John Owens, Professor Emeritus of United States Government and Politics in the Centre for the Study of Democracy at the University of Westminster, was quoted in an article by Newsweek about the impact that the defeat of the mask mandate would have on the President’s political fortunes.
The article explains how the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) federal mask mandate was struck down by the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida, who ruled that it exceeded the CDC's authority and the agency had failed to justify the mask requirements and asks several political experts for their views on what this political setback would mean for President Biden.
Speaking about the difficulty of imposing a federal mask mandate, Professor Owens said: "This is a tricky one for Biden since he originally introduced the mandate but many government and private entities in different areas of social life do not require mask-wearing now, at the same time that public perceptions of the severity of the virus have dissipated.”
Professor Owens also notes that Biden and the Democrats would be unlikely to appeal the decision given where public opinion now lies on mask-wearing and the political costs of trying to reimpose the mandate ahead of mid-term elections in November. He added: "Despite COVID rates rising again throughout the US and polls showing only half of Americans are comfortable with air travel, retaining the mask mandate, including in enclosed spaces, such as airliners and public transport, is probably a lost cause."
Read the full article on Newsweek’s website.
