NASHVILLE – Gov. Bill Lee, who has told fellow Tennesseans that “wearing a mask is the simplest action you can take to fight the spread of COVID-19,” on Thursday found himself defending not wearing one earlier this month at a boat parade to support President Donald Trump on Tims Ford Reservoir near Winchester, Tennessee.
A post on social media shows smiling photos of the maskless governor and fellow Republicans U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais, U.S. Senate nominee Bill Hagerty and state Sen. Janice Bowling of Tullahoma on a boat at Tims Ford. The governor was sporting a Trump T-shirt.
Asked at his weekly news conference by a reporter if that goes against his often-cited wear-a-mask mantra, Lee said, “I think I do model” the health recommendations.
“I think Tennesseans need to know, and they hear me every day and they see me in masks every day,” the governor said. “They watch what we say and what we do. I think it’s really important that I think it’s very serious.”
Lee added, “I think that you do have to make your personal decisions, but you have an obligation, and I follow that obligation. There are circumstances where I don’t wear a mask because I don’t feel I’m at risk in that situation. But, yeah, I felt safe. And when I don’t, I wear a mask.”