Dan Rather Says It May Have Not Been ‘Responsible’ To Air Commercials Of Crowds Maskless During Super Bowl

Former CBS anchor Dan Rather took to Twitter on Sunday night to question whether it was “responsible” to air commercials showing large gatherings in which people are not wearing masks during the Super Bowl.

Rather Speaks Out On Super Bowl

Rather appeared to suggest that Americans are not intelligent enough to make their own decisions about their health, as he feared how they would respond to seeing large gatherings of maskless people.

“Is it responsible having commercials showing people gathering in large groups without masks?” Rather tweeted.

Is it responsible having commercials showing people gathering in large groups without masks?

— Dan Rather (@DanRather) February 8, 2021

One hour later, Rather added, “Am I the only one watching the halftime show and thinking ‘contact tracing?'”

Social Media Users Respond

Some social media users agreed with Rather that this was irresponsible.

“No, [it’s not responsible],” commented one commenter. “The whole game, production, & commercials were in an alternate universe. Very unsettling & hard for my teen to watch when her social life has been restricted for almost a year now.”

“The whole thing is irresponsible, 25k people in the stands, star QB walking in with no mask, and Florida has the rapidly spreading variant, Americans value sports over lives,” another added.

Rather Hit With Backlash

Others, however, were not having any of it.

“Everybody, everywhere i go, people are wearing masks. The whole world knows to wear a mask. Please [sic] dont make me watch commercials with people with masks on. They are commercials. If anybody watches these and thinks it’s ok to go out without a mask may God help them,” one social media user wrote.

“I’m legitimately worried by those in this thread saying it’s irresponsible to show commercials with people not wearing masks, as though we only know how to conduct ourselves by mimicking those in commercials,” another said. “They probably think M&M commercials led to cannibalism.”

Around 22,000 fans were allowed to be in the stands during the Super Bowl last night, and 30,000 cardboard cutouts were placed inside the stadium to help ensure social distancing, according to The Blaze. The NFL also invited 7,500 vaccinated health care workers to be guests at the event.

This piece was written by James Samson on February 8, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.