Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) said a national mask mandate Joe Bidens administration would impose if elected wouldnt include a punishment component.
“Its really a standard. I mean, nobodys gonna be punished. Come on,” Harris said, laughing, during an interview with NBCs “Today” show that was released Friday.
“Nobody likes to wear a mask. This is a universal feeling. Right? So thats not the point, Hey, lets enjoy wearing masks. No,” she continued.
“The point is, this is what we as responsible people who love our neighbor, we have to do that right now. God willing, it wont be forever.”
Biden said this month that every American should be wearing a mask “for the next three months as a minimum.”
Harris, speaking at the time, said Biden was showing “real leadership” by “telling us the stuff that we dont necessarily want to hear but we need to know.”
“The need for this mandatory mask-wearing will also be about what Joe has articulated, and what a Biden/Harris administration will do,” she added.
When Biden is president, she said in a speech this week, he will “put in place a nationwide mask mandate because, in Joes words, its not a burden to protect each other.”
According to the AARP, 34 states and the District of Columbia mandate people wear masks while in public.
President Donald Trump has said multiple times that people should wear masks but his administration opposes issuing a nationwide mandate.
“I dont know if you need mandatory, because you have many places in the country where people stay very long distance. You talk about social distancing. But Im all for masks,” Trump told Fox Business last month.
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows
