‘Why Do Democrats Distrust The Science?’: Trump Attacks Biden Admin For Return To Mask Mandates

Former President Donald Trump attacked President Joe Biden for the CDC’s decision to require vaccinated people to wear masks in certain situations Tuesday.

The CDC updated its guidance Tuesday, reversing a decision earlier this summer that allowed vaccinated Americans to forgo masks both indoors and outdoors. The CDC credits the change to the ongoing spread of the Delta COVID variant despite vaccines still working against the strain. (RELATED: ‘The Choice Is Yours’: In Line With CDC’s Mask Guidance, Biden Gives Americans An Ultimatum On Vaccines)

“We won’t go back. We won’t mask our children,” Trump said in a statement. “Joe Biden and his Administration learned nothing from the last year. Brave Americans learned how to safely and responsibly live and fight back. Don’t surrender to COVID. Don’t go back! Why do Democrats distrust the science? Don’t let this happen to our children or our Country.”

To prevent further spread of the Delta variant, the CDC updated its mask guidance to recommend fully vaccinated people wear masks indoors when in areas with “substantial” and “high” transmission of Covid-19, which includes nearly two-thirds of US counties. https://t.co/tFUtmbZi3Y

— CNN (@CNN) July 27, 2021

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky specifically stated that the new guidance includes schools, arguing that students and teachers in K-12 schools should wear masks.

“This includes schools,” the CDC director said Tuesday. “CDC recommends that everyone in K-12 schools wear a mask indoors, including teachers, staff, students and visitors, regardless of vaccination status. Children should return to full-time, in-person learning in the fall with proper prevention strategies in place.”

President Biden had teased the CDC reverting its policy during a CNN town hall last week, saying it would likely be requiring masks for children “soon.”

“The CDC is going to say that what you should do is everyone under the age of 12 should probably be wearing masks in school. That’s probably what’s going to happen,” Biden said in response to an audience question. “Secondly, those over the age of 12 who are able to get vaccinated, if you’re vaccinated you shouldn’t wear a mask. If you aren’t vaccinated, you should be wearing a mask.”