“I don’t get it. I simply do not get it. It is literally the least you can do. And if you want to—if anybody wants to build up an argument about doing the least they can do, I wouldn’t trust them with a driver’s license.”
A 2020 clip of actor Tom Hanks speaking about the Covid pandemic and saying he has "no respect" for people who do not wear a mask is making the rounds on Twitter, garnering backlash from critics
"I don't get it. I simply do not get it. It is literally the least you can do. And if you want to—if anybody wants to build up an argument about doing the least they can do, I wouldn't trust them with a driver's license."
"I mean, when you drive a car, you got to obey speed limits, you got to use your turn signal, you got to avoid hitting pedestrians. If you can't do those three things, then I get it: you shouldn't be driving a car," Hanks said.
"If you can't wear a mask and wash your hands and social distance, I don't understand. I got no respect for you, man," Hanks added.
On Twitter, many noted the actor's association with convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein, who was convicted of child sexual abuse.
Former Republican congressional candidate Kimberly Klacik wrote, "Imagine saying this knowing for years what Harvey Weinstein was doing to young women?"
https://twitter.com/kimKBaltimore/status/1616635861155696642
"I have no respect for people that were on Epsteins Island, yes you Tom Hanks," wrote detransitioned activist Oli London.
https://twitter.com/OliLondonTV/status/1616775625410482179
The clip originated from July of 2020, when the actor was doing press to promote his direct-to-streaming film Greyhound, which premiered on AppleTV on July 10, 2020.
Tom Hanks and his wife, actress Rita Wilson, were diagnosed with Covid in March of 2020 and recovered after symptoms such as "tiredness, body aches, chills and 'slight fevers,'" reports CNN.
That same month, Anthony Fauci told 60 Minutes that there's "no reason to be walking around with a mask."
"When you're in the middle of an outbreak, wearing a mask might make people feel a little bit better and it might even block a droplet, but it's not providing the perfect protection that people think that it is. And, often, there are unintended consequences," he said.
By January of 2021, the doctor was appearing on daytime talk shows to tell Americans to wear two masks.
In leaked emails from 2020, Fauci said, "The typical mask you buy in the drug store is not really effective in keeping out virus, which is small enough to pass through the material... I do not recommend that you wear a mask, particularly since you are going to a very low risk location."
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