NRA digital director cancels workout at Bethesda gym over mask mandate

The National Rifle Association's digital director arrived at his Bethesda gym for a workout yesterday afternoon, but scrapped those plans after being ordered to mask-up under Montgomery County's new indoor mask mandate. Billy McLaughlin called the mandate "baseless & incredibly stupid" moments later on Twitter, noting that he is fully vaccinated. "I refuse to do cardio while wearing a mask," he wrote.

"Elections have consequences," McLaughlin tweeted minutes later. "Vote these clowns out. It’s not the gym’s fault, they need to follow the law or they get shut down by health department." He did not identify the gym, but said it was next to a restaurant where diners were consuming "greasy burgers & milkshakes" without masks. Indoor diners are only required to wear masks when not eating or drinking, under the County mandate.

 The Montgomery County Council passed the indoor mask mandate last Thursday, after County Health Officer Dr. Travis Gayles declared the jurisdiction an "area of substantial transmission of COVID-19." It took effect Saturday morning. 

Indoor mask mandates are returning in some jurisdictions, as a result of rising case counts blamed on the delta variant of the virus. Breakthrough delta-variant infections have been increasingly reported among those who are fully vaccinated. Health officials continue to tout the slim chance of hospitalization or death for those who have taken the vaccines and contract the virus.

"Even though we have a high rate of vaccination in our community, we now know that the Delta variant is very easy to spread," Dr. Gayles said in a statement. "To protect those who are not eligible to be vaccinated, such as children under the age of 12, we need to take every measure we can to slow down the spread of the virus. Masks are an important first line of defense to keep community transmission low.”