Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer urged President Trump to consider a nationwide mask mandate a day after presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden confirmed she is still in the running to be his vice presidential pick.
“Wearing a mask is not a political statement; it is about protecting our loved ones from the spread of this deadly virus,” Whitmer said in an op-ed for the New York Times published Wednesday.
Trump, who at first downplayed the effectiveness of wearing masks to contain the spread of the coronavirus, this week urged all people to wear them as the virus surges in several states.
“We are asking everybody, when you are not able to socially distance, wear a mask,” Trump said during a briefing with reporters on Tuesday. “Whether you like the mask or not, they have an impact.”
On Monday, Trump tweeted a photo of himself wearing a mask and said it was “patriotic” to wear one.
Whitmer pressed the president to take his newfound endorsement of wearing a mask one step further.
“I applaud his statement, and urge him to back it up by issuing a nationwide mask mandate like Michigan’s, requiring masks on public transport, indoors, or outdoors when a distance of six feet cannot be maintained,” Whitmer said. “It allows exemptions for small children, when eating or drinking, communicating with a hearing-impaired person, officiating at a religious service and for those engaged in a public safety role. The president has the chance to save tens of thousands of lives. I am hopeful that he will seize this opportunity.”
Biden said this week that Whitmer is still one of several candidates he is considering as a vice presidential running mate.
“Michigan is the key,” Biden said.
Before this week, Trump balked at the idea of a countrywide directive requiring masks.
“No, I want people to have a certain freedom, and I don’t believe in that,” Trump said during an interview on Fox News Sunday. “No, and I don’t agree with the statement that if everybody wear a mask, everything disappears. Hey, Dr. Fauci said don’t wear a mask. Our Surgeon General, terrific guy, said don’t wear a mask. Everybody who is saying don’t wear a mask — all of sudden everybody’s got to wear a mask, and, as you know, masks cause problems, too. With that being said, I’m a believer in masks. I think masks are good.”
Trump said he will “leave it up to the governors.”
“Many of the governors are changing,” Trump said. “They’re more mask into — they like the concept of masks, but some of them don’t agree. I do say this: Schools have to open.”
More than half of the states have some form of mask mandates. United States health officials have said wearing masks can significantly decrease the potential for community spread.
Whitmer, on July 10, issued an executive order mandating all Michigan citizens wear masks while in public, a directive that comes with a fine of up to $500 for noncompliance.
Republican lawmakers in Michigan slammed Whitmer, who they accused of acting like “the mask police.”
Whitmer’s order is “a massive infringement on individual liberty,” said state Rep. John Reilly.
