Are coronavirus masks a political statement?

The CDC recommends people wear masks in public to combat coronavirus, but when VP Mike Pence visited a hospital without a mask, it showcased a growing political divide. Chris Cillizza explains.

SOURCES AND FURTHER READING:
Trump announces new face mask recommendations after heated internal debate

Pence flouts Mayo Clinic policy on masks — which is to wear one

Pence says he should have worn a mask at the Mayo Clinic

Gov. DeWine: My face mask order went ‘too far’

Use of Cloth Face Coverings to Help Slow the Spread of COVID-19

3 charged in killing of store security guard over virus mask

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I was named "best dressed" in 7th grade. That, along with being CNN's editor at large and author of the daily "Point" newsletter are my proudest achievements. Look for me here every Tuesday and Thursday to find out what’s really going down in politics.

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Writer: Chris Cillizza
The Point team: Leigh Munsil and Allison Gordon
Editor: Michelle Cho
Producer: Arielle Sacks

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67 comments

    1. @mako zero you can quarantine yourself if u want to but they shouldn’t quarantine every other person under 50. You have the freedom to quarantine yourself. But I don’t have the freedom to not quarantine myself. I can’t go to my job to support my family because my freedom has been stripped away. And no I have not studied medicine but the people who study it are the ones who created this whole thing. If the government can strip people if their freedoms because of something that is not even as bad as the flu! We even have the vaccine for the flu and it still kills more people then the corona virus. And I’m not saying that people don’t die from the corona, because they do. And that’s very sad. But when the WORLD total is only a few thousand. I just don’t see any reason to be quarantining young people. And the people who study medicine don’t even bother doing an autopsy on the dead bodies. They just say that if upu rested positive for it and die. Then that’s what u died of. Even if you died of cancer or something else that is way worse.

    1. AutoBez 313 Ask Joe China Biden why all the medical manufacturing went to China while he was VP.

    2. I got mine about a month after I ordered them- and I ordered them on March 3! Before anyone believed that the US would all be told to wear them. I just bought a pack of them because my daughter had had a confirmed case of the flu, which brought with it a significant cough for 2 months and she had missed an alarming amount of school. But even though her flu was gone by then, I just couldn’t in good conscience send her to school when she was coughing that much. But if she was wearing a mask, in addition to coughing into her elbow, then that would make it possible for her to go back to school.
      So me buying a pack of masks in time was simply because of luck. It wasn’t because I refrained from procrastinating.

    1. They will DEFINITELY not be getting your comment on this sniveling snowflake website! Doesn’t hurt to try though. Atta boy, thinking of our astronauts safety! BRAVO! Your momma’s done a fine job, you’re a gentleman and a scholar. Many MAGAS to you!

    1. @Jamtommy1 Lmao. It’s true though. He even has the chocolate hair to prove it.

  1. The virus, mask and everything else has become political. Democrats and Republicans are both a joke stop letting these power hungry people run our lives. Take care of yourself and your families and respect everyone’s opinion. And don’t be influenced by CNN, Fox, or any other news media they all have their agenda as well in the political B.S.

    1. @Adam Warlock stop explaining to them they didn’t even pass second grade you are wasting your time. It’s been months of this pandemic if they dont get it by now, man it’s too late.

    2. @Adam WarlockSweden imposed no draconian measures and trusted their people to be sensible, they had an extremely low death toll and will achieve herd immunity in weeks.

    3. @Coach Darren Fair enough, if you’re a “real person.” When I see pre-MFA dated accounts with no activity at all in over a year, but someone posting comments, I always suspect a compromised account. Either way, it seems like a complete waste of time for someone to watch what they have already predetermined to be “b.s.” Doesn’t really seem to have any value. But, to each his own.

    4. @Christmas Lore If people don’t see some 100% guarantee that something is absolutely, positively, and without question some manner of panacea, they immediately discount it. Face masks _can_ help and are a _part_ of an overall strategy to mitigate infection. Does it stop a 125nm airborne particle? Of course not. Does it stop infection from a mucus-encased excretion expelled in a cough? Sure. People arrive at a forgone conclusion and then look for whatever evidence can be manipulated to support their position. Pretty standard head-in-the-sand mentality.

    5. @Troll Destroyer , also, lesser the amount of virus you inhale, which could play a role in the outcome of your disease, if you develop it.
      But basically as you wrote, even in the air, the virus isn’t by itself, it links to other things like pollution and even pollen or other particules, that’s what they do. They agregate. Etc, etc.
      But the main thing is really the lack of willingness to show respect to others and/or public policies. “Mu freedom”…
      (Gvr Cuomo explains why it’s a public policy quite well).

    1. I can see him wearing a mask with the mouth like this 😮 That way Jeff Zucker can clean his throat

    2. Dragon1717, I assume you are too much of an insecure coward to wear a My Little Pony Mask. If I had the fabric, I would make them for all the REAL men in my family. Until then, we will stick with our Marvel comic strip masks.

  2. Because they have to make it political to “own the libs” which is their main point overall.

  3. How HOW how do you make just a mask political?!
    Only in America 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

    1. @mike oren Your cap lock key is on the center left of you keyboard. Use it so your covidiot remarks seem a little less infantile. The coronavirus originated in China and the Chinese lied about their infection and death rate as did nearly every other nation on the planet, except for Germany, Iceland, and South Korea. The important thing to remember is that of 202 nations battling this pandemic, America is in 200th place.

