Watters on Biden violating DC mask mandate: US is confused about COVID rules 'because he's confused'
Biden was photographed maskless at a posh restaurant in Georgetown
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Americans are confounded by the continually evolving coronavirus mitigation rules, laws and mandates because President Biden himself appears to be, Jesse Watters said Monday, after the the president was photographed violating D.C.'s mask mandate while at a upscale Italian restaurant over the weekend.
Biden was pictured without a mask at Fiola Mare, eliciting reporters to question the White House press secretary about the apparent double standard.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki, responded that Biden and his entourage were leaving the restaurant and that the president had his mask in hand – and that it is normal for people to not "put masks on as quickly as we should" sometimes.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}On "The Five", Watters said Biden's ignoring of Mayor Muriel Bowser's edict shows that average Americans aren't the only ones conflicted by varying mandates.
"This is why this guy is so discombobulated. He walks indoors to a D.C. restaurant with no mask, but does a zoom call by himself with a full mask on," he said. "That’s why this country is so confused about COVID -- because he is confused."
Watters added that the weekly death average from coronavirus is now at zero – and that the D.C. government should instead consider a "bulletproof vest mandate" instead of one for masks because many more people are dying from shootings there than from coronavirus.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}U.S. President Joe Biden walks out after a dinner date with first lady Jill Biden at Fiola Mare, in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, U.S., October 16, 2021. REUTERS/Tom Brenner
"The guy must’ve had a lot of cocktails last night, because he did not even show up to work today -- Joe Biden had no public events on his schedule today," the co-host quipped.
Co-host Richard Fowler commented on the varying mask mandates from municipality to municipality, pointing out that it is easy to find such mandates "misleading" because bordering towns may have vastly different rules.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In the Washington area, both the District and its bordering Maryland counties of Prince Georges and Montgomery both have strict mask edicts, with the former now requiring coverings for people as young as two years-old. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Potomac, Arlington County, Va., has lifted its COVID "emergency" and instead "strongly encourages" masking up indoors.