White House press secretary Jen Psaki fielded numerous questions about an apparent split between the administration and Democratic state governors over mask mandates and defended the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidance on wearing masks in crowded areas.
Psaki repeatedly told reporters that the president does not instruct the CDC to change its COVID-19 guidance in any form and that she did not have any announcements to preview.
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Biden “doesn’t take into account all these other factors,” she said when pressed on political pressure for the federal government to ditch strict mask mandates like a number of Democratic governors have done. “We are certainly going to listen to our doctors and medical experts.”
Reporters, however, pressed Psaki on whether the public should listen to the federal government or their state leaders regarding mask use, to which she emphatically answered the federal government.
“It’s also important to note that masks are effective at reducing transmission in schools and other places, and we know that from what the data has told us, right? There are a range of health and medical experts who advise the president and make determinations about how the CDC guidance will be changed,” she added. “We rely on the health and medical experts who work on the federal government as we should, even as we account for and consult with outsiders.”
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You can watch Wednesday’s briefing in full below.
