Nancy Pelosi Calls Trump 'Cowardly,' For Not Wearing Mask, Supports Federal Mandate

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on Friday told NPR she agreed with presumptive Democratic nominee for president Joe Biden's assessment that mask usage should be mandated on the federal level, amid a surge of coronavirus case across the United States. She blamed the Trump administration for failing to accept the seriousness of the pandemic.

"I totally agree with Joe Biden. As long as we're faced with this crisis, masks should be mandatory," Pelosi told NPR's Ari Shapiro and Susan Davis on All Things Considered.

"In fact, the reason the CDC hasn't made it mandatory is because they don't want to embarrass the president, or insult the president, whatever it is," Pelosi said, calling Trump "cowardly" for not wearing a face mask.

The United States on Thursday set a new daily record for confirmed coronavirus cases. The surge in the virus' spread comes following an intense push by the president to ease mitigation requirements and reopen states' economies.

Trump has himself taken advantage of the relaxed requirements, holding two rallies in as many weeks as he attempts to restart his campaign schedule for the 2020 White House race against Biden.

The White House coronavirus task force on Friday, after weeks of no public briefings, cautioned young people to take more precautions in assessing their risk for the disease, warning that although they may be less susceptible to the serious health fallouts from the virus, they could still pass in on to others.

"A risk for you is not just isolated to you, because if you get infected, you are part — innocently or inadvertently — of propagating a dynamic process of the pandemic," Dr. Anthony Fauci said.

Still, Vice President Mike Pence, who has also recently relaunched a cross-country travel schedule, said he believed the close gatherings in defiance of health care officials' guidance were an exercise of free speech.

House GOP Conference Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., who rarely agrees with Pelosi, tweeted a picture of her father, former vice president Dick Cheney on Friday with the message: "Dick Cheney says WEAR A MASK."

Pence plans to travel next week to Texas and Arizona, two states that have seen significant spikes in cases of the virus. [Copyright 2020 NPR]