North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum pled with his constituents to show an example of empathy instead of division on the topic of wearing masks.
Suggesting the upheaval was a needless “culture war,” Burgum became emotional on Friday in a plea for compassion to those who may have good reason to feel they need to protect others.
“If someone is wearing a mask, they’re not doing it to represent what political party they’re in or what candidates they support,” Burgum said, before his voice began breaking. “They might be doing it because they’ve got a 5-year-old child who’s been going through cancer treatments. They might have vulnerable adults in their life who currently have covid, and they’re fighting.”
“I would really love to see in North Dakota that we could just skip this thing that other parts of the nation are going through where they’re trading a divide — either it’s ideological or political or something — around masks versus no mask,” Burgum said. “This is a, I would say, senseless dividing line, and I would ask people to try to dial up your empathy and your understanding.”
Burgum’s approval rating for handling the coronavirus stands at 80%, one of the highest in the country.
See more at The Washington Post.