Something as simple as wearing a mask in the middle of a pandemic that has killed almost 100,000 Americans should not be as difficult as the Trump team has made it. President Donald Trump has consistently refused to wear a mask to the point that during a recent visit to a Ford plant in Michigan, he took one off during the middle of his trip because he said he didn’t want to let the press see it, as if this situation is some kind of game to him. During an appearance on Meet the Press this weekend, Trump’s national security adviser Robert O’Brien deflected questions about the president’s behavior and used the opportunity to launch into more ridiculous racism.
Asked by host Chuck Todd if he was “concerned that an example isn’t being set by the president,” O’Brien replied, putting his own mask on display:
‘Chuck, this is my mask that I wear at the office everyday. I’m not wearing it here because the cameraman is six feet away from me and you’re in the studio. So we’re safe — I’ll put it on when we leave, but we wear a mask in the White House, and the president’s wore a mask where necessary. He did so at the Ford plant. But when the president’s out speaking to the American people, or when he’s speaking to — if we meet with him in the Oval Office, our seats are always moved six feet or so away from the Resolute Desk. Then there are times when you don’t need to wear the mask.’
O’Brien did not directly answer the host’s question of whether he was concerned about the president’s behavior.
To be clear, Trump isn’t exactly some kind of competent public health authority — amidst the pandemic, his most wild claims have included the suggestion that household disinfectants should be explored as a potential Coronavirus treatment.
O’Brien continued, devolving into pointless racist antagonism towards China:
‘Mask usage is going to help us get this economy reopened, and we do need to get the country reopened because we can’t get left behind by China or others with respect to our economy.’
Watch below:
WATCH: @robertcobrien says WH staff wear masks & practice social distancing in the Oval Office, while the president wears masks "when necessary." #MTP
"Mask usage is going to help us get this economy reopened. … We can't get left behind by China." pic.twitter.com/dkFhUS7Cur
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) May 24, 2020
Other officials have had markedly different reactions to the president’s belligerence. After Trump visited Michigan and broke state regulation via his refusal to wear a mask in the enclosed setting of the Ford plant, state Attorney General Dana Nessel (D) commented, in reference to mask-wearing:
‘In Michigan, of course, now that is the law. A court just upheld that, upheld the governor’s orders just hours ago, and even in Ford it is their own policy. The president is like a petulant child who refuses to follow the rules. I have to say, this is no joke.’
Trump responded to criticism with Twitter insults. He ranted:
‘The Wacky Do Nothing Attorney General of Michigan, Dana Nessel, is viciously threatening Ford Motor Company for the fact that I inspected a Ventilator plant without a mask. Not their fault, & I did put on a mask. No wonder many auto companies left Michigan, until I came along!’
It’s not a game. Trump did not wear a mask for the entire duration of his Ford visit. This is the nonsense the president keeps belting out amidst a pandemic.
