Joe Biden Says He Would “Do Everything Possible to Make It Required the People Had to Wear Masks in Public”

On Thursday, presidential nominee Joe Biden said he would use federal power to require Americans to wear face masks in public.

This would “mark a significant intervention by the federal government and could see considerable pushback from states,” Fox News reported.

In a Wednesday interview with KDKA’s Ken Rice, Biden talked about masks, coronavirus, and rallies.

“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. The one thing we do know, these masks make a gigantic difference. I would insist that everybody in public be wearing that mask. Anyone to reopen, it would have to make sure that they walked into a business that had masks,” he said.

When Rice asked if he could use “federal leverage to mandate that,” Biden said yes. When asked if he would, he said “I would from an executive standpoint.”

“So you would, in effect, mandate the wearing of masks?” asked Rice.

“I would do everything possible to make it required the people had to wear masks in public,” Biden answered.

Several states require people to wear masks in public when social distancing is not possible, while others merely recommend citizens to wear masks.

Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control recommends wearing “cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain, such as grocery stores, pharmacies, and gas stations.”

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