Make masks compulsory for all Americans, Biden urges
JOE BIDEN has called for a nationwide “mask mandate’’ for the next three months as he seeks to draw a contrast with Donald Trump’s handling of the pandemic.
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee said experts estimated that if every American wore a mask while outside, more than 40,000 lives could be saved in the next three months.
“It’s not about your rights. It’s about your responsibilities as an American,” he said, as he called on every state governor to impose orders requiring people to wear masks.
The 77-year-old had previously loosely suggested that there should be better guidance from the government around face coverings, but has become more aggressive in calling for action.
The president was quick to push back on Mr Biden’s comments, made on Thursday, suggesting he wanted to abuse executive powers. He also questioned the legality of such an order.
“If the president has the unilateral power to order every single citizen to cover their face in nearly all instances, what other powers does he have?” Mr Trump asked during a White House briefing.
He went on to claim that Mr Biden was in favour of “locking all Americans in their basements for months on end”, while “we want to have a certain freedom − that’s what we’re about”.
More than two dozen governors from both sides of the political aisle have imposed statewide orders requiring people to wear masks outside.
Those opposed to the measure, such as Henry Mcmaster, South Carolina’s Republican governor, have argued it represents an unconstitutional barrier to Americans’ civil liberties.
Responding to the criticism, Mr Biden called on the public to “step up, do the right thing”.
“This is America. Be a patriot. Protect your fellow citizens,” he said during an event in Wilmington, Delaware.
Mr Trump’s own position on face coverings has wavered, with the president spending the early months of the pandemic refusing to wear a mask in public.
But, with public anger growing over the surging US coronavirus death toll, Mr Trump shifted course, wearing a mask in public for the first time in July.
He appeared to waver again on the issue on Thursday, saying “maybe they’re great, and maybe they’re just good. Maybe they’re not so good”.
“To Joe, I would say stop playing politics with the virus,” he added.
Mr Trump has largely avoided taking on Mr Biden over the pandemic, choosing to deflect the blame for the deaths.
On Thursday, he again rebuffed critics’ claims that his mishandling of the pandemic had caused the deaths of 166,000 Americans, telling Fox Business Network: “Nobody blames me. Look, we got hit by the China plague.”
Meanwhile, Barack Obama accused his successor of trying to “actively kneecap” the US postal service ahead of the election, which is expected to be dominated by mail-in voting.
Mr Trump has repeatedly attacked the idea that more people should vote by post due to the pandemic, arguing that it will lead to chaos and fraud.
Mr Obama said: “What we’ve seen, in a way that is unique to modern political history, is a president who is explicit in trying to discourage people from voting.”