Just when it appears Bexar County Republican Chairwoman Cynthia Brehm can't crawl any further down a rabbit hole of conspiracy theories, she manages to burrow deeper.
Case in point, the controversial chairwoman and a handful of faithful gathered Friday in front of City Hall to decry local leaders' dangerous, liberty-crushing suggestion that folks might want to protect themselves with masks during a deadly pandemic.
Not only are face coverings an infringement on folks' constitutional rights, she said, but the whole coronavirus panic is something cooked up by Democrats to make President Donald Trump look bad.
"Why is this happening today? And I'll tell you why: all of this has been promulgated by the Democrats to undo all the good President Trump has done for our country — and they are worried," Brehm says in video shot at the rally. "So, take off your masks, exercise your constitutional rights. Stand up, speak up and vote Republican."
As the gathering concludes, the clip shows Brehm and her cronies shaking hands and hugging, as if to prove that all this social distancing stuff is just another tool to oppress God-fearing, freedom-loving Americans.
Conspiracy claims and inflammatory rhetoric have been hallmarks of Brehm's tenure as county GOP chair.Absolutely bizarre. The Bexar County GOP chair concludes this rally by stating that the coronavirus is a hoax perpetuated by Democrats, tells people to take off their masks, and then everyone hugs each other. pic.twitter.com/1XOFeswMiO
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) May 22, 2020
She alleged without evidence, for example, that Bexar officials tampered with ballots to assist Mayor Ron Nirenberg. And, in December, she said she wouldn't allow this spring's GOP primary to run concurrently with that of the Democrats — a threat she later backed down on.
Brehm is now locked in a runoff with John Austin to keep her job. As that race intensifies, it's a fair bet she'll find more windmills at which to tilt.
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