Did we get a glimpse of how President Joe Biden truly may feel about wearing COVID-19 face masks — particularly while outside?
‘This looks stupid’
On Tuesday, Biden removed his face mask and declared “this looks stupid” amid a chuckle while speaking to reporters outside the White House.
Here’s the clip:
Commenters chiming in on the Twitter video from Charlie Spiering — White House correspondent for Breitbart News — as well as those who opined elsewhere on Twitter, more or less echoed Biden’s apparent mask sentiments:
- “Yes masks are stupid especially outdoors,” one commenter said.
- “Joe gets one right,” another user quipped.
- “For show,” another commenter declared.
- “The first time he has been correct in a long time,” another user noted.
- “It’s the one time I actually agree with Biden!” another commenter wrote.
Guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
says mask wearing in outdoor settings in unnecessary unless you’re around crowds or those who aren’t fully vaccinated while in an area with a high number of COVID-19 cases.
Dr. Anthony Fauci in May expressed more caution than the CDC, saying
masks aren’t necessary outdoors if you’re fully vaccinated. That same month, the CDC was called out for greatly exaggerating the percentage of outdoor transmissions — and the agency’s explanation was that it just wanted to protect people.
What’s been reported about Biden wearing masks outdoors?
A little over a week ago,
photos circulated of Biden wearing a mask while walking on a Delaware beach with his wife, first lady Jill Biden, and their dog. Jill Biden wasn’t wearing a mask:
Biden — who is fully vaccinated — said last spring, despite CDC guidance saying masks are unnecessary outdoors, that he
still intended to wear masks outside, saying doing so is a “patriotic responsibility.”
Around the same time last spring, the
Associated Press reported — citing a top Biden adviser — that the president wore masks outdoors out of habit.
Still, seeing Biden in a mask on a nearly empty beach late last month led some to mock the president and call his outdoor mask-wearing “theater,” Fox News said.
Anything else?
Meanwhile
NBC News reported Monday that COVID-19 confusion is hampering the White House.
The network said last month Biden and his top COVID advisers — including Fauci and CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky — were sitting together in a video call “in the type of high-filtration masks they haven’t been urging the public to wear.”