Fox News medical correspondent Dr. Marc Siegel called presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s demand for a national masking mandate — even outdoors — the “politics of fear, big government edition” during a Thursday night appearance on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”
Biden said Thursday every American “should be wearing a mask when they are outside for the next three months at a minimum,” adding that such a mandate would “save lives.”
“It’s not about your rights, it’s about your responsibilities as an American,” Biden said.
“You don’t have any rights anymore,” Fox News host Tucker Carlson opined before introducing Siegel. “You have to wear a mask when you’re alone in the woods, walking with no one near you in the park while running, riding your bike. Is there any science behind this whatsoever? And if so, what is it?”
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“It’s the politics of fear and the power of science, the politics of fear, big government edition,” Siegel told Carlson. “Now, what is the science behind this? Well, there’s some recent studies that show that masking, if you use them properly in proper conditions when you’re close together or when you’re indoors when the ventilation is poor, that they likely decrease the amount of viral spread.”
“That was shown in several hot-spot states and Washington, D.C., and a couple of other studies,” Siegel continued. “There’s also been simulations that show that masking may help decrease the spread of the virus. Now that’s not proof, but it’s enough for me to like the idea of masks.”
Turning to the idea of Biden wanting to require masking outdoors, Siegel noted that “Outside is where it’s much more difficult to spread the virus.”
“I rode my bicycle recently around New York. Everybody was wearing a mask. You know what they weren’t wearing? Helmets!” he added. “So we’re going to see a lot more damage to the brain from people forgetting to wear their helmets because they are so worried about these government ideas about excess masking.”
Siegel discussed some of the latest masking news, including a Wisconsin state agency requiring them for employees on Zoom calls before joking that, should Biden win, “You may have to turn your camera off because Big Brother may be watching you!” (RELATED: Trump’s Newest Coronavirus Adviser Wants College Football To Happen: ‘There’s No Reason To Shut Down Out Of Fear’)
“This is getting really scary,” Carlson said. “When you make a decree that you claim is rooted in data, show us what the data are. What’s the science? But they don’t, because there isn’t any.”
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has formally called for use of masks to reduce the rate of COVID-19 transmission, citing what it described as “increasing evidence” that masks are effective, but the focus so far has been on use of masks while indoors or in close proximity to the public.