White House Again Rejects Calls For National Mask Strategy

By Associated Press

Published July 7, 2020 at 7:23 AM EDT

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp recently shared a photo to Twitter of himself in a cloth mask.

The White House is again rejecting calls for a national mask-wearing mandate.

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows says in an appearance on “Fox and Friends” Monday morning that the president sees the issue as a “state-to-state” matter.

He says that, “certainly a national mandate is not in order” and that “we’re allowing our local governors and our local mayors to weigh in on that.”

New Jersey’s Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy has said he’d like to see a national strategy on the coronavirus, including a mask requirement. He says his state is seeing “small spikes in reinfection” from residents coming back from Florida, South Carolina and other virus hotspots, and the U.S. is “as strong as our weakest link right now.”

Vice President Mile Pence has also rejected the idea of a national mandate, saying that’s up to governors and local health officials.