On Tuesday, there was much swooning and swaying in the mainstream media and Democratic circles as Senators were sworn in as jurors for Donald Trump’s upcoming impeachment trial just one day after the Democratic House impeachment managers delivered the impeachment article to the Senate.

The swearing-in process for impeachment trials is a two-step process, as the Associated Press explained at the start of last year’s impeachment trial:

After taking his own verbal oath, Chief Justice John Roberts asked senators to rise and raise their right hands and swear to do “impartial justice” during the trial. The clerk then called each senator by name in alphabetical order. They lined up along the Republican side of the chamber for their turn to sign the oath book on a table in the well of the Senate.

As other Senators did yesterday, Rand Paul signed the oath book. But he did so without wearing a mask.

This greatly fauxfended CNN’s “Outfront” anchor Erin Burnett, who proclaimed Paul was “out of bounds” for not wearing a mask as everyone else did during the proceedings:

And finally, tonight, Senator Rand Paul. He’s out of bounds when he should be setting an example. Senators were sworn in as jurors in Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial today. All of this in this video, you see all of them wearing masks, all of them.

Now, take a look at Senator Paul, as he signed the oath book. As you can see, he’s not wearing a mask. Now, he did contract the virus himself, he may be immune to it we have no idea. Neither is he, and it’s no excuse.

Dr. Jonathan Reiner, you know him well from his appearances on OUTFRONT, didn’t hold back, said, “the only senator refusing to wear a mask as he signs the oath is former doctor, Rand Paul, an embarrassment to the Senate and to medicine.”

And yet, let’s just be clear, Senator Paul was the only one, right? And there are plenty of others who may not have wanted to, but they all did out of decency. And out of decency and out of respect, to set a good example, to behave like an adult during a pandemic where we have several thousand Americans dying every single day. Senator Paul should wear a mask.

Watch:

Today in CNN is not a real news organization…Erin Burnett ended her show by popping off on @RandPaul for not wearing a mask when he went to go sign his name in the oath book after being sworn in for the second Trump impeachment trial. pic.twitter.com/kK0iEyklr0

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 27, 2021

There are multiple reasons why we can conclude that Ms. Burnett is virtue signaling out of both sides of her mouth on Sen. Paul not wearing a mask. For starters, where’s Erin Burnett’s mask? She’s indoors in a room, presumably with people all around her. Yes, she appears to be six ft away from anyone but don’t the CDC’s guidelines stress wearing masks indoors when you’re around other people? Yes, I believe they do.

Not only that, but CNN reporters who file live reports from outside the White House are often wearing masks, but she’s not even though she’s indoors, where it’s more likely to spread.

By her rules, she’s not setting a very good example here, which is not the “decent thing” to do.

Secondly, where was Burnett’s “out of bounds” rant when Joe Biden and his family appeared at the Lincoln Memorial and did interviews and took pictures maskless on Inauguration Day – just hours after he signed his first executive order, which mandated mask-wearing on federal property? I don’t recall seeing anyone on CNN cover it, let alone her program.

Thirdly, where’s the outrage over the fact that Biden’s press secretary Jen Psaki never wears a mask during press briefings? After all, the media mask-shamed Trump’s press secretary Kayleigh McEnany for not doing so. Why won’t they hold Psaki to the same standards? (That was a rhetorical question, btw!)

If Ron Klain is wearing a mask outside on the lawn why isn't Jen Psaki wearing one inside in the briefing room? https://t.co/2csw5Ti0iK

— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) January 27, 2021

What Burnett did during her segment was to accidentally expose (once again) her network’s rank hypocrisy when it comes to Karening and mask-shaming politicians who don’t always wear a mask. Burnett, CNN, and other media outlets are clearly now officially operating off of the Biden Rule on mask-wearing: It’s ok to violate the rules as long as you’re a Democrat (or a CNN anchor).

Does all of this sound obnoxious? Yes, it does. But we didn’t make the mask-shaming rules, did we?

Related: Rand Paul Drops Some Hard Truths About GOP’s Future, and Mitch McConnell Really Needs to Listen