If President Obama or a President Clinton were to say from Day 1 "wear a mask," Republicans would ignore them out of spite. If President Trump said the same thing, Republicans would wear them and Democrats would probably be defiant.
Not sure if this is true.
If Trump said from day 1 "wear a mask" and all the public health officials said "wear a mask" I suspect that most Democrats would wear a mask too. Democratic policy is largely designed to push the idea of helping one another . . . which is exactly what wearing a mask does. The Republican party also has a long history of science denialism and distrust of educated people that the Democratic party typically doesn't share.
I can point to my own province as some evidence. It is led by a Conservative who told people to follow the guidelines and recommendations of health providers. Even though our Premier is well disliked by left voters and left wing parties (and there exists a pretty strong partisan opposition to him) everyone of all political stripes listened to what he had to say. There was no partisan divide on this matter.
No need to guess, we have a great example from February. Trump said the virus was a problem, shut down travel from the Wuhan area, and the democrats said he was Xenophobic and to keep congregating in bars and come on down to Chinatown, no need to worry about a virus. They were already calling him authoritarian and fascist, had he tried to invoke any kind of national order (masks, travel restrictions, etc.) there's have been a huge outcry.
What you're saying is badly taken out of context. Let's look at it in context, starting with the :
Jan 17, 2020 - “This is a serious situation. … [W]e believe the current risk from this virus to the general public is low. … The situation could indeed change quickly. Therefore, we are taking a cautious approach to this outbreak and we’re preparing ourselves to respond quickly to any new developments.” - Dr. Nancy Messonnier, CDC
Jan 22, 2020 -
“We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine.” - Trump
Jan 24, 2020 -
“China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!” - Trump
Jan 30, 2020 -
“We only have five people. Hopefully, everything’s going to be great. They have somewhat of a problem, but hopefully, it’s all going to be great. But we’re working with China, just so you know, and other countries very, very closely. So it doesn’t get out of hand. But it’s, you know, it’s something that we have to be very, very careful with, right? We have to be very careful.” - Trump
Jan 31, 2020 -
“I want to emphasize that this is a serious health situation in China, but I want to emphasize that the risk to the American public currently is low.” - CDC Director Robert Redfield, at a coronavirus task force briefing
Trump bars most travelers from China,
but there are exceptions for U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents and close family.Feb. 2, 2020 -
“We pretty much shut it down coming in from China.” - Trump
Feb. 3, 2020 -
“We expect to find additional cases of novel coronavirus infection in the United States. We expect to see more cases of person-to-person spread among close contacts.” - The CDC’s Messonnier, in a briefing with reporters.
Feb 4, 2020 -
“We are coordinating with the Chinese government and working closely together on the coronavirus outbreak in China. My administration will take all necessary steps to safeguard our citizens from this threat.” - Trump
Feb 10, 2020 -
“Looks like by April, you know, in theory, when it gets a little warmer, it miraculously goes away. I hope that’s true. But we’re doing great in our country. China, I spoke with President Xi, and they’re working very, very hard. And I think it’s going to all work out fine.” - Trump
Feb 11, 2020 -
“In our country, we only have, basically, 12 cases and most of those people are recovering and some cases fully recovered. So it’s actually less.” - Trump
Feb 12, 2020 -
“We can and should be prepared for this new virus to gain a foothold in the U.S. The goal of the measures we have taken to date are to slow the introduction and impact of this disease in the United States, but at some point, we are likely to see community spread in the U.S.” - The CDC’s Messonnier, who also acknowledged problems with the test kits distributed to states. The lack of functional test kits at state labs meant all samples had to be sent to the CDC, and limits were placed on who could be tested.
Feb 24, 2020 -
“The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA. We are in contact with everyone and all relevant countries. CDC & World Health have been working hard and very smart. Stock Market starting to look very good to me!” - Trump
Feb 26, 2020 -
“I understand this whole situation may seem overwhelming and that disruption to everyday life may be severe. … I told my children that while I didn’t think that they were at risk right now, we as a family need to be preparing for significant disruption of our lives.” - The CDC’s Messonnier, who warned that the government’s containment strategy would likely have to move to mitigation measures such as closing businesses and schools
“The degree of risk has the potential to change quickly, and we can expect to see more cases in the United States.” - Azar (at the white house press briefing)
“When you have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, that’s a pretty good job we’ve done.” - Trump
Feb 28, 2020 -
“The reason you’re seeing so much attention to it today is they think this is going to be what brings down the president. That’s what this is all about.” - Mick Mulvaney
“Now the Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus. … One of my people came up to me and said, ‘Mr. President, they tried to beat you on Russia, Russia, Russia.’ That didn’t work out too well. They couldn’t do it. They tried the impeachment hoax. That was on a perfect conversation. They tried anything, they tried it over and over. … And this is their new hoax.” - Trump
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https://www.npr.org/2020/04/21/837348551/timeline-what-trump-has-said-and-done-about-the-coronavirus (I'd encourage you to continue reading for the months that follow as Trump's message becomes more and more dangerous and out of touch with reality.
The only consistent pattern that I've seen is telling the public the opposite of what public health officials are saying.
Sure, Trump banned people travelling from China - and that was a good idea. But it's important to point out that as he was doing that, he was telling people that there was nothing to worry about from the virus. At the same time, the travel ban didn't prevent a lot of infected people from coming back to China because of the exemptions that were made . . . so it seems largely to have been done as a symbolic 'fuck you' to Chinese people rather than out of concern about the virus. This read is corroborated by Trump's continued messaging that there was nothing to worry about while public health officials were saying that things were dramatically worsening.
As far as Democratic opposition . . . to the best of my knowledge there wasn't widespread Democratic opposition to his ban. None of the Democratic congressional leaders did. Also important to note that Trump and his administration immediately politicized the virus and painted it as a Democrats vs Republicans issue, all while ignoring what his scientists and advisors were saying.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion . . . but not their own facts. The facts are pretty clear regarding Trump's handling of coronavirus.