This is what makes the mask situation so illustrative. You have the same guy who is deemed the ultimate authority saying two opposing things, so one of them must have been deliberate misinformation to harm people under these rules. You can't get on TV and say "masks are useless" and the next minute, in the face of no new data, get on TV and say "masks are the law" and somehow walk away with intention preserved and reputation intact.

None of this finicky language is ever going to amount to anything, frankly. The powers that be ultimately control what is broadcast to the masses, even if those powers change their minds.