Should states implement mandates to require residents to wear face coverings to help slow the spread of COVID-19?
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, says he is “not against” the idea. However, he does not want to tell governors or mayors how to govern.
In an interview on MSNBC on Wednesday, Fauci said, “I’m not totally against mandating, but I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes.”
He continued to suggest that mask mandates and efforts to enforce them would become “more of a distraction.”
“Some states and authorities feel that if you mandate, then you’re going to have to get into this situation of having to enforce it, and will that create more of an issue, and more of a distraction than just being very explicit in very, very strongly recommending.”
“Hopefully, you get the cooperation of the citizens in your community, to realize why that’s important not only to protect themselves, but also to protect those around them,” he added.
President Donald Trump has said that he is “all for masks” and that he thinks masks are “good.” And on July 20, he tweeted a picture of him wearing a mask and said it is “Patriotic to wear a face mask when you can’t socially distance.”
We are United in our effort to defeat the Invisible China Virus, and many people say that it is Patriotic to wear a face mask when you can’t socially distance. There is nobody more Patriotic than me, your favorite President! pic.twitter.com/iQOd1whktN
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 20, 2020
Still, Trump said that he does not believe there is a need for a face mask mandate. “I don’t know if you need mandatory because you have many places in the country where people stay very long distance, you talk about social distancing.”
He also said he would not issue a national mask-wearing mandate. In an interview with Fox News’ Chris Wallace, Trump said, “I want people to have a certain freedom, and I don’t believe in that, no.”
While Fauci and Trump have both expressed a reluctance to issue a mask mandate, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) says a mask mandate is “long overdue.”