Rep. Tenney to Newsmax: NYC Mayor a 'Tyrant' With 'Last-Gasp' Mandate

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is acting like a "tyrant" by imposing his "last-gasp" COVID-19 vaccine mandate on the city's businesses when there is no evidence that such extreme measures are needed, Rep. Claudia Tenney said on Newsmax Tuesday. 

"Businesses across New York, especially private entities, are going to tailspin because even our own governor, Kathy Hochul, is not imposing as extreme a mandate," the New York Republican said on Newsmax's "National Report."  

Under the mandate, all 184,000 businesses inside the New York City limits must make employees show proof of vaccination by Dec. 27. Further, by Dec. 14, all children ages 5-11 must have had at least one dose of the vaccination in order to be allowed to enter restaurants or to participate in extracurricular school activities, de Blasio said.

"You know we're looking at this omicron variant, which is apparently more contagious, but it's not showing to be any more dangerous than the delta and the prior variants," said Tenney. "I have heard and I've seen on Twitter that some of the members of the city council and others are preparing lawsuits in the event that this actually goes into effect because it's going to devastate New York City. It's going to devastate the tax base. It's going to be a real disaster."

She noted that President Joe Biden imposed vaccine mandates against private companies for anyone with 100 or more employees, and that shows there is "no science behind this."

"If somebody is employing 100 people on one street on one side of the street and somebody's employing 50 on the other, how is a vaccine mandate scientific for one or the other?" said Tenney. Further, Tenney questioned why there is a deadline of Dec. 27 for the shot requirement, if there is an imminent emergency. 

"Why not do it immediately?" she said. "I worry about the fragile economy that we have not just in New York City but across New York state with these mandates."

Hochul, meanwhile, has put a hold on elective surgeries over the omicron threat, and Tenney said that will "devastate our healthcare communities."

"Our hospitals, we need to have them [remain] vibrant and open and able to accept patients," she continued. "We do have people who need care for various reasons, whether it's because of the variant or not, so it's a real disaster for the private industry and the ability for New York City to be self-sustaining. They rely on the business, especially during the holiday season. We are going right into New Year's Eve, and that's a huge day in New York state and New York City."

Tenney also commented on Biden's announcement of a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics, saying that it's a "good step" against the Chinese regime but that more needs to be done. 

"I wish that the Olympics Committee would move the venue somewhere else," said Tenney. "This is a bad symbol for the world."