Former Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz claimed in an expletive-filled rant on social media that people who don't wear masks in public are “tainting the atmosphere.”
Lorenz — the controversial columnist who made headlines for branding President Biden a “war criminal” — foul-mouthed abuse On Monday, she criticized critics for continuing to wear masks amid the “ongoing” coronavirus pandemic.
“One of the pitfalls at my book party, where everyone in attendance had to take a PCR test, was when people found photos of me removing my mask for five seconds to take a photo outside. I love you,” she gushed to X’s rival Bluesky. An event she hosted last year for the launch of her book.
“Planning a coronavirus-safe book launch took months and cost me thousands of dollars to ensure testing, outdoor space, deep UV light, and a series of other precautions. ” she continued.
“Meanwhile, you stupid bastards are breathing out the outside air and breathing disease-laden breath into your elderly neighbors. We are not the same.”
Her fierce onslaught appears to be in response to the backlash she received online after sharing a number of posts about the virus early Monday. These included posts about coronavirus denialism and how the US government is “deliberately” trying to downplay the “ongoing” pandemic.
Lorenz, who maintains she has a chronic illness and continues to wear a mask in public to this day, immediately came under fire for her comments, with several critics deriding her “cheeky remarks”. did.
“According to @TaylorLorenz, breathing air makes you stupid,” one user wrote to X.
“Some people like @TaylorLorenz never want the pandemic to end,” one person complained.
Others, however, pointed to the timing of her pro-mask rant, noting that it has been nearly four years since the pandemic first began.
“The first thing I did was check this date. [mind-blown emoji]” one person tweeted.
The journalist's rant came after Lorenz revealed in October that he was leaving the Washington Post to launch his own Substack newsletter.
The move comes after she called Biden a “war criminal” in a social media post and made “intentionally misleading” statements when questioned by her boss about it, according to The Washington Post. This follows reports that editors have “lost trust” in her.
