Howard Stern distraught over end of mask mandates, blames Republicans: 'The wackos are winning'

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Longtime radio personality Howard Stern didn't hide his disappointment Wednesday that mask mandates were being lifted across the country, despite a drastic reduction in new coronavirus cases over the past few months.

During Wednesday's broadcast of "The Howard Stern Show," Stern blamed Republicans for the lifting of the mandates, referred to them as "wackos" who were anti-mask and anti-vaccine, and declared that he missed the "old Republican Party."

Radio and television personality Howard Stern is seen arriving to the ABC studio in New York City. (Photo by Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images)  (Photo by Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images)

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"You've got all these wackos with their anti-mask, anti-vaccine – The reason they've lifted these mask mandates is because we gave into this small minority of people who are completely out of their f-----g mind who think masks are some sort of prison sentence and their freedoms are being taken away," Stern said.

He claimed that politicians got "scared" when battles over masks became "big news," and described the situation as "so f---ed up."

"There's so many wackos. I miss the old Republican Party. It used to be nice to have a two-party system. Now it's wackos versus, you know, Democrats. The wacko party. And still to this day, and I hate to say it, only 65 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated, and I can't help but think the wackos are winning," he added.

A pedestrian removes a protective mask worn as a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus in Philadelphia, Wednesday, March 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) 

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Cities and states with strict measures in place for masking began lifting their mandates in February, with more following this month, after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) loosened its guidelines for wearing masks.

According to Johns Hopkins University, there were 23,011 new cases of the coronavirus in the U.S. in the past day, drastically down from a record high of 1,382,120 new cases on Jan. 10.