Several weeks ago, Texas finally caught up to Florida, with Gov. Greg Abbott rescinding the state’s mask mandate and allowing businesses to reopen at full capacity. That it took so long was not a fact lost on many Texans and Republicans around the country. Regardless, it was welcome news and another step toward normalcy.

At the time, Joe Biden personally attacked the decision, calling it “Neanderthal thinking.” The insinuation was that Texas was risking lives by throwing out their mask mandate and that doom would surely follow. Further, the media went nuts, insisting that the Lone Star state would become a hellscape due to Abbott’s recklessness.

Did that happen? In a word, no. It didn’t happen at all. In fact, the recission of the mask mandate precipitated a drop in the state’s infection numbers while the Northeast, with its mandates and heavy mitigation, is seeing surges.

(see The Latest Data Eviscerates the Case for Mandatory Masking)

Here, President Biden begs states that have lifted mask mandates to put them back in place. Based on his assumed 'logic,' you'd think that states that have lifted mandates or never had them were drowning in dead bodies and overcrowded hospitals. Is that the case?

THREAD: pic.twitter.com/3aJBzcypGk

— Scott Morefield (@SKMorefield) March 29, 2021

Luckily, the receipts were kept, and Drew Holden has put together an exhaustive list of all the media outlets that once again showed themselves to be biased hacks, uninterested in actually following “the science.”

You might want to grab a drink and sit down for this one because it’s satisfying.

The only place to start this thread is with @JoeBiden, whom you may remember referred to Texas’s opening up as “Neanderthal thinking.”

Perhaps the White House would like to follow up about why? pic.twitter.com/W0BHmBotVm

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) March 30, 2021

Perhaps the most ridiculously performative politician was (once again) @BetoORourke, who called lifting the mask mandate a “death warrant” on every outlet who would have him on (including @CNN and @MSNBC) pic.twitter.com/CDNHg4N1fB

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) March 30, 2021

We had other legislators who still have jobs get involved in the histrionics, too. Here’s @JulianCastro. pic.twitter.com/z8xXrXbsdk

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) March 30, 2021

One of the things we’ve seen throughout the pandemic is news outlets using experts to tell the story they’re more interested in believing.

That these experts are so often wrong seems not to have dissuaded @NBCNews and @LesterHoltNBC from going back to the well. pic.twitter.com/b7wVjqxV9T

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) March 30, 2021

And it wasn’t just their main channel that got involved – particular reporters and shows were pushing the same thing. Here we’ve got @biannagolodryga and @OutFrontCNN. pic.twitter.com/SDVcZFyHHe

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) March 30, 2021

Again, the power of narrative here can’t be overstated. When outlets only talk to people who are scared, it communicates that every reasonable person is scared (which is commentary) even as the reporting reads as straight news.

Here’s two more examples from @nytimes. pic.twitter.com/wswQW1dnVe

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) March 30, 2021

From there, Drew starts listing all the blue-check wonder brains who spread hysteria as well, including people like Joy Reid, Michael Moore, Paul Krugman, and Meena Harris. Be sure to click any of the tweets embedded above to read the entirety of his thread. It’s worth your time, and as always, drop Drew a follow if you use Twitter.

Meanwhile, the fact that Texas, Mississippi, Florida, and other states that have lifted mask mandates are seeing a decline in cases while New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and other mask mandated see spikes should cause people to start asking an obvious question — are masks actually making things worse?

Given that the lifting of mask mandates precipitated a drop in infections in Texas, Mississippi, and Tennessee while cases explode in mask mandated blue states, at what point do scientists get the courage to study whether masks are actually prolonging the pandemic?

— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) March 31, 2021

I’m not making any pronouncements, but it sure seems like something that should be looked into given that the real-world data continues to show masks being ineffective.

In light of all this, will there be any corrections? Will these “news” outlets apologize or pay a price for once again being wrong? Nah, they’ll keep doing exactly what they’ve always done. We have the worst press corps on the planet, and I’m not sure it’s close.