Chris Christie laments that he was “wrong” to not wear his mask at the White House and advises people to follow public health measures in a new advertisement.
The ad, reportedly paid for by the World Health Organization’s ambassador for global strategy Ray Chambers, features Christie recalling the time he spent in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) after being diagnosed with COVID-19.
“You know, lying in isolation in ICU for seven days, I thought about how wrong I was to remove my mask at the White House,” says Christie in the ad. “Today, I think about how wrong it is to let mask-wearing divide us, especially as we now know you’re twice as likely to get COVID-19 if you don’t wear a mask. Because if you don’t do the right thing, we could all end up on the wrong side of history. Please wear a mask.”
The ad will be featured on TV over the next two weeks, with spots on Fox News, SiriusXM Radio, and Newsmax, according to HuffPo.
“I am very happy today for this ad to start to run on TV across America. I urge all Americans to learn from my experience and to, please, wear a mask and stay safe,” Christie said when announcing the ad.
Chris Christie’s COVID-19 diagnosis followed his visit to the White House for the announcement of Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s appointment to the Supreme Court. Speaking with The New York Times, Christie said he was under the belief he had “entered the White House grounds, that I had entered a safe zone, due to the testing that I and many others underwent every day.”
“I was wrong. I was wrong not to wear a mask at the Amy Coney Barrett announcement and I was wrong not to wear a mask at my multiple debate prep sessions with the president and the rest of the team,” he said.
Chris Christie also criticized President Trump for allegedly politicizing the wearing of face masks.
“One of the worst aspects of America’s divided politics is the polarization of something as practical as a mask,” Christie wrote in The Wall Street Journal . “It’s not a partisan or cultural symbol, not a sign of weakness or virtue. It’s simply a good method — not a perfect one, but a proven one — to contain a cough or prevent the virus from getting in your mouth or nose. Wear it or you may regret it — as I did.”
I am very happy today for this ad to start to run on TV across America. I urge all Americans to learn from my experience and to, please, wear a mask and stay safe. pic.twitter.com/DGmOValDJo
— Chris Christie (@GovChristie) December 16, 2020
According to the CDC, cloth masks are an effective shield against the spread of COVID-19:
This review included two case studies out today, one from JAMA, showing that adherence to universal masking policies reduced SARS-CoV-2 transmission within a Boston hospital system, and one from CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), showing that wearing a mask prevented the spread of infection from two hair stylists to their customers in Missouri.
Additional data in today’s MMWR showed that immediately after the White House Coronavirus Task Force and CDC advised Americans to wear cloth face coverings when leaving home, the proportion of U.S. adults who chose to do so increased, with 3 in 4 reporting they had adopted the recommendation in a national internet survey.
In the early stages of the pandemic here in the United States, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, argued against wearing masks before reversing that position several weeks later. Fauci, however, maintains that he was simply following CDC guidelines to preserve PPE.