President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden appeared maskless in a photo with elderly former President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn Carter, disregarding their so-called “patriotic responsibility” to wear a face covering.
The Carter Center shared a photo on Twitter Monday night that showed the Bidens and the Carters sitting in close proximity to one another without masks.
We’re pleased to share this wonderful photo from the @POTUS and @FLOTUS visit to see the Carters in Plains, Ga.!
Thank you President and Mrs. Biden! pic.twitter.com/QcA33iUev4
— The Carter Center (@CarterCenter) May 4, 2021
However, during a Friday interview with Today, Biden said that two vaccinated people wearing masks indoors is a “patriotic responsibility.” (RELATED: ‘It Makes Absolutely No Sense’: Brit Hume Says Biden Administration ‘All Over The Map’ On Mask Wearing)
“But if we were, in fact, sitting there talking to one another close, I’d have my mask on and I’d like you to have a mask even though we’ve both been vaccinated,” the president told host Craig Melvin. The two were sitting about ten feet apart and did not have masks on. “And so, it’s a small precaution to take that has a profound impact.”
Biden said that wearing a mask, even if you have been vaccinated, is a precaution to take to avoid getting your family sick.
“It’s a patriotic responsibility for God’s sake,” Biden said. “It’s making sure that your wife, your children if in fact they haven’t been vaccinated, making sure that they’re not going to get sick.”
The president was mocked recently for being the only person wearing a mask during a virtual meeting with world leaders.
Biden, though alone in the video frame, was in a room with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry.
The Biden administration issued a directive that requires people to wear masks on federal property, regardless of vaccine status.