Alex Berenson: 'Wear a mask' social pressure has ‘real consequences’
'Masks are, at best, marginally useful indoors in crowded settings,' ex-N.Y. Times reporter tells Tucker Carlson
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Americans are being harshly judged for disobeying coronavirus mask guidelines -- and the social pressures are more dangerous than the risk from the virus, journalist Alex Berenson claimed Thursday on "Tucker Carlson Tonight."
Berenson, a former New York Times reporter, is the author of "Unreported Truths About COVID-19 and Lockdowns."
“Masks are, at best, marginally useful indoors in crowded settings, OK?” Berenson told host Tucker Carlson. “And the evidence that people have tried to drum up in the last six months to suggest otherwise is almost embarrassingly weak.”
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Recent global studies regarding the efficiency of masks have been inconsistent, Berenson argued, adding that before the pandemic became politicized in the U.S., science suggested that masks were “broadly useless” in a public setting.
Journalist and author Alex Berenson.
“To the extent they were useful, it would be for people who were actively infected and coughing,” he explained. “And to the extent that that made any difference, it was probably just as a signaling mechanism to show people, 'Step away from me, I'm sick.'"
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At this point, Berenson added, mask-wearing has become more of a "talisman" than an effective therapeutic -- which he said presents a problem for the authorities.
“Even the Democratic governors have dropped lockdowns because they're so economically devastating,” he said. “So they have to tell people to do something and they tell them to wear masks. … This is the sort of social pressure that we're engaged in right now, and it has real consequences.”