Trump eschews mask while greeting Dade mayor
President Donald Trump stepped off Air Force One on Friday in Miami without a mask into one of the worst coronavirus hot spots in the country.
The president, who flew into Miami-Dade County to visit the U.S. Southern Command and hold a Venezuela roundtable at a church in Doral, was exempted from a MiamiDade County mask-wearing mandate thanks to carve-outs in the emergency order for churches and properties under federal jurisdiction. At Miami International Airport, where the order does apply to the general public, Trump did not have to don a facial covering since he was expected to head directly from the plane into the presidential limo on the runway, according to an airport spokesman.
But Trump didn’t head straight to the limo.
When he arrived at 12:15 p.m., Trump walked down the plane’s stairs and spoke briefly with MiamiDade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, who is running for Congress with Trump’s endorsement and imposed the mask-wearing rule as COVID-19 cases have soared. Gimenez appeared to lather his hands with sanitizer before Trump emerged from the plane, but the two did not shake hands, opting instead for an acknowledgment that was halfway between a nod and a bow.
Trump, who was followed down the stairs by a half-dozen other people, none of whom wore a mask, also spoke with County Commissioner
Jose “Pepe” Diaz and County Commissioner Esteban “Steve” Bovo, who is running for Gimenez’s mayoral seat. Gimenez, Diaz and Bovo — all Republicans — were initially wearing masks and did not shake hands with the president, though Bovo later took off his mask to speak with Trump shortly before the president departed. They were also joined by Doral Mayor
Juan Carlos Bermudez.
After leaving the airport, Trump visited the U.S. Southern Command, a facility that, according to the Miami-Dade County Attorney’s Office, is not covered by the county’s mask mandate because it falls under federal jurisdiction. From there, he visited the Iglesia Doral Jesus Worship Center, which also isn’t under Miami-Dade’s mask mandate because the rule does not apply to places of worship.
From the church, Trump made an unannounced stop at his own resort, the Trump National Doral Miami. Reporters following the president said he spent about 10 minutes in the resort clubhouse. It’s unknown if he wore a mask.
Convincing the public to wear masks has been central to Gimenez’s strategy in fighting the coronavirus pandemic in the epicenter of Florida’s outbreak. He expanded an emergency order requiring facial coverings last month after cases began spiking and sick people began filling intensive care unit hospital beds, and has gone as far as urging people to call 205-4-POLICE when they see others not following the rule.
In interviews last week before Trump’s visit was announced, Gimenez said he expected the president to wear a mask if he came to Miami-Dade County.
“I believe the president, like every other leader, should follow what the rules are of the locality,” Gimenez said on July 2. “And so depending on the locality, if he comes to Miami-Dade, I would expect that he would be wearing a mask because that’s our rules down here.”
“As the leader of MiamiDade, I’ll be wearing a mask. You’ll see me wearing a mask all the time. You have always seen me wear the mask when it’s appropriate. The message is this, you have to assume everybody has the virus. That’s why we’re asking you to wear a mask. Wearing a mask is actually a symbol of respect, the respect I have for you and that you have for me, because this mask actually protects you from me and that mask protects me from you.”
Gimenez waved off a Miami Herald reporter who tried to interview him while he sat in his SUV following the president’s departure from the airport. Later, in a text message, he said the president is tested before events, and everyone who met him at the plane had been tested as well, with results coming back negative.
“The president kept social distancing from our group as he exited the plane,” Gimenez wrote. “It’s apparent the White House requires extraordinary measures.”
Diaz, in a brief interview off the runway, said that “we all got tested before we got close to the president. We all got tested right before. It came out negative. And that’s the only reason we’re even there.”
Diaz said the entourage that greeted Trump on the runway wore masks “out of respect.”
Miami Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, who traveled with the president on Air Force One, did not wear a mask when he exited the plane shortly after the president. DiazBalart was the first member of Congress to test positive for COVID-19 in March, though he has since recovered, and tweeted Friday that he again tested negative.
Florida’s Department of Health on Friday confirmed 11,433 new cases of COVID-19, making it the second highest single-day total recorded since the pandemic began in March. Miami-Dade County reported 2,380 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19
and 26 new deaths. The county now has had 58,341 confirmed cases and 1,118 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, the highest in the state.
Mask wearing has become a divisive issue for Florida Republicans. Gimenez and Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, whose city will host the GOP convention next month, have mandated masks in their communities. In late June, Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said “everyone should wear a damn mask” while fellow Sen. Rick Scott railed against mask-wearing mandates in a Fox News interview last week.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was not present for Trump’s visit, said on June 27 that penalizing people for wearing masks “is something that would probably backfire.”
Trump, who last visited Miami in January, has so far resisted wearing masks during public appearances. He indicated on Thursday that could change on Saturday, when he visits Walter Reed Medical Center in Maryland.
“I’m going to Walter Reed to see some of our great soldiers who have been injured. Badly injured. And also see some of our COVID workers, people who have such a great job,” Trump said in a Fox News interview. “And I expect to be wearing a mask when I go into Walter Reed. You’re in a hospital so I think it’s a very appropriate thing.”