Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday made an extensive pitch for Americans to don face masks as a means to begin returning the country to normalcy while the coronavirus remains a threat.
“There’s no stigma attached to wearing a mask. There’s no stigma attached to staying six feet apart,” the Kentucky Republican said at an event back in his home state, referencing social distancing guidelines recommended to stem the transmission of the coronavirus.
Speaking hours before the national death toll surpassed 100,000, McConnell directed his pitch mostly at younger Americans, explaining that “you have an obligation to others” in case they might be asymptomatic carriers of the virus.
In doing so, McConnell waded into what has emerged as the latest coronavirus culture war, aligning himself with federal health agencies who recommend cloth face coverings while drawing a contrast with the conduct of top White House officials, including President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.
After initially declining to recommend that Americans wear face masks or coverings in the early days of the pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reversed course in April to encourage the wearing of masks when outside the home, noting that face coverings are not entirely effective and should not be thought of as replacements for social distancing and other stringent hygiene practices.
But the president and his top aides have resisted wearing face coverings, dismissing criticism that eschewing masks sets a bad example for Americans who might follow the president’s lead and put others at risk in the process.
Trump’s resistance to wearing a mask has been thrown into stark relief as he’s begun to venture out of the White House for the first time in months, making visits to plants producing personal protective equipment or other medical supplies, standing bare-faced while others around him wear masks.
He has argued that because the primary objective of wearing a mask is to prevent spreading the virus to others, not the other way around, it’s not necessary for him to wear one because of how often he gets tested for the disease.
But he has also shown a greater sensitivity to the optics of wearing a mask.
On Monday, Trump appeared to mock his likely general election opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, for wearing a mask in public on Memorial Day, and on Tuesday, he accused a Reuters reporter of trying to be “politically correct” for not removing his mask to be better heard while asking a question at the White House.
Last week, the president wore a face covering in private during a visit to a Ford plant in Michigan, telling reporters later he took it off in front of the cameras to deny them the “pleasure” of seeing him wear it.
McConnell’s comments targeted at young people came after images of Americans partying over Memorial Day weekend flooded social media and drew rebukes from local health officials.
“That’s not too much to ask of a younger person,” he said of wearing face coverings. “So to get through this next phase, as we ease back into normal, even if you’re in a low-risk category, do what we’re asking you to do for the good of others as we begin to move back to normal.”
Asked what lawmakers and federal officials can do to impart the benefits of wearing masks on fellow Americans, the majority leader said that he tries to set “a good example,” noting that there are photos of him “all over the place” wearing his mask and offering to put his back on and pose for more if necessary.
“For anybody who cares what we think, [my advice is] to say what I said earlier which is: Just because you’re 21, it doesn’t mean you don’t have a responsibility to other people, even though your chances of having a problem are pretty slim.” McConnell continued. “I think the more we can say that the better.”
His sentiments have been echoed in recent days from fellow public servants across the ideological spectrum.
Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, explained earlier Wednesday that he wears a mask in public partly as a “symbol [of] what you should do” during the coronavirus pandemic.
Biden, who called Trump “an absolute fool” for stoking controversy over mask wearing, implored the president “to lead, not engage in folly and be falsely masculine.”
At least two Republican governors — North Dakota’s Doug Burgum and Ohio’s Mike DeWine — have recently issued at times emotional pleas for Americans to ignore the perceived political connotation of wearing masks and to stop shaming others for wearing a mask.
Even Sean Hannity, a close friend of Trump’s whose nightly Fox News show Trump constantly promotes, broke with the president Tuesday night and urged viewers to wear masks, casting it as a common-sense protective measure.