US President Donald Trump addresses the daily coronavirus task force briefing as Vice President Mike Pence listens at the White House in Washington, US. (Reuters)

Trump mockingly asked the reporter to remove his mask as he couldn’t hear the questions.
Last Updated: May 27, 2020, 3:27 PM IST

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump mocked a White House correspondent for wearing a mask to a press briefing. Yes, that really happened, even as we’re in the middle of a global pandemic and more than 1 lakh people in the US have died owing to Covid-19.

During the press conference, Trump was taking questions from reporters when a Reuters correspondent, Jeff Mason, asked him about former Vice President Joe Biden’s decision to wear a mask publicly in an event a few days ago. To Mason’s questions, Trump asked mockingly asked him to remove his mask as the he couldn’t hear the questions. Mason retorted that he would rather have it on. At this point, Trump accused Mason of being “politically correct”, referring to Biden wearing a mask.

Trump has repeatedly been criticised for not wearing a mask in public. Just a few days ago, Trump was spotted at a factory tour in Michigan. In public, he refused to wear a mask but in one candid photo, he was seen sporting one. Then why is the US President so against the idea of being seen in public with a mask?

The answer is simple: He doesn’t want the press to see it. For Trump, who believes that every reporter interrogating him is out to undermine him, being photographed with a mask is victory for the press and defeat for him. He said it himself, “I didn’t want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it (mask).”

Why Trump thinks that is something we fail to understand, since the CDC (Centre of Disease Control) has on multiple occasions recommended a mask in places where social distancing is difficult, like press briefings. Or factory tours.

No one knows what exactly Trump’s problem with face masks is. Last month, he had said that he refused to wear a mask, despite CDC warnings, because it would send the “wrong message” and would make him look ridiculous and weak.

Even Twitter couldn’t believe that Trump would mock a reporter for just wearing a mask:

REALITY CHECK: Today, the President of the United States mocked a reporter who refused to remove his face mask, accusing the reporter of being “politically correct.”

President Trump is politicizing doctor-recommended masks, which stop #COVID19’s spread, during said #pandemic. 🇺🇸

— Johnathan S. Perkins⚡️ (@JohnathanPerk) May 27, 2020

Trump just told a reporter to take off the mask so he could hear him better and the reporter refused and Trump said “because you want to be politically correct”

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) May 26, 2020

Wearing a mask is not a political statement. It’s an effort to minimize infection and death. That this even needs to be said reveals how much deadly danger Trump has inflicted on our body politic.

— Steven Beschloss (@StevenBeschloss) May 27, 2020

Trump mocks reporter for being ‘politically correct’ by wearing a face mask outside— if said reporter removed their mask and the started sneezing Impeached President Trump would throw a fit and have them removed then tweet how they tried to infect him https://t.co/kJKoUmjYHY

— Mmiquete (@mmiquete) May 27, 2020


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