Joe Biden said that he would use executive power to try to mandate the wearing of face masks in public if elected president.
“I would insist that everybody in public be wearing that mask,” Biden told local Pittsburgh CBS news station KDKA after giving an address on the Affordable Care Act in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. “Anyone to reopen, it would have to make sure that they walked into a business that had masks.”
Asked whether Biden “federal leverage” to mandate mask-wearing, Biden said, “Yes, I would from an executive standpoint. Yes, I would.”
“I would do everything possible to make it required the people had to wear masks in public,” said the former vice president and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
The pledge came as Biden listed actions he would take as president to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
“I would go back to making sure that everybody had masks, that you had PPE lined up, making sure we stockpile all the things that we need and we don’t have now,” Biden said.
At least a dozen states and the District of Columbia require mask-wearing in public places, with varying levels of strictness and enforcement.
Biden has donned a face covering in public since he started conducting small public outings and events. His first public appearance since the coronavirus lockdowns started was on Memorial Day, when he and his wife Jill Biden placed a wreath at Veteran’s Memorial Park in Newcastle, Delaware.
