Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. Trump Rejects Biden's Calls for National Mask Mandate Steve Herman WILMINGTON, DEL. - Presumptive Democratic Party presidential nominee Joe Biden is calling for a national mask mandate to cut the number of future deaths'¯from the coronavirus'¯in the United'¯States.'¯'¯ "It doesn't have anything to do with Democrats, Republican or independents,"'¯Biden'¯said,'¯but "every single American should be wearing a mask when they are outside for the next'¯three'¯months at a minimum."'¯'¯ Hour later, President Donald Trump accused Biden of politicizing the pandemic with the request, asserting that a mask mandate would cripple the economy, leading to a depression by wanting to "lock all Americans in their basements for months on end." The former vice president, in Wilmington, said the governors of every U.S. state "should mandate mandatory mask wearing," adding that experts estimate such compliance "will save 40,000 lives in the next'¯three'¯months."'¯'¯ '¯ .