Miami’s GOP Mayor Calls for Nationwide Mask Requirement: ‘No Different than Being Forced to Wear a Seatbelt’

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez (R) called Wednesday for a national mandate requiring Americans to wear face masks, calling it “no different than being forced to wear a seatbelt.”

“I hear a lot of people that say it’s an infringement on our liberty, that we should have the freedom to do as we please. My response to that is, wait a minute. This is a country of laws,” Suarez said in a virtual interview with Politico. “To me, it’s not a question of calling anybody out. It’s more I think we should have a uniform policy.”

Miami-Dade County has imposed some of the strictest measures in the nation to combat a surge in coronavirus infections, including an eight-hour curfew at night and a requirement that residents wear face coverings even in outdoor areas. County Mayor Carlos Gimenez additionally signed an order on Tuesday to require residents to wear masks while working out inside gyms and to prohibit indoor dining at restaurants.

The measures have proven relatively ineffective to date. Florida’s Department of Health said the state experience 9,989 confirmed new cases of the virus on Tuesday — the fourth-highest daily total this year — with 2,916 of those in Miami-Dade County. The state’s total number of confirmed cases stood at 223,783 as of July 8, though Gimenez suggested this week the estimate may represent just a tenth of the real number.

Suarez said the nation should consider Miami’s mask mandate as being analogous to traffic laws. “You have freedom, and you are free to do as you please, but you’re not free to run a red light. You’re not free to run a stop sign. You’re not free to not put on a seatbelt.

“If all the medical experts are recommending it, I don’t see the big difference in recommending it and mandating it, particularly when you’re talking about something that is so influential in the increase rate,” he added.

Watch above via Politico.