There's any number of terrible things about the US response that could/should have been better. But the US Surgeon General did not lie to the public with that t

There's any number of terrible things about the US response that could/should have been better. But the US Surgeon General did not lie to the public with that tweet. His communication wasn't adequate for someone holding his office, because it takes effort to parse, and crucial communications like his need to be better, but he didn't lie. Look carefully at what he said: "if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!" This is a statement of confidence in the masks he's talking about, N95/adjacent PPE. Saying they provide any substantial margin of personal protective safety for healthcare providers is saying they work. Now some people read "STOP BUYING MASKS! They are NOT effective" and stopped thinking right there. Some of the fault lies in anyone who did that. Some of the fault lies with the SG for poor communication. But the fact is, the SG's statement did not stop there. It continues into a statement skeptical not of the effectiveness of PPE masks as a personally protective measure, but as a measure that can protect the general public. There might by any number of reasons for that. He might believe the general public can't wear them effectively and conscientiously (I didn't believe that in March, but after watching people wear cloth masks, I absolutely do). He might believe there just weren't enough to protect the public (absolutely true then). He might believe they might engender a false sense of confidence preventing more effective measures (credible). Some of those reasons were actually stated and yet not perceived, which speaks to the trouble of "just telling the truth." There may have been others. Additionally, I'm astonished that many people continue to read his statement and fail to distinguish between PPE masks and cloth masks primarily about preventing source transmission (ie, wearer infecting others, with some fractional protection from being infected by others). In fact, I'm astonished at how many people still don't understand what cloth masks can do and talk about themselves or those wearing them in terms of protecting themselves. It's unfortunate that he didn't communicate better. Failing on that front might even be reason enough to have someone else doing that job. But honestly 10 months out I don't know that it's all on him.