Trump hotels impose mask mandates as Republicans rail against them

At least two of former President Donald Trump's properties have imposed mask mandates, even as GOP governors and Republicans in Congress rail against such requirements.

Politico reported Monday that Trump, who became "an emblem for anti-masking behavior" during his presidency, has remained relatively silent about the issue even as the emergence of the COVID-19 Delta variant has reignited the so-called mask wars this summer. In fact, Trump has signaled opposition to masks or mask mandates in only two of the hundreds of statements he's issued through his Save America PAC since being banned by Twitter, and he recently dodged a question about masks on Fox News.

Meanwhile, Republican governors including Florida's Ron DeSantis and Texas' Greg Abbott have waged war against mask mandates in schools and elsewhere. And anti-mask Republicans in Congress have compared mandates to the Holocaust and sued House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, with House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy even selling T-shirts touting "freedom-loving Americans who oppose Mask mandates."

"For Republicans, the issue of masking has turned into a litmus test for one's conservative bona fides," Politico notes.

Trump's lack of attention to the issue may be partly due to his laser focus on false claims of election fraud, according to Politico, but mask mandates are also "complicated for Trump and his family in part because of the implications they pose for their business holdings."

"Trump hotels across the country have adopted a variety of different masking policies, some of which would qualify as mandates according to GOP critics," the site reports. "The Trump International hotel in Miami, for instance, requires masks to be worn in all public places, according to its Covid-19 guidance and confirmed by a hotel representative. ... The Trump Hotel in Chicago has a Covid-19 policy that similarly suggests employees are required to wear masks."

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