Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy called President Joe Biden out for recently shopping without a mask during a Monday press conference.
“We saw the president shopping indoors on Saturday behind glass that says ‘Face Covering Required’ but his face was uncovered, why?” Doocy asked White House press secretary Jen Psaki.
“The president is somebody who follows the recommendations and the advice of the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]. I don’t know what the circumstances were of that particular moment,” Psaki responded.
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The president was spotted inside Murrays Toggery Shop in Nantucket, Massachusetts, on Saturday with his mask wrapped around his neck, despite the store’s clear rules that masks must be worn inside. Footage captured him leaving the store without his face covered in the late afternoon drinking what appeared to be a milkshake.
The town, where the president spent his Thanksgiving holiday, had recently re-imposed their mask mandates due to a surge in COVID-19 cases, Fox News previously reported. (RELATED: Maskless Jill Biden Reads Books To Crowd Of Masked Children)
As Doocy continued to press the press secretary on the spotting, Psaki said the administration recommends that people “wear masks when they are required in establishments” and that Biden follows the advice of his medical team. She defended Biden by saying that the public sees him wearing a mask during advice as a model for the American people.
“I think you see the American people and all of you see the president wearing a mask every time he comes out to an event, when he is sitting in meetings, and certainly he will continue to model behavior he hopes the American people will follow,” she continued. “Not for his benefit, but for their own lives and the lives of their friends and neighbors.”
Biden was seen without a mask at a restaurant located in Washington, D.C., and was again spotted mingling without a mask in November, only putting the mask on for a photo-op. In April, the president said it is a “patriotic responsibility” for two vaccinated individuals to wear masks when located indoors.
