During a Friday interview on “Out Front CNN”, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, weighed in on “mandated” mask wearing amid the global coronavirus pandemic.
Host Erin Burnett said that “masks are not political” and that they “shouldn’t be political”, but then brought up President Trump’s rallies, saying that some “people don’t wear masks”, and “Joe Biden does it really different”, adding that the former vice president talked specifically about “making mask wearing mandatory” during a 24 minute speech on COVID-19 from Wilmington, Delaware on Friday.
Joe Biden said in part, during his remarks Friday, “First, I’ll go to every governor and urge them to mandate mask wearing in their states. If they refuse, I’ll go to the mayors and county executive local mask requirements in place nationwide.”
Erin Burnett told Dr. Fauci that Biden “Also wants to make masks mandatory– federal buildings, interstate transportation”, then asked, “Do you think this is a good idea? Is this what a President of the United States would be helpful if they were doing– fighting for mask mandates?”
Dr. Fauci responded, “Well, you know one of the issues people talk about mandating, would not be a good idea, because then they’ll say they have to enforce it, and there’s going to be a difficulty enforcing it.”
“But if everyone agrees that this is something important, and they mandated it, everybody pulls together and say, ‘You know, we’re gonna mandate it, but let’s just do it’. I think that would be a great idea to have everybody do it uniformly,” he stated. Continued Below
(Related: Tucker Blasts Dr. Fauci For Taking Off Mask At Baseball Game: “Masks For Thee, But Not For Me’)
Dr. Fauci went on to say: “One of the issues though, I get the argument, [they] say, ‘Well, if you mandate a mask, then you’re gonna have to enforce it and that will create more of a problem.”
“Well, if people are not wearing masks, then maybe we should be mandating it,” he said. Video Below
Dr. Anthony Fauci on mask wearing:
Dr. Anthony Fauci says the US should probably mandate mask use, even if people complain about the trouble with enforcing it.
“If people are not wearing masks, then maybe we should be mandating it,” Fauci said. https://t.co/snr842eISH pic.twitter.com/ImgCNHMkQo
— CNN (@CNN) October 24, 2020
Dr. Anthony Fauci’s full remarks:
