Former Vice President Joe Biden (D) announced a “masking plan” for his first 100 days in office, requiring masks “wherever possible” for 100 days and referring to the action as a “patriotic act.”
“My first 100 days is going to require — I’m going to ask for a masking plan. [I’m asking] everyone, for the first 100 days of my administration, to wear a mask,” Biden said in the Wednesday video.
Biden said he will launch the plan by signing an order “on day one” that will “require masks” where he can under the law. That includes federal buildings and interstate travel on planes, trains, and buses.
He said he would urge governors and mayors to do the same in their states and cities.
“We’re going to require masks wherever possible, but this goes beyond government action. And so, as a new president, I’m going to speak directly to the American people and say what I’m saying now,” he said, begging for their help.
“Wear your mask for just 100 days. It’s the easiest thing you can do to reduce COIVD cases, hospitalizations, and death,” Biden said, referring to masking as a “patriotic act.”
“Whatever your politics or point of view — mask up for 100 days. Once we take office. 100 days to make a difference. It’s not a political statement, it’s a patriotic act,” he said, adding that it “won’t be the end” of their efforts.
“It’s a necessary and easy beginning, an easy start,” the former vice president added.
It remains unclear what Biden’s proposal would actually change from life in America the past eight-plus months, as a majority of states already have implemented mask mandates, and every airline already requires masks as well. Even in places without a mandate from the state or local government, many major retailers — including Walmart, Costco, Walgreens, Home Depot, CVS, Target, Lowe’s, McDonald’s, Publix, and Best Buy — require customers to wear them.
The United States, for all intents and purposes, already has a widely accepted national mask policy even without a federal mandate, so it does not appear as though Biden is changing anything from current policy other than rhetoric. This type of move by Biden — lifting or plagiarizing coronavirus policy from President Donald Trump, while slightly shifting his rhetoric to make himself appear harsher in fighting the virus—was a significant issue for Biden during the 2020 presidential campaign. Nearly everything Biden proposed already happened weeks before he explicitly called for the actions. His plan largely mirrored Trump’s, as Vice President Mike Pence noted during October’s vice presidential debate.
“Quite frankly, when I look at their plan that talks about advancing testing, creating new PPE, developing a vaccine, it looks a little bit like plagiarism, which is something Joe Biden knows a little bit about,” Pence said.
As Breitbart News reported:
For example, Biden said that Trump should have asked China to admit American scientists; he had already done so. Biden said that Trump should invoke the Defense Production Act; he did so before Biden issued his statement. And Biden claimed this week that he would tell governors and local leaders to take responsibility; Trump not only did that, but also provided them with emergency medical supplies that they had largely neglected to maintain themselves.
The only major difference in their initial approach seems to be Biden’s willingness to shut down the economy once again:
So Biden’s plan does mirror Trump’s plan, though it is different in terms of its willingness to shut down society, and its disregard for the constitutional rights of the states and the people.
Despite several states already having mask mandates imposed by their governors, cases of the Chinese coronavirus have again spiked, as Breitbart News detailed in a November 19 analysis:
Except for Hawaii, all 50 states are seeing a significant rise in cases and an increase in hospitalizations to a lesser extent despite having some sort of mask mandate.
Governors in 36 states have enacted statewide face-covering orders. Meanwhile, local officials have implemented mask mandates in several jurisdictions in the remaining 14 states.
…
In recent days, the seven-day average number of new daily cases were still rising in Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and the 35 (of 36) states that had implemented statewide mask mandates. There has also been an uptick in the infections in the 14 states that have regional face-covering orders for some areas.
Joe Biden flip-flopped repeatedly while on the presidential campaign trail when asked if he would impose a nationwide mask mandate, concluding at one point that it would be unconstitutional.
“I’m a constitutionalist,” Biden said in September. “You can’t do things the Constitution doesn’t allow you the power to do.”
“What I would be doing is putting as much pressure as I could on every governor, every senator — I mean, excuse me, every mayor, every county executive, every local official, and everyone in business, putting pressure on them to say, ‘What you’re doing is irresponsible,'” Biden said before adding, “‘Make sure you wear a mask and maintain social distancing'”:
He added that the “vast majority of the American people accept that notion.”