‘Americans must have their freedoms’: Trump rejects Biden’s call for MASK MANDATE, says states should decide

President Donald Trump rejected his rival Joe Biden’s call for a nationwide face-mask mandate, saying he trusted elected governors to make science-based decisions about the Covid-19 pandemic that best fit their states.

Biden's approach is "regressive, anti-scientific and very defeatist," Trump said on Thursday during a White House press briefing, accusing the Democrat presidential candidate of hiding in his Delaware basement and wanting the same fate inflicted on all Americans.

The Trump administration is strongly recommending people to wear face masks when social distancing is not practical, but "Americans must have their freedoms,” Trump added.

Biden called for all governors to mandate the wearing of masks and for “every single American” to wear a mask “for the next three months at a minimum,” during his own press event on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield told WebMD that Americans needed to comply with his agency’s instructions, or face “the worst fall, from a public health perspective, we’ve ever had.”

Neglecting to wear a mask, social distance, wash hands and “be smart about crowds” will cause a 'second wave' of Covid-19, combined with the flu season and colder weather keeping people indoors, Redfield warned.

The coronavirus response has become intensely politicized during the election year, with Democrat governors and politicians demanding extended lockdowns and draconian measures, while Republican governors and Trump have backed reopenings while maintaining CDC guidelines intended to hinder the spread of the virus.

The use of masks has become another political football, with Democrats insisting people must use them everywhere, even at home, while Republicans have rejected mandates as un-American. Neither side has quoted actual scientific studies on their effectiveness or lack thereof, and the existing body of evidence on the subject is contradictory.

US public health authorities initially advised against wearing face coverings, later admitting that this had nothing to do with their effectiveness or lack thereof, but entirely to ensure the adequate supply of protective equipment for healthcare workers. 

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