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Resistance to masks began with Mr. Trump, who, as the C.D.C. urged Americans to wear face coverings, stressed that the measure was voluntary, and said, “I don’t think I’m going to be doing it.”

The president has continued to resist wearing a mask and views it as a “personal choice,” his spokeswoman said on Monday, a stance that has led many of his supporters to refuse to wear one, even in cities and businesses where they are required. Mr. Trump has repeatedly downplayed the severity and danger of the virus, and some of his supporters have responded with similar doubts. On Wednesday, Mr. Trump seemed to change his position amid the shifting public messages from Republicans. “I’m all for masks. I think masks are good,” he told Fox Business in an interview.

“The problem there is that the issue has become a political issue and people have lost sight of the fact that the enemy is the virus,” said Dr. David Persse, the health authority at the Houston Health Department. “People have decided that the enemy is some sort of a political agenda.”

Initially, many Republicans had followed Mr. Trump’s lead. But the recent chorus of encouragement on mask-wearing has come from all directions: on the Senate floor and on social media, from Republicans who are no longer in office and from those whose states are experiencing an alarming uptick in coronavirus cases.

On Monday, Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia posted a selfie wearing a mask decorated with the University of Georgia’s bulldog mascot. “Wear your mask, Georgia — and go Dawgs!” he wrote.

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who regularly wears a mask in public, said in Washington this week that there must be “no stigma” about wearing masks. “Wearing simple face coverings is not about protecting ourselves, it is about protecting everyone we encounter,” he said.