Live and on camera, Don with a mask!
Who is that masked president?
President Trump finally donned a mask for the cameras during a visit Saturday to wounded soldiers and coronavirus first responders at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
Trump was captured by television cameras wearing a dark blue mask with a presidential seal. He was flanked by other mask-wearing officials as he walked down a hospital corridor.
It’s the first time Trump has been photographed in public with a mask, said The Associated Press.
Trump was photographed wearing a mask during a private tour at a Ford plant in in Michigan in May. That picture, leaked to the media and posted online, was taken out of view of news reporters and photographers.
“I’ve never been against masks, but I do believe they have a time and a place,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Saturday before the brief helicopter trip to Walter Reed. Trump has repeatedly refused to wear a mask even as coronavirus has killed more than 130,000 Americans.
He has regularly addressed large political rallies without covering his face.
Just before Saturday’s visit to Walter Reed, Trump pointedly explained that the only reason he was wearing the mask is because he’d be interacting with wounded soldiers, not to set a good example to the nation.
“Especially in that particular setting, where you’re talking to a lot of soldiers and people that, in some cases, just got off the operating tables, I think it’s a great thing to wear a mask,” Trump said.
CNN reported that White House aides spent several days working to persuade Trump to take the commonsense step.