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Actor and professional wrestler Mr. T, best known as one of the stars of the 1980s action-adventure series The A-Team, took to Twitter to encourage his followers to continue to wear masks to curb transmission of the coronavirus as the COVID-19 pandemic enters its next phase.
In his tweet, which comes as the United States continues to see an uptick in infections attributed to the Omicron subvariant BA.2, Mr. T, whose real name is Laurence Tureaud, noted he recently received a second booster of the Moderna vaccine.
Mr. T, who is a lymphoma survivor, added he will continue to practice social distancing "because the virus ain’t over, Fool!"
I just received my 2nd Moderna booster vaccine, and I feel good! I am still going to wear my mask and keep my distance because the virus ain\u2019t over, Fool! Grrr— Mr. T (@Mr. T) 1649269568
Mr. T's tweet was largely well received by fans who thanked him for stressing the country is still dealing with a global public health emergency, but nonetheless raised the ire of Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz, who referred to the actor's announcement as "bizarre."
In a tweet of his own, Cruz took aim at Hollywood stars, whom he suggested are overly cautious compared to members of Congress who attended President Joe Biden's State of the Union address "without wearing masks."
Bizarre. \n\n535 Members of Congress can attend the State of the Union without wearing masks, but it\u2019s still not good enough for Hollywood.https://twitter.com/mrt/status/1511772260687704066\u00a0\u2026— Ted Cruz (@Ted Cruz) 1649284322
Cruz was immediately criticized.
Many suggested he was being hypocritical for claiming to stand for "personal freedoms" while attacking Mr. T for exercising his own.
As someone who says they value personal liberty and freedom, Cancun Cruz sure has a lot to say about someone making a personal choice.https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1511834141351985155\u00a0\u2026— BRYCE PIERCE (@BRYCE PIERCE) 1649348437
Why do you hate #freedom, Rafael?https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1511834141351985155\u00a0\u2026— Lenny (@Lenny) 1649346185
Ted must lay in bed all night trying to figure out how to be a bigger fool today than he was yesterday. Texas we can do better a vote for Cruz is a vote for hate We should be supporting people who govern for the good of the peoplehttps://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1511834141351985155\u00a0\u2026— jerry (@jerry) 1649347635
holier than thou "its my right to choose no mask" republicans that have been complaining about how wearing a mask is compromising their rights now want to shame others to wear none, disrespecting choice.\nthanks for making the lies obvious: its all about agitprop dogwhistles.https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1511834141351985155\u00a0\u2026— Plain Vanilla (@Plain Vanilla) 1649347570
Bizarre - so Ted Cruz doesn't respect personal freedom of choice, attacking Mr. T in what can only be surmised as Ted wanting a totalitarian future for US citizens.\n"Do what I say (did I do good daddy Trump?)" - Ted Cruzhttps://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1511834141351985155\u00a0\u2026— Anon2World \ud83d\udd49\ufe0f\ud83c\udff4\u24b6 (@Anon2World \ud83d\udd49\ufe0f\ud83c\udff4\u24b6) 1649341697
Even More Bizarre: \n\nYou coming after EVERYBODY except the man who said your wife looks like a guttersnipe.https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1511834141351985155\u00a0\u2026— Darnell Lamont Walker \ud83c\udf65 (@Darnell Lamont Walker \ud83c\udf65) 1649341210
Bizarre. 535 supposedly intelligent Members of Congress attend the State of the Union without wearing masks while ppl are still dying of Covid, but Hollywood ppl Congressmen think are stupid have the sense to protect themselves and others with vaccinations and masks. Hmmhttps://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1511834141351985155\u00a0\u2026— Tammy B (@Tammy B) 1649339642
Personal choice Ted. \nPersonal choice was ok w you when people did not want to wear masks. \nBut not ok when we do?\n#TedCruz #PityTheFoolhttps://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1511834141351985155\u00a0\u2026— Quaker Nana (@Quaker Nana) 1649339294
What happened to pro choice for medical decisions. If people want to wear a mask they have every right to. Unlike you who fled to Cancun while Texas was in deep freeze. Mr. T is using his platform for the right reasonhttps://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1511834141351985155\u00a0\u2026— Brandon Flanigan (@Brandon Flanigan) 1649339355
Cruz has previously generated headlines for trying to stoke conflict with public figures over COVID-19 mask and vaccine mandates.
In February, Kennedy Stewart, the mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia, hit back at Cruz after Cruz predicted there would be "empty shelves" across the city in response to Stewart's rebuke of the "Freedom Convoy," a U.S. conservative funded movement by Canadian truckers to push back against COVID-19 public health protocols.
After Stewart stressed Vancouver residents did not want the truckers in their city and urged them to "Make your point and go home," Cruz claimed Vancouver residents "might feel differently" about the convoy in the event there are suddenly "empty shelves" in stores.
Stewart responded shortly afterward, reminding Cruz the protesters comprise a minority of truckers because in Canada, 90 percent of truckers are, in fact, vaccinated.