Surgeon General is 'pleading' with Fox News viewers to wear a mask

Surgeon General Jerome Adams really, really wants you to wear a mask.

Despite President Trump's earlier resistance to wearing masks, Adams appeared on Fox & Friends Monday morning and told viewers "the whole administration is now supportive of masks." He then addressed previous guidance against wearing masks and why Trump isn't instituting a national mask mandate, all to make the case that "we are not trying to take away your freedoms when we say wear a face covering," he said.

While Adams cited a New York Times article in pointing out a "high degree of mask compliance" in the U.S., he still noted many Americans were resistant to wearing them. But by tolerating masks and social distancing measures, the U.S. will be able to "significantly turn things around in the course of a matter of weeks," Adams said. And that's why "I'm pleading with your viewers, I'm begging you, please understand that we are not trying to take away your freedoms when we say wear a face covering," Adams finished.

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Watch Adams' whole appearance below. Kathryn Krawczyk