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Ohio GOP lawmaker Nino Vitale refuses to wear a mask because faces are the 'likeness of God' | TribLIVE.com
Coronavirus

Ohio GOP lawmaker Nino Vitale refuses to wear a mask because faces are the 'likeness of God'

Bret Gibson
Bret Gibson
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The Columbus Dispatch
Dozens don masks along with scrubs and white coats as the Physicians Action Network held a public rally Sunday in support of Dr. Amy Acton at the Ohio Statehouse in downtown Columbus. The rally was a response to protesters of the state’s stay-at-home orders who demonstrated outside Acton’s home in Bexley on Saturday.
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AP
A couple takes a walk at Eton Chagrin Boulevard, an indoor mall filled with retail shops and speciality stores, now closed due to the coronavirus epidemic in Woodmere Village, Ohio. Job cuts have escalated across the U.S. economy in recent days that remains all but shut down due measures taken to halt the spread of the virus.

At least the excuse Nino Vitale used for not wearing a mask was a little more interesting than what Vice President Mike Pence recently offered.

Vitale, an Ohio state representative, said Monday he will not wear a mask during the coronavirus pandemic because faces are the “likeness of God.”

“This is not the entire world,” Vitale posited on Facebook. “This is the greatest nation on earth founded on Judeo-Christian Principles. One of those principles is that we are all created in the image and likeness of God. That image is seen the most by our face. I will not wear a mask.”

Pence went sans mask last week at the Mayo Clinic when everyone in the building was donning one. Pence told reporters he could go without the mask because he is tested regularly for coronavirus and he wanted to look health personnel “in the eye.”

Pence later admitted he should have worn the face covering.

Vitale, a Republican from Urbana who represents the 85th District among Champaign, Logan and Shelby counties northeast of Columbus, also calls Gov. Mike DeWine’s orders keeping many of the state’s businesses closed baseless.

He’s also calling on county governments to reopen their counties, such as Preble County. He claimed the orders issued by DeWine were invalid because they were not voted on in the legislature.

“Now when you go to bed at night, you have NO IDEA what your rights will be when you get up in the morning,” he wrote last week on his Facebook page.

Bret Gibson is a TribLive digital producer. A South Hills resident, he started working for the Trib in 1998. He can be reached at bgibson@triblive.com.

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