sick instead of going to class and saying, ‘Oh, I’m just so sick today, but I couldn’t miss another day.’ That’s the type thing — that if you do those things, common sense things, they’re going to prevent diseases and viruses, not just the coronavirus, from spreading. But on the mask order — the Governor has made a lot of great calls, and I appreciate what she’s done on prisons. I appreciate what she’s done on the gas tax … for our roads and bridges in Alabama. I think we’re getting over $70 million in my district alone on new projects just in the last year.”

“But on the mask deal — I agree with Lieutenant Governor [Will] Ainsworth,” Whatley continued. “I agree that they work, but I also agree that they should be a personal individual decision. Once you start making these mandates, you can make mandates for all kinds of different things to support public safety. But I think it’s a situation where that needs to be an individual right, an individual right and an individual freedom. And if you don’t want to wear a mask, then you shouldn’t have to. And businesses that are open — if they want you to wear a mask and you don’t want to wear one, then you don’t get to go in that business, and vice-versa. So, that’s my approach to it, and if people don’t want to be around people that don’t have masks on, then they don’t have to be around them. I believe it is a personal freedom of choice. But obviously, the masks do work — but if you want to go down that row, you know taking cars off the road would prevent automobile deaths, too.”

@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Alabama, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly and host of Mobile’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. on FM Talk 106.5.

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