Trump refuses to wear face mask whilst visiting Michigan

Despite encouragement from Ford officials to wear a face mask, Trump refused to wear a mask on his visit to Ford in Michigan. Trump was visiting Ford to view new ventilators, after nationwide outrage at the shortage of ventilators to treat COVD-19 patients.

It was later revealed by the Ford company, however, that Trump “wore a mask during a private viewing of three Ford GTs from over the years…the President later removed the mask for the remainder of the visit.”

Away from cameras, Trump was apparently wearing a navy blue face mask stamped with the presidential seal.

Trump claimed he refused to wear a face mask because he “didn’t want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it”. Trump joked “I look better in the mask, but I’m making a speech.” Many people found this attempt at humor unsettling, considering the nature of the visit.

Many people have found this act of defiance particularly significant, considering it was revealed a few days ago that researchers believe tens of thousands of American lives could have been saved if Trump had introduced social distancing measures a week earlier than they were announced. In fact, new research suggests that as many as 36,000 lives could have been saved if Trump had announced the stay-at-home orders a week earlier.

Sources:

USA Today

CNN