Governor Lee Promises There Will Be No New COVID Mandates in Tennessee
Image Credit: Governor Bill Lee / Facebook
The Tennessee Conservative [By Adelia Kirchner] –
Talk of a spike in Covid-19 has been making the rounds for weeks as yet another Covid-19 booster shot makes its way to a pharmacy near you, but Governor Bill Lee (R-TN) is promising Tennesseans that he will not put out any new mandates concerning the virus.
According to WKRN, Gov. Lee does not plan for vaccine mandates or mask mandates to make a comeback.
“I’m planning to make sure that Tennesseans do what they want to do, but there’ll be no mandates, there’ll be no vaccine mandates, there’ll be no mask mandates,” said Gov. Lee.
On Wednesday, Gov. Lee told WSMV 4 News that, “We learned in the last [mandates] that the government does not need to tell people how to live their lives with regard to their own personal health. Those are decisions that they need to make, and that’s the way it’ll be going forward.”
The governor’s current position stands in great contrast to statements he made and the countless executive orders he signed during the height of Covid-19 hysteria.
This includes orders issuing lockdowns and forcing “nonessential” workers to stay home, as well as “encouraging” churches to keep their doors shut.
“One thing that [the Covid-19 vaccine] will not cure is selfishness or indifference to what’s happening to our neighbors around us,” said Gov. Lee in December of 2020. “This vaccine will not cure foolish decisions about how we gather and won’t cure an attitude of a refusal to wear a mask.”
Mere days after making this statement, the governor signed an executive order to limit indoor public gatherings in Tennessee to 10 or less people, which was in effect during holiday season from December 20th, 2020 to January 19th, 2021.
In April of 2021, Gov. Lee announced that he planned to end statewide Covid-19 public health orders and shift the state toward “recovery,” but when local governments, businesses, and school districts continued to enforce vaccine and mask mandates the governor did not appear to have a large interest in stopping them.
In August of 2021, the governor finally signed an executive order that allowed parents to opt their child out of local mask mandates enacted by a school or health board.
Some have speculated that this may have simply been a way to quell the request of state lawmakers’ for a special legislative session on Covid-19 related issues, because earlier that same month Gov. Lee signed a completely separate executive order, opening the door for construction of temporary quarantine and isolation facilities in the State of Tennessee.
Many also criticized the governor for his “lack of empathy” surrounding the Biden Administration’s federal vaccine mandate.
When the Omicron variant was still “talk of the town” in January of 2022, the governor stated that he was not considering reinstating Tennessee’s expired emergency order, but that if numbers continued to rise considerably he might renew the order.
Gov. Lee also continued to promote the Covid-19 vaccination as he had ever since it first became available.
These are only some of the steps taken by Gov. Lee and his administration over the last few years.
About the Author: Adelia Kirchner is a Tennessee resident and reporter for the Tennessee Conservative. Currently the host of Subtle Rampage Podcast, she has also worked for the South Dakota State Legislature and interned for Senator Bill Hagerty’s Office in Nashville, Tennessee. You can reach Adelia at adelia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
Governor Lee has shown his true colors by his actions while in office. Mandates are not laws. Despite the efforts of the Biden administration and the MSM, The truth about the vaccines, masks, and the corruption of the CDC and FDA has come out. The majority of the public is hopefully beginning to realize that the Government and politicians do not always have their best interests at heart,
As we have seen, promises by Lee mean nothing and he should not be trusted. All of the information and studies have proven china made masks were worthless and the entire flu nonsense was nothing but a scam. We will see how much his promise means as the 2024 election draws closer. NO mail in voting.
Don’t feed the RINOs. Put him in the Quarantine facility. SICK of lying corrupt politicians. We need RID of him. He is a COMMIE SWAMP RAT. This is ridiculous for a red state. Ninety nine percent of gov’t employees think We the people are beneath them. SICK of it.
RINO talking, we’ll see.
IDK-depsite the Biden Horror Show, 2024 could be as anemic for Republicans as the midterms and for the same reason i.e., there is no point in voting for most Republicans.
Since Gov. Lee couldn’t make his Democrat-RINO friends happy with Gun Control, maybe he figures he really is stuck with us this time around.
Fact is, there isn’t a Biden Fiasco that a good number of Republicans were on board with. Even Marsha Blackburn wants to “make our enemies fear and our friends trust us”, never mind, we can’t afford our friends anymore or our enemies, which seems to be the entire world at this point.
Total RINO. Saying the bare minimum to allow himself to be elected again because, well, at least he’s not locking us down, taking our guns, siding with teacher’s unions, etc. But he also isn’t opposed to those things. I have heard nothing about how lockdowns and mandates won’t be permitted by cities, schools, hospitals, etc. I want to hear, DeSantis style, how public funds will be withheld from those organizations who actively flaunt the law and the will of voters.
“One thing that [the Covid-19 vaccine] will not cure is selfishness or indifference to what’s happening to our neighbors around us,” said Gov. Lee in December of 2020. “This vaccine will not cure foolish decisions about how we gather and won’t cure an attitude of a refusal to wear a mask.”
What an elitist jerk… so people who don’t want to wear a mask are foolish or selfish? I guess he does not bother to read the REAL science, or care, as seen by his 21 month lock down.