Pelosi said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not require the use of masks and instead only recommended covers, because the department did not want to “offend the President.”
The CDC recommends that everyone “should wear a cloth face covering when they have to go out in public” to reduce transmission and delay the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus.
Despite advice from public health experts, Trump continues to defy health recommendations and has been reluctant to be seen wearing a mask in public. The White House maintains that everyone who comes in contact with the president is regularly tested for coronavirus.
In a clip from an interview broadcast Sunday on CBS ‘”Face the Nation,” Pence said: “President Trump and I, after asking the American people to embrace 45 days to curb the spread, we issued guidelines to reopen America and from That day, almost two months ago, we made it clear that we want to defer governors, we want to defer local officials, and people should listen to them. “
Pence praised the American principle of federalism and said that “each state has a unique situation.”
Pence also said in the interview that “we believe that people should wear masks where social distancing is not possible,” and where authorities have said it is necessary. He added that he himself has worn a mask “several times this week,” and that the President has worn a mask before.
“The only thing we know is that these masks make a big difference. I would insist that everyone in public wear that mask. Anyone who reopens would have to make sure they get into a business that had masks,” Biden told affiliate CNN in Pittsburgh, KDKA, while wearing a black mask.
Pressed whether he would use federal power to order the wearing of a mask in public, Biden replied, “Yes, I would. From an executive point of view, yes, I would.”
Dr. Christopher Murray, director of the Institute for Health Measurement and Assessment, has said that “people need to know that wearing masks can reduce transmission of the virus by as much as 50%, and those who refuse are laying down their lives, their families, their friends and their communities at risk. “
There are only a few groups of people who shouldn’t be wearing cloth masks, including children under the age of 2 and people who have breathing problems, according to the Mayo Clinic.
CNN’s Kevin Bohn contributed to this report.
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