Poll: Majority say Trump, Pence should wear masks
WASHINGTON – Most Americans say President Donald Trump should wear a mask in public, a protective measure he has yet to take since the coronavirus pandemic erupted.
About seven in 10 registered voters – including 58% of Republicans – surveyed in a Morning Consult/Politico poll this month said Trump and Vice President Mike Pence should cover their faces in public places when they travel.
“In the case of me, I’m not close to anybody,” Trump said Monday when he appeared mask-less at a Rose Garden news conference the day West Wing aides were told they must wear a mask when they enter the complex. The new rule, which doesn’t apply to Trump, came after two aides tested positive for COVID-19.
Administration officials, including Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and HHS testing czar Brett Giroir, wore masks at the news conference, removing them only to speak. Reporters, seated in socially distanced folding chairs, kept their masks on to ask questions.
Trump plans to visit a medical supply business in Pennsylvania on Thursday, a week after being criticized for not covering his face during his tour of a mask-making facility in Phoenix.
Pence has acknowledged that he should have worn a face mask when he visited the Mayo Clinic this month. In recent days, reporters have spotted Pence wearing a mask as he arrives at the White House.
CDC guidelines call for face coverings where social distancing is difficult to maintain.
Three-fourth of adults surveyed in mid-April by the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Health Tracking Poll said they have bought or made a protective mask to wear in public.
People pay attention to cues from their political leaders, so a lack of quarantining, mask wearing or social distancing by the president and vice president can affect how the public responds, said Timothy Callaghan, an assistant professor at the Texas A&M School of Public Health. That’s particularly true for fellow Republicans, he said. But people are also noticing how their governors, local health officials and others behave.
“So it’s not the only source of information they’re going to get, but it is certainly a very visible one that’s going to be on the news every night.” he said. “And if your officials are following best practice versus (some who) aren’t, it could change the behavior of some of the public as well.”
On Tuesday, the nation’s top three public health leaders issued an unusual joint statement detailing the circumstances under which they would participate in White House meetings. All three – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Steve Hahn, and infectious disease director Anthony Fauci – are in self-quarantine after coming into contact with an infected person.
The three will attend White House meetings “providing that they are asymptomatic, screened, and monitored for fever and other symptoms, wear a face covering,” and maintain a distance of at least six feet.