‘Take the masks off’: GOP county commissioner in New Mexico urges people to ‘get exposed’ to COVID-19

Couy Griffin, a Republican commissioner for Otero County, New Mexico, is now encouraging his supporters to stop wearing face masks to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Griffin, who is also the head of the “Cowboys for Trump” organization, posted a video on Twitter this week in which he falsely claimed that wearing face masks weakens human immune systems.

"The longer you wear a mask, the weaker your immune system will be and the more susceptible you'll be to disease," said Griffin, who added that it's good for people to "get exposed" to viruses and bacteria so their immune systems strengthen.

In reality, there is no evidence that wearing masks weakens immune systems, and medical professionals treating COVID-19 patients wear N-95 face masks for hours on end.

Later in the video, Griffin admitted that he's "no rocket scientist" and "no medical expert," but insisted that he had "enough common sense to know that you're not doing yourself any good" by wearing masks.

"We need to take the masks off," he said. "And we need to quit breathing all that recycled air that's going in and out."

Watch the video below.