Hey, do you remember when Joe Biden told everyone to “be a patriot” and put on a mask because, if you didn’t, it was time for a national mask mandate? That was only a couple of weeks ago, so this isn’t a case of dredging up some oppo research from the distant past. Of course, that wasn’t a new idea for Uncle Joe. Back in June, he said, ‘I would do everything possible to make it required that people had to wear masks in public.’ So, if nothing else, he’s at least been consistent on this issue.
Once California Senator Kamala Harris (pronounced “Comma-lah”) officially became Joe’s running mate, she had to quickly cast aside all of the things she said in the primary and get onboard with Sleepy Joe’s agenda. But does that include the mask mandate? Not based on what she said during an interview on Today this week. To hear her talk, you’d think it was more of a polite suggestion than any sort of mandate. (Free Beacon)
Democratic vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris (D., Calif.) walked back Joe Biden’s call for a nationwide mask “mandate” on Friday, saying no one would be punished for violating it.
“It’s really—it’s a standard. I mean, nobody’s going to be punished,” Harris said on Today when asked how she would enforce the coronavirus measure. “Nobody likes to wear a mask. This is a universal feeling, right? So that’s not the point, ‘Hey, let’s enjoy wearing masks.’ No…. God willing, it won’t be for forever.”
With no enforcement mechanism, it is unclear how that substantively differs from the Trump administration’s call for citizens to wear masks while leaving it to individual states to implement mandates or not.
So it’s a “mandate” where nobody is going to be punished. As the Free Beacon points out, how is that any different than what President Trump said? More than a month ago he told us that wearing a mask is patriotic so everyone should get on board with the idea. But it’s not like he’s threatening to send ICE out to detain you if you don’t.
But wait… I thought Biden and Harris were running on Trump’s utter mismanagement of the Pandemic? And yet you’ve got the same plans in mind that the White House already has in place? This isn’t the first time the Biden/Harris dynamic duo have decided to criticize Trump while proposing to do the exact same things he’s already been doing. Karen (and the Wall Street Journal) ran down the full list at that link. The COVID-19 plans put forward by Team Biden are indistinguishable from Trump’s actions so far, “minus the bluster.”
But this case might be the exception, at least in terms of what Biden’s aspiring Veep wants to see. Let’s go back to Biden’s statement about a mask mandate in June. He specifically said that he would employ “federal leverage” to ensure compliance.
“From an executive standpoint, yes I would,” he said. “I would do everything possible to make it required that people had to wear masks in public.”
There’s a difference between making something “required” and simply asking nicely or defining it as being “patriotic.” When the government requires something of you and you fail to comply, there is a penalty to be paid for noncompliance. Kamala Harris obviously isn’t on the same page here. But then, I suppose she’s to be forgiven. How can she really be up to date on all of Joe’s positions unless she’s moved into his basement?
