2:32
- ABC News
- Donald Trump
- July 16, 2020
Growing calls for a nationwide mask mandate
Arkansas GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson issued a statewide mask order Thursday.
2:32
\"Shutting down businesses and schools, those are not easy choices. The mask is easy,\" he added. \"Among difficult decisions that will have to be made, the only reason it's difficult here versus almost any other modernized country is because of right wing politics that's fueled by Trump, making some people act just absolutely irrationally.\"
\"That Kemp is gonna do what Abbott did and forbid local government from doing the right thing is appalling. And he'll certainly cost lives for that step as well,\" Pepper said.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/texas-01-as-gty-200716_1594932983139_hpEmbed_3x2_384.jpg\")
In Texas, where cases are surging, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in April similarly blocked municipalities from imposing fines for breaking masks mandates. In a reversal, he's urging more Texans to wear masks.
Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of the hard-hit state of Florida -- where Gov. Ron DeSantis has come under fire for recent comments downplaying the virus -- has also weighed in on Twitter, where he dons a mask in his profile picture, saying, \"why not do it?\"
Mask wearing isn't some novel idea they came up with to control us
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) July 16, 2020
Surgeons,nurses & dentists have used them forever to protect patients & themselves.
If it doesn't work,what's the harm?
And if it has a 10% chance of getting us back to school,sports & life why not do it?
President Trump's resistance trickles down to his supporters, Pepper says, and makes it harder for businesses to enforce mask rules.
\"If it isn't yet law, they have to fight with all their customers,\" he added. \"By not having a requirement, you're making it harder for people to do the right thing here, including businesses who risk backlash if they put up a no mask, no entry sign.\"
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/International/utah-antimasks-schools-1-ap-rc-200716_hpMain_4x3t_384.jpg\")
The IHME University of Washington model, often cited by the White House, now predicts more than 40,000 lives could be spared if Americans universally wore masks.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Thursday rejected the idea of national mask mandate, saying, \"We leave it to localities to make the decisions with regards to face coverings, and CDC guidelines remain the same today, recommended but not required.\"
According to the American Bar Association, the U.S. government does have the authority in a pandemic to mandate practices like masks for public safety, though the responsibility heavily falls on states.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/san-diego-gty-jt-200710_hpMain_4x3t_384.jpg\")
Dr. Sara Tariq, a professor of medicine and associate dean at the University of Arkansas Medical School, acknowledged that existing data showing masks prevent the spread of the novel virus is \"not yet comprehensive, but it is compelling.\"
\"There are more and more facts coming out supporting that in addition to physical distancing, we need to have 100% mask use,\" said Tariq. \"Our leadership should be compelled to be thinking really hard about mandating mask use when the level of harm without it, in most people's opinion, is morally unacceptable.\"
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/japan-01-as-rt-200716_1594932983132_hpEmbed_11x7_384.jpg\")
\"Our sense of self-liberty is very strong, but I worry that it's those same things that make us amazing -- our liberty, our individualism, our freedom -- in this situation, are really harming us,\" Tariq said. \"Our country is going to have to atone and reconcile how poorly we have responded to this pandemic.\"
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/california-01-as-rt-200716_1594932983118_hpEmbed_3x2_384.jpg\")
She also said because the pandemic came to the U.S. later than in Asia and Europe, the U.S. missed the chance to slow the spread from the start.
\"The disease came to us a little bit later, so we had an opportunity to take a look at the data from other countries which, recognizably was limited at the time, but we had an opportunity to implement things like social distancing and masking,\" Tariq said. \"We've lost that opportunity because of lack of data, poor understanding of the disease, a slow response, and because we culturally are a different nation.\"
\"I do believe though, we should be able to change ourselves,\" she added. \"We have no choice but to change ourselves when we see data.\"
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