Trump Dodges Wearing Face Mask On Camera

US president says he "didn't want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it".
Donald Trump holds a mask as he speaks during a tour of the Ford Rawsonville Plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
Donald Trump holds a mask as he speaks during a tour of the Ford Rawsonville Plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI via Getty Images

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Donald Trump opted not to wear a protective face mask in front of the cameras as he toured a Ford plant in Michigan that insists all visitors must wear them.

The US president was surrounded by company executives who were wearing masks after travelling on Thursday to the crucial US election battleground state.

Trump has consistently disregarded guidance from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention urging people to wear masks in close company to try to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Holding a navy blue mask stamped with the presidential seal, Trump told reporters: “I had one on before. I wore one in the back area, but I didn’t want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it. It was very nice. It looked very nice.”

He added that wearing a mask was “not necessary” during the tour because “everyone has been tested”.

The president said earlier this week he is taking a drug not proven for the coronavirus after two White House staffers tested positive in recent weeks.

REPORTER: [Why did you decide] not to wear a mask?

TRUMP: I had one on before. I wore one in this back area. But I didn’t want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it.



REPORTER: What about the example that it would set?

TRUMP: I think it sets an example both ways. pic.twitter.com/XOXBQXFJjR

— JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) May 21, 2020

When asked if Trump was told it was acceptable not to wear a mask in the plant, Ford executive chairman Bill Ford said: “It’s up to him.”

“Honestly I think I look better in a mask,” Trump added.

Trump has urged states to loosen coronavirus-related restrictions so the battered US economy can recover even as public health experts warn that premature relaxation of restrictions could lead to a second wave of infections.

Donald Trump speaks as he tours Ford's Rawsonville Components Plant that has been converted to making personal protection and medical equipment.
Donald Trump speaks as he tours Ford's Rawsonville Components Plant that has been converted to making personal protection and medical equipment.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS

Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, seen as a potential vice presidential running mate for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, is facing a backlash from some critics against her stay-at-home orders in a state hit hard by the last recession. Trump has encouraged anti-lockdown protests against Whitmer held in Michigan’s capital.

Trump won in Michigan in the 2016 election, the first Republican to do since 1988. Trump’s handful of trips out of Washington since the pandemic went into full force have focused on election battleground states such as Arizona and Pennsylvania.

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