A Tulsa City Councilor says Mayor G.T. Bynum's reelection should be a concern for conservatives.
District 5 Councilor Cass Fahler appeared on an episode of "The ThriveTime Show" entitled "Is G.T. Bynum a Secret Democrat?" Fahler was asked to give examples of Bynum acting out of step with conservative values.
"Well, case in point, this mask mandate I think is the icing on the cake -- the icing on the icing," Fahler said. "We have got the conservative group here in Tulsa, the conservative citizens, the silent majority -- they are at a point where they are fed up. They're going to endorse, back and support his opponent, even if the person's on the far left side."
"They say they would rather have a lion in the open than a snake in the grass," Fahler said.
Fahler, who was one of just two councilors to vote against Tulsa's mask ordinance meant to mitigate spread of the novel coronavirus, also spread false information about the disease after being asked why Republicans should be concerned by Bynum's mayoralty.
"We've got a really big problem in the event that we continue to allow politics as usual," Fahler said. "I mean, we are forcing mandates upon the citizens where we've got roughly a 1% infection rate on this COVID issue right now. According to a National Geographic statistic, you are just as likely to get bitten by a shark or get struck by lightning and killed."
No such statistic exists. An individual is far, far more likely to be infected with COVID-19 than be the victim of a shark bite or a lightning strike.
Another guest expressed disapproval of mask mandates and the "fearmongering on the other side," and asked Fahler how he would attempt to win over citizens who believe mask mandates are good public policy during a pandemic. (The host interrupted this question to say "Liberals hate freedom, by the way. They love to be controlled, because they're idiots.")
"Data, to me, is the most important factor," Fahler said. "I think that's where we've really missed it, because we have gone with the keyboard warriors. If I look at a Facebook news post, or a little blog, or a rag, we're taking that as gospel."
"Fear has sold so well that we have really painted ourself into a corner," Fahler said.
Other guests and hosts on the podcast episode shared a debunked conspiracy theory about masks being medically harmful to their wearers, and alleged that Bynum has secret ties to former president Barack Obama and has regular "web conferences" with Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes for Health, the nation's leading infectious disease expert. ("That I don't know -- I am not that personally connected," Fahler said)
Fahler did not return a request for comment. He and Bynum are both up for reelection on August 25th.
