Presumptive Democratic Party presidential nominee Joe Biden said this week that if he was president, he'd enact an executive order forcing Americans to wear masks to fight back against the spread of coronavirus.
“I would go back to making sure that everybody had masks, that you had PPE [personal protective equipment] lined up, making sure we stockpile all the things that we need and we don’t have now," the former vice president told Ken Rice, a reporter from Pittsburgh CBS affiliate KDKA, this week while he was in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for a campaign appearance. "The one thing we do know, these masks make a gigantic difference. I would insist that everybody in public be wearing that mask. Anyone to reopen, it would have to make sure that they walked into a business that had masks.”
Biden agreed that he could use his federal leverage to mandate masks, and when asked if he would, he responded, "Yes I would, from an executive standpoint, yes I would," adding that he "would do everything possible to make it required the people had to wear masks in public."
Biden also discussed the upcoming Democratic National Convention, saying that he could not say for sure, but it's "probable" that he'll accept his nomination to an empty room.
However, he said he couldn't imagine himself taking the oath of office, if he wins, while wearing a mask, pointing out he'd be at a distance, on the Capitol stairs, from others.
He also said he can't imagine having large indoor rallies, such as the one Trump recently held in Tulsa, while coronavirus remains out of control.
"If the virus were under control and moved on and we had talked about a vaccine and we had ways in which to make sure that this was not being transmitted, then yes, but I don’t see that happening," he said.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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