A Call To Mask Up: Biden Urges States To Mandate, Americans To Wear Them
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said masks are key to protecting each other and getting back to normal: “It’s not about your rights. It’s about your responsibilities as an American.”
NPR:
Joe Biden: For The Next 3 Months, All Americans Should Wear A Mask When Outside
Joe Biden is calling for everyone in the United States to wear a mask, well into the fall. "Every single American should be wearing a mask when they're outside for the next three months, at a minimum," Biden said Thursday afternoon in remarks in Wilmington, Del. "Every governor should mandate mandatory mask-wearing. The estimates by the experts are it will save over 40,000 lives."His comments came after a briefing on the coronavirus pandemic with his new running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris of California, and public health experts. More than 165,000 Americans have died because of COVID-19. (Khalid, 8/13)
Politico:
Biden, Harris Call For All States To Mandate Masks After First Joint Covid-19 Briefing
“Wearing a mask will give the life of a clerk in your local store or your letter carrier, your child's teacher, it will increase their prospects of not contracting the virus,” Biden said. “Even though it's uncomfortable, and we're not used to it, wearing a mask is going to get our kids back to school sooner and safer. Every American wearing a mask outdoors is going to get our businesses back and to full strength.” (Miranda Ollstein, 8/13)
Politico:
Trump Assails, Misrepresents Biden On Mask Mandate In Partisan White House Briefing
President Donald Trump on Thursday launched a partisan attack on Joe Biden at a White House press briefing, inaccurately suggesting the presumptive Democratic nominee wanted a national mandate on mask wearing while assailing Biden as "regressive," "anti-scientific" and "defeatist." Speaking to reporters from the lectern in the James S. Brady briefing room, Trump claimed Biden advocated a national mask mandate to fight the virus — an act that Trump said ignored the different needs of individual states and trampled on governors' authority. Earlier Thursday, Biden and recently announced running mate Kamala Harris called on governors to issue mask mandates amid a national effort to curb the pandemic. (Choi, 8/13)
In other news from the Biden campaign —
PBS NewsHour:
More Americans Trust Biden Than Trump To Handle The Pandemic
If the 2020 presidential election were held today, 53 percent of registered voters would cast their ballot for former Vice President Joe Biden, putting him 11 percentage points ahead of President Donald Trump, according to the latest PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll. The poll, taken days before the Democratic National Convention, shows Biden with his widest lead yet. In February, before Biden had taken the lead in the Democratic primaries, 50 percent of U.S. voters said they would support Biden in a match-up between him and Trump, while 44 percent backed Trump. (Santhanam, 8/14)
Kaiser Health News:
KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Kamala Harris On Health
California Sen. Kamala Harris, the newly named running mate for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, doesn’t have a lot of background in health policy. But that’s unlikely to prevent Republicans from using her on-again, off-again support for “Medicare for All” against her in the fall campaign. Meanwhile, with talks between Congress and the Trump administration over the next round of COVID-19 relief at a standstill, President Donald Trump is trying to fill the void with executive orders. What’s unclear is whether the president has the authority to do some of what he is proposing — or whether it will work to help people in dire economic and health straits. (Rovner, 8/13)
Modern Healthcare:
Kamala Harris Has A History Of Healthcare Merger Crackdowns
Newly tapped Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris' history of cracking down on hospital mergers as California's attorney general indicate a Biden administration could set a new precedent for the healthcare industry. Democrats' draft party platform for 2020 calls for tighter federal regulation of healthcare mergers. Harris wouldn't have direct control over federal antitrust enforcement if she were elected vice president, but she could have sway over who presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden would choose as attorney general, said Joel Goldstein, a professor at St. Louis University School of Law and a leading expert on the vice presidency. (Cohrs and Bannow, 8/13)
