Trump 'sympathetic' to face mask recommendation, Toomey says
President Donald Trump is considering whether to recommend Americans wear face covers when out in public, according to Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, who spoke with the president on Tuesday.
Along with Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Toomey (R-Pa.) is making a push for Americans to wear masks, scarfs or other face covers out in public. But the idea hasn’t yet been endorsed by the Centers for Disease Control or by the president, although that may change if the bipartisan pair have their way.
Toomey talked to Trump about the matter on Tuesday afternoon, shortly before the president’s press conference Tuesday. On Thursday, Toomey plans to talk to CDC director Robert Redfield about it.
Trump “is sympathetic to the idea and exploring whether or not they should include this recommendation as a part of their guidelines,” Toomey told reporters in a conference call with Bennet on Wednesday. “He is very open to this. I think he does want to wait until his team gives him a more formal recommendation.”
He added: “The president didn’t make a commitment. He listened carefully to the arguments I made. He was aware that there was a growing sentiment that we ought to be encouraging the use of these masks, generally, out in public.”
Shortly after speaking to Trump on Tuesday afternoon, Trump took an incremental step toward endorsing face coverings. He told reporters that it’s “not a bad idea” to cover your face. Until recently, much of the medical community has not recommended people cover their face unless they are sick.
“My feeling is if people want to do it there's certainly no harm to it. I would say do it. Use a scarf if you want rather than going out and getting a mask," Trump told reporters.
Earlier this week, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, also signaled that the White House coronavirus task force is considering issuing guidance that Americans wear face masks to help limit the spread of the virus. One concern, he said, is taking masks away from the medical community since the U.S. is facing a shortage of such equipment.
Crucially, Toomey and Bennet are not promoting using high-grade medical masks needed for hospitals and first responders, but instead homemade and cheap face covers to prevent spread of the deadly virus through the air. The CDC has not recommended this step on the national level yet, but they haven’t weighed in against it either.
Bennet and Toomey said the widely followed CDC would help overcome social hurdles to mask-wearing.
“I know from my own personal experience that it is awkward to walk around wearing a mask when everybody else is not wearing one," Bennet said. “That’s another reason why I think it’s important for the CDC to weigh in here.”
