'You're a liar and an idiot', Dan Crenshaw slams Washington Post columnist for parroting false COVID statistics

Rep. Dan Crenshaw’s (R-TX) took Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin to task for carelessly parroting erroneous data from the Texas Tribune.

The data Rubin posted vastly overstated new COVID related pediatric hospitalizations in the Lone Star State, as detailed by Fox News. The Tribune had reported that 5,800 children had been hospitalized with COVID-19 during a seven day period in August. The 5,800 figure actually refers to the total number of children hospitalized with COVID-19 since the beginning of the novel coronavirus pandemic in March, 2020.

In a now deleted tweet, Rubin took to Twitter to bash Republicans and the pro-life movement. “Unconscionable: Over 5,800 children in Texas were newly hospitalized with COVID-19 in the seven-day period ending on Aug, 8, a 37% increase from a week prior. Where is the pro-life movement?? It’s now a death cult.”

Crenshaw did not take this bit of fake news lightly, tweeting back that Rubin was “a liar and an idiot. The number you referenced is TOTAL hospitalized since the beginning of the pandemic. Not newly hospitalized.”

“Also worth noting, for the thousandth time, children are at more risk from the flu than COVID. This hard fact has been available to us for over a year, and yet Democrats keep advocating for our children to suffer through school closures and mask mandates.” Crenshaw added in a follow-up.