Biden slams Trump's 'macho notion' not to wear a mask, calls it 'egotistical exercise'

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Surgeon general urges Americans not to make masks political or controversial

U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams tells 'The Daily Briefing' that Americans need to do their part to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 until a vaccine is available.

Joe Biden had some choice words for President Trump and his refusal to wear a mask at the begininng of the coronavirus pandemic during a virtual fundraiser with actor Tom Hanks on Tuesday.

"This appeal to this macho notion, ‘I’m not wearing a mask,' this is just the most irrational, illogical and egotistical exercise I’ve ever seen a president enter into,” Biden said, according to a pool report of the event.

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Last week, the presumptive Democratic nominee called for a national mask mandate to help slow down the spread of COVID-19, which has killed more than 170,000 people in the U.S. and infected nearly 5.5 million others.

The Trump administration has left it up to state lawmakers to determine whether or not a mask is required to be worn in grocery stores and other public spaces, even as scientists and health experts have said covering your nose and mouth could slow the spread of coronavirus and save 40,000 lives in the next three months.

"We can’t go on like this like the president’s had us do, half recovering, half getting worse, half wearing masks, half denying science, half of a plan, half hoping for the best,” Biden said.

“You don’t have to be Superman to fight for truth, justice and the American way,” Hanks said on behalf of Biden at the event.

During Monday's night's kickoff to the virtual Democratic National Convention, several keynote speakers took aim at Trump's handling of the pandemic.

The daughter of a former Trump supporter who died of COVID-19 after Arizona reopened businesses despite warnings from experts that the virus wasn't under control, said at the DNC event: "Donald Trump may not have caused the coronavirus, but his dishonesty and his irresponsible actions made it so much worse."

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whose state suffered the worst onslaught of cases in the country for nearly four months, said Trump ignored the virus for months and was "fixated on China," where the virus originated.

"The virus had been attacking us for months before they even knew it was here. We saw the failure of a government that tried to deny the virus, then tried to ignore it, and then tried to politicize it," Cuomo said. "The failed federal government that watched New York get ambushed by their negligence, and then watched New York suffer, but all through it learned nothing."

Sen. Bernie Sanders also blamed Trump, saying he "has put our lives and health in jeopardy" by attacking "doctors and scientists trying to protect us."

Earlier Tuesday, Trump compared his handling of the current health crisis to former President Barack Obama's handling of the swine flu outbreak, in 2009, which killed 12,469 people in the U.S. in a year, significantly less and over a longer span of time than the coronavirus.

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"Looking back into history, the response by the ObamaBiden team to the H1N1 Swine Flu was considered a weak and pathetic one," Trump posted on Twitter. "Check out the polling, it’s really bad. The big difference is that they got a free pass from the Corrupt Fake News Media!"