> He could have, but he didn't.

That is exactly what I am saying. He knows quite well that N95s are effective, for instance. But that is not the context in which he frames the argument, intentionally.

I addressed much of this in a sibling comment below: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28144209

TL;DR: Rand knows what he is doing. He’s not dumb, he knows his base, and he’s simply playing politics.