The U.S. Surgeon General says he and the entire Trump administration now fully support calling for everyone in America to wear face masks to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, but he will not support a federal mask mandate.
Saying he’s concerned Americans are “letting the politics and the policy get in the way,” Vice Admiral Jerome Adams says if President Trump were to require face coverings be worn, it would have to be enforced.
“You all were talking earlier about what’s going on in Portland, and the debate over whether or not to bring in federal troops to other parts of the United States,” Adams said, referring to the Dept. of Homeland Security sending in federal SWAT teams and abducting random demonstrators from the streets in Oregon.
“If you’re going to have a federal mandate you have to have a federal enforcement mechanism,” Adams said, suggesting that “mechanism” would be federal SWAT teams, which is false. Federal law and policy are enforced every day without having to send in SWAT teams. In fact, the Oregon Attorney General is suing the Dept. of Homeland Security over its occupation.
Adams added he would rather have state and local officials mandate masks than the federal government, and convince Americans why it’s important to wear them, instead of “sending in federal troops.”
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