Trump is an ‘absolute fool’ for not wearing a mask, says Biden
US virus toll exceeds 100,000: more than Vietnam and Korea wars combined
DONALD TRUMP has called a reporter who insisted on wearing a face mask while asking a question “politically correct” as his clash with Joe Biden over whether to wear one escalated.
The US president denied he was mocking Mr Biden, the probable Democratic presidential nominee, for wearing a mask at a recent memorial event after sharing a photo of him doing so on Twitter.
Mr Biden also pushed back against Mr Trump, who has been reluctant to wear a mask in public, calling the president an “absolute fool” for failing to do so.
The stand-off played out as the US surpassed a jarring milestone yesterday in the coronavirus pandemic: 100,000 deaths.
That number is a best estimate and most assuredly an undercount. But it represents the stark reality that more Americans have now died from the virus than from the Vietnam and Korea wars combined.
At the same time, a new poll found that only half of Americans say they will definitely take a coronavirus vaccine if it is developed.
In April the Trump administration changed its guidance and told Americans to wear masks in public to stop the spread of Covid-19, having previously indicated they were not effective. However, Mr Trump, despite at times saying he would be willing to wear a mask, has continued not to do so at press conferences and recent out-of-state visits.
On Monday’s Memorial Day, a US bank holiday to remember soldiers, Mr Trump and his wife Melania did not wear masks at public events but Mr
Biden and his wife Jill did.
Last night, Mr Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner, who are both special advisers to the president, appeared at Cape Canaveral in Florida wearing
masks. Their daughter also wore a mask.
On Tuesday, Mr Trump was challenged about a tweet he shared written by a Fox News analyst showing Mr Biden in a mask with the words “this might help explain why Trump doesn’t like to wear a mask in public”.
Mr Trump responded: “Joe Biden can wear a mask, but he was standing outside with his wife, perfect conditions, perfect weather... And so I thought it was very unusual that he had one on. But I thought that was fine. I wasn’t criticising at all. Why would I ever do a thing like that?”
During the same press conference, Mr Trump requested a journalist asking a question through a face mask to remove it, apparently struggling to hear what was being said.
When the reporter declined to do so and began to repeat the question louder, Mr Trump said: “Oh OK, you want to be politically correct.”
Mr Biden was critical of Mr Trump’s apparent reluctance to be seen with a mask in public.
“He’s a fool, an absolute fool to talk that way,” the Democratic front-runner said.
“Presidents are supposed to lead, not engage in folly and be falsely masculine.”