GOP Ohio State Lawmaker Refuses to Wear Mask, Says Faces Are ‘Likeness of God’

A Republican Ohio state legislator said he would not wear a mask as recommended by Gov. Mike DeWine to limit the spread of coronavirus, saying that his religious beliefs state that faces are the “likeness of God.”

“This is not the entire world,” state Rep. Nino Vitale wrote in a lengthy Facebook post on Monday morning. “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,” he continued.

Vitale wrote on Facebook in response to the governor’s backtracking on an executive order that would have required people to wear masks outside their homes due to the coronavirus.

In late April, DeWine announced that Ohio residents would be required to wear masks in stores as the state prepares to begin reopening shuttered businesses this month.

However, DeWine rescinded the mandate shortly after making his announcement.

“It became clear to me that that was just a bridge too far,” he said.

Vitale’s Facebook video post also included edited clips of DeWine and Ohio Department of Health Director Amy Acton, suggesting that Ohio residents wear masks during the coronavirus pandemic. It also features a clip of Vitale talking about how we are created in God’s “image and likeness.”

“We’re created in the image and likeness of God. When we think of image, do we think of a chest or our legs or our arms?” Vitale says in the clip. “We think of their face. I don’t want to cover people’s faces.”

Vitale’s comments come as anti-lockdown protesters continue to pressure DeWine to reopen nonessential businesses due to the sharp rise in unemployment throughout the U.S.

Some protesters gathered outside the statehouse in Columbus, with some bearing arms, all trying to convince DeWine to end his stay-at-home order.

Ohio was one of the states which began its first phase of reopening their economies by relaxing restrictions on nonessential businesses that have been closed temporarily due to the coronavirus.

More than 19,600 cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in Ohio as of Tuesday, with 975 confirmed deaths, according to statistics from the Ohio Department of Health.