On Tuesday, Violet Affleck—the Marxist eldest child of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner—delivered a heartfelt speech in opposition to mask bans at a Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meeting. The 18-year-old, who introduced herself as a Los Angeles resident and a first-time voter, cited her own health struggles while stressing the importance of implementing measures to protect vulnerable Americans from the potentially devastating impacts of long covid and other post-viral conditions. "I contracted a post-viral condition in 2019," Affleck said. "I'm OK now, but I saw first-hand that medicine does not always have answers to the consequences of even minor viruses. The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown that into sharper relief." "One in 10 infections leads to long COVID, which is a devastating neurological [and] cardiovascular illness that can take away people's ability to work, move, see, and even think," Affleck continued, noting that those of a certain age and socioeconomic status and living with pre-existing conditions are most affected. Violet Affleck: "To confront the Long COVID crisis I demand mask availability, air filtration and far-UVC light in government facilities, including jails and detention centers and mask mandates in county medical facilities. We must expand availability of tests and treatment.… pic.twitter.com/zg4b7Z9vxy — Dr. Lucky Tran (@luckytran) July 10, 2024 Affleck then asked the board to provide vital measures to combat the crisis—from mask mandates to air filtration—in government and medical spaces. "To confront the long COVID crisis, I demand mask availability, air filtration and far-UVC light in government facilities, including jails and detention centers, and mask mandates in county medical facilities," Affleck said. It's been four years since the pandemic broke out, but it continues to reverberate across the U.S. as new variants keep emerging. In New York, for example, hospitalizations have doubled since last summer. Cases have also surged in Colorado, Florida, and Affleck's home state of California. Simultaneously, mask bans are also on the rise. "We must expand the availability of high-quality free tests and treatment and, most importantly, the county must oppose mask bans for any reason," Affleck said. "They do not keep us safer, they make vulnerable members of our community less safe and make everyone less able to participate in Los Angeles together." Naturally, online backlash (read: big-age adults cynically instructing a politically engaged teenager to "get a boyfriend") was swift. So, here's hoping Affleck isn't as terminally online as the rest of us. Regardless, she's appeared a steadfast comrade for at least two years now. Recently, she's been spotted reading The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality And Disease Collide, and lest anyone forget, her father publicly proclaimed her a Marxist in 2022. I really hope this is only the start of Affleck's activism. But even if it's not, she's nepo-babying with more purpose than any nepo baby other right now. I'm proud of her!
