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(Video: MSNBC)

NBC News Digital senior politics reporter Alex Seitz-Wald offered what may be a discomforting outlook to Democrats who are facing a “challenge” as they grapple with easing COVID-19 restrictions against their own hesitancies.

Although several Democrat governors have recently come around and lifted COVID-19 related mandates in their states, a new Politico/Morning Consult poll shows that 65 percent of Democrats believe it’s “too early to rescind mask mandates,” far more than the 43 percent of overall Americans, of which only 20 percent are Republicans who agree with keeping the mandates in place.

Given the dilemma facing many squishy governors, MSNBC anchor Hallie Jackson asked Seitz-Wald Wednesday, “How are these leaders squaring that… the numbers versus the sentiment?”

“Yeah Hallie, I think these Democratic governors are basically playing to where they think the ball is going to be if not where it is now,” Seitz-Wald responded. “They’re kind of trying to get ahead of the inevitable because the trend lines have been clear that a growing number of Americans, including a lot of Democrats, are heading towards if not already at the point of saying ‘You know what? We just have to get back to normal.’”

Just an absolutely amazing admission here. An MSNBC reporter notes that the biggest challenge for Democrat governors ending their mask mandates is that liberals have made mask-wearing such an important part of their identity that they might not be able to give it up. pic.twitter.com/LhCp4T279A

— Dan O’Donnell (@DanODonnellShow) February 17, 2022

“And you see this kind of emerging message from some Democrats basically saying, ‘Mission accomplished,’ that, you know, the policies of the Biden White House, the Democratic Congress, Democratic governors, they worked, our sacrifices were worth it, we got vaccinated, it’s now time to enjoy those benefits,” he continued.

“But that message hasn’t really been that loud because, as you pointed out, the base is divided,” the NBC reporter said. “A large number of Democrats are not there yet. So I think there is going to be a challenge for a lot of Democratic leaders to get their base comfortable with the idea of going back to normal.”

“I mean, for the past two years, so much of the identity of what is meant to be a Democrat, to follow the science, was tied up in masking and following these rules and regulations. And if you didn’t do that, you were you know, a bad person, you were Ron DeSantis, you’re a denier. So, now these Democratic leaders need to get their base comfortable with unwinding all of that,” Seltz-Wald added.

For her part, Dr. Rochelle Walensky of the CDC also maintains her recommendation that people stay masked in many situations.

“At this time, we continue to recommend masking in areas of high-end substantial transmission,” Walensky said. “That’s much of the country right now in public indoor settings.”

But as BPR reported, Walensky said that new guidance may be forthcoming in late February or early March. Just days later, however, leaked audio of a House Energy and Commerce Committee briefing was obtained by Reason magazine in which she was heard saying that at least in terms of the nation’s schools, the CDC will not be changing its recommendation for all students to wear masks, the outlet reported.

There were plenty of the expected reactions to the MSNBC broadcast:

I mean so what if people keep on wearing masks? I plan to keep wearing masks on planes after this pandemic is done. There probably still is a place in some public settings for masks even without COVID.

— Cade Gerlach (@GerlachCade) February 17, 2022

Go for it – wear one when and wherever you choose

Just dont mandate everyone else follow suit

— Cheesetrader (@cheesetrader1) February 18, 2022

The fear porn has caused some ppl serious to have mental issues.

— Paul (@pauljc1171) February 18, 2022

What else makes people feel like they are doing something without actually doing something?

— Negative Nelly (@TryingToSmile3) February 18, 2022

They can still wear the f***ing things if they want. Their real problem with all of this is 2 fold……

1. They don’t like that other people aren’t as fearful as they are.
2. They’re losing their ability to tell other people what to do.

— RQ (@SaysRQ) February 18, 2022

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Frank Webster

Staff Writer

Frank (Chip) Webster is a musician and composer, former teacher of percussion and U.S. Army Infantry veteran. He holds a degree in English from Arizona State University.

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