After weeks of refusing to wear a face mask despite CDC recommendations, Donald Trump donned one at Ford plant in Michigan. But he only did it backstage and not in front of reporters or news cameras.
He finally did it! For a brief period on May 21, Donald Trump at last wore a face mask. The president, 73, has been adamant about not wearing any type of facial protection in public throughout the coronavirus crisis, despite the CDC’s strong recommendation to do so. During a tour of the Ford Motor plant in Ypsilanti, MI, where workers are helping manufacture ventilators for the COVID-19 battle, Trump put on a face mask while talking backstage to Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. The photo showing a masked Trump alongside the exec and several others wearing face protection was reportedly snapped by a Ford employee behind the scenes.
Trump wore the navy colored mask with what appeared to be a presidential seal on the left side during a private tour of the facility, where masks are required at all times. But he flouted that rule as soon as he got in front of the media pool, taking it off so that he was not wearing a mask while talking to reporters. He thus openly broke Ford’s Return to Work Manufacturing Playbook rule that states: “Everyone is required to wear a Ford-provided face mask at all times upon entering the building” to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
MI State Attorney Genera Dana Nessel — a Democrat — absolutely unloaded on Trump’s childish refusal to wear a mask at all times when visiting the plant. During an appearance on CNN’s The Situation Room, she told host Wolf Blitzer that Trump is “A petulant child who refuses to follow the rules and this is no joke. 93,000 people have died in the United States. He’s in a county right now where over 100 people have died. This is not a joke. He’s conveying the worst possible message to people who cannot afford to be on the receiving end of terrible misinformation.”
OMG! He actually wore one. See, it didn’t hurt that much. Does it have the Presidential seal on it?
— Jackie Speier (@RepSpeier) May 21, 2020
Please do not retweet this as many times as you can ok😜😷
— Just Paul (@BentlyChansler) May 21, 2020
“This is not a joke… He’s conveying the worst possible message to people who cannot afford to be on the receiving end of terrible misinformation.”
Michigan AG Dana Nessel reacts to Pres. Trump’s refusal to wear a face mask in front of cameras during a tour of a Ford factory.
— CNN (@CNN) May 22, 2020
When Blitzer told Nessel that the explanation Trump gave reporters as to why he took off the mask for his appearance in front of them was along the lines of he “didn’t want to give” the media the “pleasure” of getting the image, Nessel was furious. “I am ashamed to have him be President of the United States of America. And I hope that the voters of Michigan will remember this when November comes, that he didn’t care enough about their safety, he didn’t care about their welfare, he didn’t respect them enough just to engage in the very simple task, the painless task, the easy task of wearing a mask when he was provided one,” she vented. “And so I hope that we’ll have a new president soon enough who does respect people more than this president does.”
Trump announced on Apr. 3 that CDC had recommended that all Americans wear some type of mask or facial covering to help stop the spread of COVID-19. But like an angry child he stressed that it was a “voluntary” decision for citizens and that he would not be wearing one himself. Trump has since refused to wear one when he toured an actual face mask factory in Arizona on May 5, where wearing masks was required of everyone inside the facility. Trump also went mask-free on May 14 during a visit to a medical equipment distribution company in Allentown, PA. The photo of Trump wearing a mask backstage at the Ford plant today is the first time he’s been pictured with one on since the COVID-19 outbreak began.
