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Then-Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine speaks during a press conference at the Department of Justice on February 27, 2018. (Photo by Toya Sarno Jordan/Getty Images)

GOP Gov. DeWine Urges People To Wear Masks: ‘This Is About Loving Your Fellow Human Being’

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) pointed out on Tuesday night that wearing a mask during the COVID-19 pandemic is a matter of basic empathy, not politics.

“Look, this is about loving your fellow human being,” the governor said during an interview with CNN anchor Anderson Cooper. “This is an instruction as old as the Bible. You’re supposed to love your fellow man and woman, and that’s what we’re really doing.”

“I think that’s the message, that you’re not wearing it so much for yourself as you are wearing it for that person that you’re going to come in contact with,” he added.

The Republican governor’s remarks echoed North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum’s (R) plea for people refusing to wear facial coverings to “dial up your empathy and your understanding” last week.

Their push for wearing masks stands in contrast with many right-wingers’ disdain for the protective measure, most notably that of President Donald Trump, who mocked a reporter on Tuesday for donning a mask during a press briefing.

“You want to be politically correct,” Trump said.

Watch DeWine below:

Key Coronavirus Crisis Links

TPM’s COVID-19 hub.
Josh Marshall’s Twitter List of Trusted Experts (Epidemiologists, Researchers, Clinicians, Journalists, Government Agencies) providing reliable real-time information on the COVID-19 Crisis.
COVID-19 Tracking Project (updated data on testing and infections in the U.S.).
Johns Hopkins Global COVID-19 Survey (most up to date numbers globally and for countries around the world).
Worldometers.info (extensive source of information and data visualizations on COVID-19 Crisis — discussion of data here).