White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany called former Vice President Joe Biden’s decision to wear a mask in public “peculiar.”
She claimed Biden’s move was odd because the Democratic presidential candidate had refrained from sporting a face covering over the past two months, during which he has resorted to virtual appearances during the coronavirus pandemic.
“The president is excited to see that Joe emerged from the basement,” McEnany said at a White House press briefing on Tuesday. “It is a bit peculiar though that in his basement right next to his wife, he’s not wearing a mask, but he’s wearing one outdoors when he’s socially distant. So I think that there was a discrepancy there.”
Biden, the presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee, made an unannounced visit to the Veterans Memorial Park in New Castle, Delaware, on Monday. He and his wife, Jill Biden, were both seen sporting masks, a stark contrast to President Trump, whose preference not to wear one has drawn intense media scrutiny.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends face coverings as a way to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in public areas.
Trump retweeted a post by Fox News contributor Brit Hume on Monday that poked fun at Biden’s mask wearing.
McEnany said the president wasn’t “shaming” Biden by the retweet and has worn a mask himself when he has been asked.
“He’s not shaming anyone,” McEnany said. “As the president noted himself, he wore this mask in private at the Ford facility, and he said he’s open to it if the circumstance mandates it.”
The president was seen wearing a mask while touring the facilities in Michigan away from reporters before removing his face covering to speak with the media, who peppered him with questions about not wearing a mask. Trump told reporters that he refused to wear a mask in front of reporters because he “didn’t want to give them the pleasure.”
McEnany said the CDC guidelines were a recommendation and not a requirement, defending Trump’s choice to abstain from wearing a mask.
“It’s the personal choice of the individual,” she said.
