Trump—Formerly Opposed To Masks—Calls Himself ‘Patriotic’ In Face Cover Photo
Image via Evan El-Amin / Shutterstock.com
Donald Trump finally sent out a tweet advocating that people should start covering their faces to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
His tweet was accompanied by a snap of him, from his visit to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, wearing a black mask with a presidential seal.
“We are united in our effort to defeat the invisible China Virus, and many people say that it is patriotic to wear a face mask when you can’t socially distance,” he tweeted. “There is nobody more patriotic than me, your favorite president.”
The trip to meet the troops marked the first time Trump had allowed himself to be photographed wearing a face mask. Previously on a tour at the Ford Motor Co. plant, he did not allow reporters to capture him after he briefly put the garment on.
His shift to encouraging mask-wearing elicited a lot of responses on Twitter, as many found the “invisible China Virus” term problematic. “He found possibly the worst way to do the bare minimum,” John Iadarola voiced out. “After months of mocking mask use, Trump finds a racist way to change his tune,” Keith Boykin responded.
Chip Franklin tweeted, “You’re 145,000 dead Americans too late,” frustrated at the president who wavered for months about whether people should don face coverings in public.
We are United in our effort to defeat the Invisible China Virus, and many people say that it is Patriotic to wear a face mask when you can’t socially distance. There is nobody more Patriotic than me, your favorite President! pic.twitter.com/iQOd1whktN
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 20, 2020
Stop calling COVID-19 the China Virus and encouraging white supremacists to beat my Asian American brothers and sisters on the streets and to inhumanely bully them in their daily lives. Scapegoating us like this for political clout is beyond unconscionable. We are human beings.
— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) July 20, 2020
He found possibly the worst way to do the bare minimum. https://t.co/ZPmqK6Sdzw
— John Iadarola (@johniadarola) July 20, 2020
After months of mocking mask use and watching Covid cases climb, Trump finds a racist way to change his tune.
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) July 20, 2020
This guy can never admit he was wrong. Did the same thing when he fessed up to his lie about Obama's birth certificate in 2016 and tried to blame Hillary Clinton for it. https://t.co/5ArNBffV8H
You're too late to convince us you care. https://t.co/IEYFAlKUf0
— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) July 20, 2020
There are 329,227,745 Americans more patriotic than you. https://t.co/v3o3rXrSjB
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) July 20, 2020
Jan: "It’s 1 person coming in from China."
— Chip Franklin (@chipfranklin) July 20, 2020
Feb: "it miraculously goes away.”
Mar: “I don’t take responsibility at all.”
Apr: Inject disinfectant
May:“This is going to go away without a vaccine.”
June: "it's dying out"
July: Still no mask
You're 145,000 dead Americans too late. https://t.co/vLQF4hFuh1
Can someone tell him it’s *not* patriotic to scapegoat Asians for his failed pandemic response? https://t.co/1qGDdORDsa
— David E. Ryu (@davideryu) July 20, 2020
And the name of the virus is Coronavirus, not “China Virus,” or any of your other xenophobic names. Just take responsibility for your screw up and apologize to America.
— Mrs. Krassenstein (@HKrassenstein) July 20, 2020
I’m glad Trump is wearing a mask too bad it took him months to do so and the deaths of over 100,000 Americans to admit that masks help stop the spread. #DonaldLiesPeopleDie
— Patricia Arquette (@PattyArquette) July 21, 2020
[via HuffPost, opening image via Evan El-Amin / Shutterstock.com]
