Jones calls on Trump, Pence, Republican senators to wear masks in public

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May 13, 2020

In an interview with CNN on Wednesday, U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) scolded certain Republicans on the federal level for appearing in public during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic while not wearing masks. Jones also gave a hat tip to Governor Kay Ivey (R-AL) for her administration’s recent approach to the crisis.

Speaking to CNN’s Alisyn Camerota, Jones bemoaned what he views as Republicans not setting a good example for the American public.

“I was waiting to get on the [internal Capitol] subway yesterday, and a group of Republican senators got off,” Jones lamented. “Not a single one of them or their staffs were wearing masks.”

“I think that sends a wrong message,” Alabama’s junior senator continued. “I would like to see the administration — the president, the vice president — whenever they are out, they need to be wearing a mask.”

“I think we have to set an example. I’ve been trying to do that in my home state for the last six weeks or seven weeks. Set an example,” he added. “Try to tell people, ‘It’s OK. It’s not a cultural shock to wear a mask out in public these days, because I want to protect your health. And I want you to protect mine.’”

Jones stressed this point in a clip from the interview posted to his official office Twitter account.

Folks, I know everyone is anxious to reopen & start a return to a sense of normalcy, but we cannot afford to ignore guidelines such as social distancing & mask wearing. It’s going to take all of us working together & looking out for one another to safely reopen Alabama. pic.twitter.com/NfZ7970Xcg

— Senator Doug Jones (@SenDougJones) May 13, 2020

Jones told CNN that he is “absolutely” nervous about Alabama reopening its economy.

“I think the governor has done a pretty good job of trying to thread that needle,” he added. “She has got a lot of pressure. Every state around us is trying to open back up. People are getting antsy — they want to get out, they want to do some things. But even the governor in her press conference [last Friday] stressed the need to do the social distancing, stressed the need to wear masks.”

“I think part of this is going to depend on not just the opening, but it’s going to depend on the American public. Look, we’re in a — what is amounting to a — moving into a post-9/11 world where we need to wear the masks, we need to do the social distancing,” Jones said. “If we can do those things and open up slowly and work with folks, I think people will have more confidence. But they need to do the social distancing. They need to wear those masks.”

Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn