Sen. Rand Paul says mask mandates were always about 'submission'

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told Sean Hannity that the government's "dirty little secret," especially when it comes to coronavirus mandates, is about "submission" and "collectivism" Friday on "Hannity."

SEN. RAND PAUL: You know, I think the dirty little secret is it's always been more about submission. It's always been more about collectivism. It's been about growing government power over your lives because the science has been clear for a long time on masks for children. Sweden didn't have their school kids wear masks at all. Not one child died. The incidence of the disease and the teachers did not rise, with the kids not wearing masks. I mean, it's sort of, you know, I worry about the future of America if the Europeans are leading us toward freedom. The Canadians are ahead of us in trying to unwind mandates. But yes, for goodness sakes, we've got to stop the ridiculous mandates on children that Dr. Emanuel, that you put forward saying that kids are dying from omicron. The statistics are this and the science is this. The wild variant was a thousand times less deadly for kids than 80-year-olds, and it's become progressively less dangerous to the delta, to the omicron. 

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As far as whether you vaccinate your kids, that's up to you. But there should be no mandate. And I think particularly for young males, the evidence is pretty strong now that the more vaccines you give young males, the higher their incidence of myocarditis. I personally, if you were asking me about your children, I would get them checked first to see if they've already had COVID. If a child has already had COVID, I don't think they need any treatment.

WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE: