Former vice president and establishment-assumed President-elect Joe Biden said Tuesday that “it’s a patriotic responsibility to wear a mask, to socially distance.”
Biden made his comments during an interview with “NBC Nightly News,” his first full interview since the election.
President-elect Joe Biden speaks exclusively with @LesterHoltNBC in his first interview since the election.
Click here for more: https://t.co/Ff0LkdQimg pic.twitter.com/eG1VSgD2qd
— NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt (@NBCNightlyNews) November 25, 2020
Biden: ‘I Think It’s A Patriotic Responsibility To Wear A Mask, To Socially Distance’
Biden said, “I hope that we’re going to be able to have a united voice on the need to mask, socially distance, testing and tracing.”
“They’re critical, critical pieces to dealing with bringing down this virus in a more manageable place,” he added. “The words of a president matter.”
Then Biden stressed the importance, and what he called a patriotic duty, to wear a mask during the coronavirus pandemic.
“And I think it’s critically important, I think it’s a patriotic responsibility to wear a mask, to socially distance,” Biden said.
Wearing a mask isn't a political statement — it's a patriotic duty.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) November 20, 2020
Biden Once Pushed A National Mask Mandate, Then Walked It Back
All Americans should be responsible during this pandemic and mask wearing is certainly a part of that.
But patriotism in America also means standing up for the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Our Constitution gives Americans the right to peacefully assemble and does not give the president the right to issue government mandates to wear masks or any other similar action via executive order.
Earlier in this election, Biden said he would enforce a national mask mandate, but then walked back his comments once he realized enforcing such an executive order went beyond any president’s constitutional bounds.
Joe Biden's plans for mask mandates nationwide will be an early test of his power of persuasion https://t.co/nRTFebTd4l pic.twitter.com/TcUA88RJ7d
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) November 20, 2020
Still, Biden Said It – We Know How Much Power he Wants
“The federal government,” Biden said during a presidential debate in early September, “there’s a constitutional issue whether federal government could issue such a mandate. I don’t think constitutionally they could, so I wouldn’t issue a mandate.”
But he still said it. Biden still wants it.
It can’t help but remind us of how much power a President Joe Biden would like to assume if legally allowed.