There’s a certain mindset in a committed cult member. Whether he’s a true believer or just willing to go along to achieve the goals of the leader, he will follow even the most ridiculous commands. He will do as the leader asks, even when it makes no sense and will do harm. Tom McClintock has become that ridiculous cult member, following the lead of a President who’s behavior has become self-destructive.

The evidence is clear: Masks work, shockingly well. COVID-19 is spread almost entirely through the air we breathe, and even talking to someone can result in transmission. As this chart shows, two months ago it already was becoming clear that the countries who were having the most success in suppressing the virus have one thing in common – their residents wear masks, either because of their culture or because their government has demanded it. Those countries have suffered the least amount of harm – in lives lost or injured, and damage to their economies – because they did that one critical thing. We could be like them, if we had done the same.

We needed to pause transmission in March and get a better understanding of this virus and how we can control it. We shut down our economy for two months, causing immense harm, because the alternative would have been worse. And in that time, we learned a lot about COVID-19. We learned, most importantly, how easily we could suppress this virus if everyone wore a mask. We should be that knowledge to work.

But the President doesn’t want to wear a mask. For whatever reason, he has decided to discourage the one simple step that could help this country re-open safely. And because he has managed to inspire an unusual level of devotion in his followers, too many Americans are going along with his self-destructive behavior. Tom McClintock is one of them. Instead of doing what a good political leader does and setting the right example, Tom McClintock has doubled down on his senseless definition of “freedom”. Without any recognition of the government’s long-held and acknowledged right to compel us to take action that will protect ourselves or others – we’re required to wear underwear when we leave the house, don a seatbelt when we drive, and dress appropriately when we enter a courtroom, to name a few – he insists that mandating masks infringes on rights protected by the Constitution. He’s ridiculous and he’s embracing a ridiculous and devastatingly self-destructive position.

California’s 4th District deserves better. We deserve a representative who sees our challenges with clear eyes and takes meaningful action to fix them. We deserve a representative who truly cares about what happens in this District. We deserve a representative who will fight for us.

Join us, as we fight to send Tom McClintock back to his own District, and to finally stop him from selling us out, one vote at a time. To learn more about the alternative, visit https://brynneforcongress.com/.

Because we know, as Margaret Mead said, that “a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”