Dr. Anthony Fauci is in favor of all Americans wearing a mask, he said when asked about a mask mandate.
Actor Matthew McConaughey sat down for a conversation with Fauci, where he asked Fauci about the respiratory virus and masks, “Why not make a mask mandate across the United States and fine people for not wearing masks?”
In response, Fauci said on Thursday evening, “My recommendation as you probably know because I’ve said it publicly so many times is that absolutely we should have universal wearing of masks.”
The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases went on to explain the “difficulty” of implementing a federal mask mandate:
“The difficulty with mandates is that it tends to be a pushback about, do you have to waste time enforcing it, or can you really use the power of persuasion from the leadership, everybody doing it, because it’s so important? And there’s a debate whether you get any extra mileage out of mandating it. For myself, personally, I would say everybody should have to use it.”
Watch Fauci’s interview below:
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CD2WoXupHV-/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading
Fauci’s — a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force — remarks come as presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden called for a “a mask mandate nationwide, starting immediately” during a press conference on Thursday in Delaware.
Biden’s running mate Kamala Harris also said, “That’s what real leadership looks like. We just witnessed real leadership, which is Joe Biden said that as a nation we should all be wearing a mask for the next three months because it will save lives.”
However, President Donald Trump pushed back on Biden’s suggestion.
Trump said at Thursday’s press briefing, “We do not need to bring the full weight of the federal government down on law-abiding Americans to accomplish this call. Americans must have their freedoms and I trust the American people and their governors very much.”
Fauci previously suggested that he is “not totally against mandating” but he does not “want to step on anyone’s toes.”
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends people wear a mask to prevent the spread of the virus “from person to person through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, talks, or raises their voice.”
During Fauci’s interview with McConaughey, the actor also mentioned that the wearing of masks–and even how to move forward during the pandemic–has become politicized.
Fauci responded, “The one thing that gets lost in this is that when you look upon yourself and your choice of doing what you want to do, even if you don’t care that you get infected, you’re a part of the propagation of the outbreak so what you are is you’re part of the problem, instead of part of the solution.”