      Yes, Donald Trump has made America the Biggest Loser nation on Earth. Say thank you in November by voting true blue.

    2. How? Youll find out once elections come out. Dems will run on their campaign that trump is responsible for the virus and will blame him for the deaths and the economic shut down thars how

    3. @Brian Hack I’m a Democrat. As soon as Trump dismissed face masks, I ordered a box of 50 on E-Bay. Anyone… red state blue state can order the masks on-line, or make your own.

    4. @Lisa Elissa So what’s your point? There’s plenty of counter point videos with the same type of idiots. Check out some Ben Shapiro, Charlie Kirk or Candace Owens in college Q&A’s. By the way, I was a Democrat when I very reluctantly voted for Trump and now I’m not sorry I did. I’m gonna do it again on Nov 3 unless by some freakish miracle Tulsi gets the nomination. She’s got balls big enough to stand toe to toe with Trump in a debate and come out of it looking and sounding sane.

    1. Yeah. I was shocked! Also appalled, that’s automatic, gotta be both for the emphasis. Hotshot Mayonnaise Clinic fumbled the ball, typical. Vice President Mika Pence could’ve been INFECTED, for God’s sake! Mayonnaise Clinic should’ve IMMEDIATELY outfitted V.P. Pence with full HazMat suit! I’ll bet fancy dancy Mayo has malpractice insurance, oughta sue those buttwipes! So sad. Really just? Sad, so sad, SADLY sad, even! sad, sadly sad.

    2. @Lisa Elissa Except for the fact that none of those allegations were presented with evidence and literally not a single “accuser” has even spoken since 2016. Whereas Biden’s accusers have presented more evidence than Trump and Kavanaugh’s accusers combined. Not only this, but Tara Reade’s (the woman who is accusing Biden of rape) mother was on the Larry King show taking about the situation years ago and the episode was wiped clean from King’s channel and the internet a few weeks ago to hide evidence. Please explain that to me in detail.

    3. @thegags Trump paid off Karen Mcdougal and Stormy Daniels. A model and a porn actress both of which he had an affair with (NOT sexual assault). You have yet to respond with anything regarding Biden’s accusations.

  4. YA BUT… Initially mask were not effective. Now we need em. The mixed messages are problematic. We didn’t forget. 😣

  5. Agreed on all fronts. Been wearing masks for the past few years, every time I walk through an airport or on a plane 🤷

    1. Nah, those guys aren’t about to start taking any orders from sniveling snowflakes melting down, shrieking, bellowing, spewing snot bubbles in their Ma’s cellar like you for instance. He quit, behave, don’t leave mommy’s basement, you’ll be fine. Here, split a 12Pk., I gotta ton of this stuff,
      🧻🧻🧻🧻🧻🧻,
      ❄️You’re all set melting
      💧snowflake
      💧.

    2. @mike oren So much for the party of Law & Order, right? Perhaps you idiots will be better suited in somewhere with less laws like Somalia.
      Speaking of which, I’ve been there.. it’s not what I would call a vacation spot, and I took my family to the South Korean demilitarized zone (where I used to work also). Where have you been besides your mother’s basement?

    3. lives are not the property of the state u should not be required to wear a helmet on a motorcycle why is this hard to understand?

    4. @David Salt not true if u catch corona from someone not wearing a mask you should have done a better job quarantining yourself.

  6. 🍺 I’m like a smart person I know the biggest words believe me I’m a very stable genius I’m the chosen one

  7. America is quickly becoming a failed state. Because everything is a goddamn culture war these days.

    1. @Christopher Justice I was being sarcastic. You don’t need to define anything to me. Good grief you sourpuss get a sense of humor

    2. Do u even know what a failed state is?
      A country whos economy is so bad the govt is no longer in control. Economy has not crumbled and trump adm is still very much in control

    3. @fake account no actually love winning the hate that middle class is winning. Thei agenda is rich and poor no middleclass

  8. Now then, here’s a thing, ok – let me speak first, ere we go : At this things outbreak the immediate word was that Covid was a 🇺🇸 bio weapon development. (if so, and if anyway, to be militarily made item, it would have had a counter, s’how it works). 🇺🇸 lent ‘it’ to 🍁, to a non lethal testing lab, from there it was lifted by a Wuhan lady operative who shifted it to Wuhan. CCP wanted it to quell the Hong Kong mess. Its ‘leak’ and result is now recent history. Purportedly.
    Notwithstanding the origin of the outbreak, for a second, assume the tale so far IS genuine.
    Who’ve we seen without ANY protection? (Top Brass).
    Also, was reported that BoJo, badly ill, had his attendant nursing team withdrawn from his bedside by a senior ward Sister, thus to allow a pair of Americans to call upon our PM. Curtains were swished but not quite shut. One of the pulled away nurses saw through a crack a 💉 in the hand of one of these geezas. Shortly thereafter the yanks departed. 2 hours later BoJo was alert and joking with nursing staff, coupla days on – discharged to Chequers….
    So, possibly, a counter to this ‘virus’ does exist, albeit in extremely limited quantities at the mo.
    Just saying…..

  9. ” They will feel guilty for the rest of our lives”? Sometimes grammar is a small sacrifice.

  10. Brought to you by the same people who say: Don’t sneeze into your hands and don’t shake hands.
    Sneeze into your elbow and shake elbows.

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