Monday marked the first day of Walmart requiring its customers to wear a mask in their store. The Iowa Standard asked Sen. Charles Grassley what his message is to Iowans who are reluctant to wear masks and do not trust government officials, such as Dr. Anthony Fauci.
“I try to set an example,” Grassley said. “Do I know for sure that masks work or not? I’m not a scientist or doctor, so I don’t really know. But when we got this virus floating around, if it does do some good, I want to set an example.”
He said he has worn a mask at his 29 county meetings over the last couple weeks. There were times he was six feet away from others answering questions when he took off the mask, but otherwise he had it on.
“And I would advise other people to do it,” he said.
His compliance, though, doesn’t mean he’s comfortable with it.
“Now, it does infringe on freedom,” he said. “Do I like to do it? I don’t like to do it. But I think if you can do simple things like wash your hands, use disinfectant, wear a mask, stay six feet away from people, stay out of bars because that’s where a lot of this stuff is spread around when people get close and loud and drinking too much – I think we all ought to do what we can to help each other so we can win this battle against this virus.”
A vaccine over a period of a few months would help us defeat COVID, Grassley said.
“But right now we don’t know whether we’re going to have a vaccine, how effective it will be – so do everything else you can,” he said. “Sen. Grassley doesn’t like wearing masks, but I’m going to do it just to be protective and to do my part.”
