Nancy Pelosi goads 'cowardly' Trump for not wearing mask and says the CDC has not made them mandatory yet because it would 'embarrass the president'

• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called President Donald Trump a "coward" for not wanting to wear face masks during the coronavirus pandemic.
• "In fact, the reason the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) hasn't made it mandatory is because they don't want to embarrass the president or insult the president, whatever it is," Pelosi said in an interview on Friday.
• Pelosi has previously gone after Trump, calling him "morbidly obese" after he told reporters he was taking the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine.
• Trump has repeatedly insisted on not wearing a face mask in public, despite attending large campaign rallies and making high-profile appearances.
• The country has seen one of its worst weeks in the pandemic yet, reporting more than 40,000 coronavirus cases in a single day for the first time.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi branded President Donald Trump "cowardly" for not wanting to wear face masks during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Speaker's comments come after presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden said that he would require the use of masks in public if he's elected president.

In an interview with NPR on Friday, Pelosi said: "I totally agree with Joe Biden. As long as we're faced with this crisis, masks should be mandatory."

"In fact, the reason the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) hasn't made it mandatory is because they don't want to embarrass the president, or insult the president, whatever it is," she continued.

"And not wearing a mask himself as an example to the country? How cowardly is that?" she said. "It's not about protecting yourself, it's about protecting others."

It is not the first time the Speaker has gone after Trump in the past months.

In May, Pelosi called Trump "morbidly obese" and advised him not to take the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine. The president told reporters he had been taking the unproven treatment for days as a preventative measure against the coronavirus.

"He's our president, and I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists, especially in his age group and his, shall we say, weight group," Pelosi said during an interview with CNN.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) withdrew the emergency use of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for the virus earlier this month.

The Speaker's comments come after Trump continues to insist on not wearing a mask in public despite attending large campaign rallies and making high-profile appearances.

But while the president is not wearing a face mask, White House officials have seriously ramped up other protocols to protect him from catching the virus otherwise, according to CNN.

Any venue Trump enters is reportedly inspected for contagion by medical and security teams beforehand and bathrooms he goes into are deep-cleaned and sanitized, the broadcaster reported.

Staff has also been closely monitoring who comes into contact with the president to ensure they take a coronavirus test afterward while Trump himself is also still undergoing regular testing.

Meanwhile, top health officials in the country are urging people to wear masks after the country reported more than 40,000 coronavirus cases in a single day for the first time.

Multiple Trump campaign staffers, secret service members, and a journalist who all attended the president rally in Tulsa also tested positive for COVID-19 this week and are now self-quarantining.

The country has seen close to 2.5 million coronavirus infections since the start of the outbreak and recorded more than 125,000 deaths, according to a tracker by Johns Hopkins University.

On Friday, the White House leading infectious disease expert, Anthony Fauci urged young people to be mindful even though they are in the lesser-risk category.

"A risk for you is not just isolated to you, because if you get infected, you are part — innocently or inadvertently — of propagating a dynamic process of the pandemic," Fauci said, according to the BBC.

Fauci has repeatedly reiterated the importance of wearing masks and warned against politicizing the issue, adding that it's "purely a health issue."