Anti-mask Sentiment In The United States

The wearing of non-medical face masks in public to lessen the transmission of COVID-19 in the United States was first recommended by the CDC on April 3, 2020, as supplemental to hygiene and appropriate social distancing. Throughout the pandemic, various states, counties, and municipalities have issued health orders requiring the wearing of non-medical face coverings — such as cloth masks — in spaces and businesses accessible to the public, especially when physical distancing is not possible. Some areas only mandated their use by public-facing employees of businesses at first before extending them to the general public.

Federal officials initially discouraged the general public from wearing masks for protecting themselves from COVID-19. In early April, federal officials reversed their guidance, saying that the general public should wear masks to lessen transmission by themselves, particularly from asymptomatic carriers. Public health experts such as Larry Gostin stated that federal officials should have recommended mask-wearing sooner; others noted that US government guidance lagged significantly behind mask recommendations in East Asian countries and likely exacerbated the scale of the pandemic in the United States. In September 2020, it was reported that the government had contemplated leveraging the United States Postal Service to distribute free reusable masks nationwide as early as April, but that it had scrapped the plan due to concerns it could "create concern or panic".

Mask mandates have been divisive. Republican-led states were, initially, less likely to impose health orders requiring the wearing of masks than Democratic-led states. Several states, including Arizona, Georgia, and Texas, took actions to block localized health orders requiring masks, but later softened their stances to help control local spikes. Some Americans felt mask mandates to be an infringement of their personal liberties,and attitudes have varied along the political spectrum. According to a Pew Research survey conducted in fall 2020, 19% of Republican respondents listed masks as a pandemic-related hardship, 27% of whom were skeptical about masks or the severity of the pandemic, compared with 10% of Democrats, 31% of whom expressed anxieties about the politicization of safety regulations and others who were not taking the pandemic seriously.

Former President Donald Trump largely resisted wearing masks in public media appearances, and did not mandate their use at his rallies and other public campaign events during the 2020 presidential election. After briefly encouraging their use in mid-July, Trump continued to hold campaign events (such as the 2020 Republican National Convention) where masks were not widely used. Trump publicly mocked and ridiculed Joe Biden for wearing face masks in public appearances. Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, and others criticized Trump's refusal, calling it dangerous and irresponsible. A lack of precautions (such as masks) taken during crowded White House ceremonies and receptions by Trump on September 26 were credited with having possibly resulted in a COVID-19 outbreak at the White House, which infected Trump himself.

After Biden was sworn in as president in January 2021, one of his first executive orders mandated more vigorous enforcement of COVID-19-related health and safety protocols, including masks on federal properties. Biden also issued an executive order requiring the wearing of masks on public transport systems. In April 2021, as the country's vaccination program increased in pace, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued guidance stating that those who were fully vaccinated did not need to wear masks when in small outdoor gatherings. In May 2021, the CDC issued guidance stating that fully vaccinated people did not need to wear masks or physically distance in public unless otherwise mandated by local laws or entities. The announcement faced a mixed reception, with critics arguing that this guidance primarily relied on an honor system, and may have been premature given the country's progress on vaccination at the time.

In July 2021, due to rising cases mainly caused by the more transmissible Delta variant, the CDC issued a recommendation that face masks be worn by anyone in an indoor public space if "substantial and high transmission" exists locally. The CDC mask mandate for public transport was further extended into 2022 due to the similar threat of the Omicron variant. By late-February 2022, the CDC had adjusted its metrics for "substantial and high transmission" to account for mitigations such as vaccination, treatments and to place a larger weight on hospitalizations as a metric, stating that roughly 70% of the country had only low-to-medium levels of transmission, and that masks were not necessarily needed in these regions.

By April 2022, nearly all state-level mask mandates had been lifted, although the mask mandate for public transport was to remain in place until May 3. On April 18, 2022, the CDC's mask mandate for airplanes and public transport was struck down as unlawful by Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle