Trump criticises Biden for not making masks compulsory – even though he isn't in power
Donald Trump has criticised Joe Biden for not making mask-wearing compulsory even though the Democrats are not in power.
The president was meeting undecided voters for the first time in months for a televised town hall which is seen as a preview to the US Election presidential debates in two weeks.
He was asked why he didn’t wear masks more often and why he didn’t support making them mandatory across the US.
"They said at the Democrat Convention they're gonna do a national [mask] mandate. They never did it." -- someone might want to inform Trump who the president is
He then tries to both-sides mask wearing, saying "a lot of people think that masks are not good." pic.twitter.com/FACVjMr0di— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 16, 2020
“They said at the Democrat convention they’re going to do a national mandate,” Mr Trump responded.
“They never did it, because they’ve checked out and they didn’t do it.
“And a good question is, you ask Joe Biden - they said we’re going to do a national mandate on masks.”
Mr Biden reminded voters on Twitter: “I’m not currently president”.
To be clear: I am not currently president. But if you chip in now, we can change that in November: https://t.co/eFS4tDfHEx https://t.co/ciqFcIGLHB
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 16, 2020
Mr Trump, who has failed to aggressively promote mask-wearing throughout the pandemic, continued to cast doubt on their effectiveness.
“There are a lot of people that don’t think masks are good,” he said, even though his own Centre for Disease Control (CDC) urges Americans to wear one.
The president pointed out that the CDC changed its advice on masks as did infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci.
Dr Fauci has since defended his decision to advise against wearing masks in late-February and early-March as the US was experiencing shortages of PPE.
Mr Trump said masks were not entirely effective as people still had a tendency to touch their face.
"I’ll tell you who those people are - waiters. They come over and they serve you, and they have a mask… they're playing with the mask.
“They're playing with the mask, so the mask is over, and they're touching it, and then they're touching the plate. That can’t be good.”
Earlier this week Mr Trump defied Nevada’s coronavirus restrictions by hosting an indoor rally to a nearly mask-less crowd with no social distancing.
Only those who appeared on camera were required to wear a mask.
"If the governor comes after you, which he shouldn’t be doing, I’ll be with you all the way," he told the crowd.
The US has recorded more than 6.6 million coronavirus infections with nearly 196,000 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally.
The death toll is the highest in the world.
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