Trump turns masks into a wedge issue

Biden's decision to wear a mask outdoors to a Memorial Day wreath-laying event drew an indirect reply from Trump, who retweeted an image of Biden with a comment, "This might help explain why Trump doesn't like to wear a mask in public." The President has resisted wearing masks in front of cameras.

Trump said on Tuesday during a Rose Garden event that he found Biden's mask "very unusual."

"Biden can wear a mask but he was standing outside with his wife, perfect condition, perfect weather," Trump said, though Biden was standing near others during the memorial.

Why would I ever do a thing like that?"

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said during a briefing earlier in the day that it was "peculiar" for the former vice president to don a mask outdoors because he doesn't wear one all the time at home -- though federal guidelines do not recommend masking among people living together.

"It is a bit peculiar, though, that in his basement, right next to his wife, he's not wearing a mask.

"Donald Trump's historic disregard for the guidance of public health experts is responsible for a failed response that has led to the deaths of nearly 100,000 Americans and the most devastating job losses our country has suffered since the Great Depression," Bates said.

CNN has asked the White House for clarification on McEnany's comments.

The decision to wear a face mask in public -- already at the center of a national cultural battle over individual responsibility in the pandemic -- emerged as a political wedge this weekend after the two men vying in this year's presidential contest took divergent approaches on Memorial Day.

The unmasked and masked public appearances this weekend by Trump and Biden strengthened the sense that mask wearing has become another issue that divides Americans along ideological and political lines, though many Republicans say wearing a mask in public is wise.

Even Trump's former chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said on Tuesday that mask wearing could help speed an economic revival.

No White House push for masks

Still, there does not appear to be a growing push at the White House to encourage mask wearing, even though the administration's own public health experts have stressed its importance.

And when asked whether Trump himself should wear a face mask when he's in public, 90% of Democrats said he should compared to 38% of Republicans.

The clear political divide hasn't gone unnoticed by the President or his political advisers, nor has the broader cultural debate online that has pitted mask-opposing Trump supporters with those who wear one to further spread.

Trump has so far refused to wear a mask in public, even in places where they are required.