New Delhi: For the first time since the coronavirus pandemic broke out in the US, President Donald Trump was seen in public sporting a mask as he visited a military medical facility Saturday.
Trump was spotted wearing a navy blue mask with the presidential seal on his visit to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre where he met injured soldiers and health workers.
In the past, Trump has refused to wear a mask in public or ask other Americans to wear one, stating that it was a “personal choice“.
However, before his visit to the hospital Saturday, he advocated wearing a mask to hospitals.
“I think when you are in a hospital, especially in that particular setting when you are talking to a lot of soldiers, people that in some cases just got off the operating table, I think it’s a great thing to wear a mask,” Trump said Saturday.
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Republicans rally around Trump’s mask
Moments after Trump’s appearance, photographs of the President went viral on social media.
Republicans took to Twitter to hail his new look.
truly incredible. pic.twitter.com/zyNoimdvTl
— Jesse Lehrich (@JesseLehrich) July 11, 2020
Republican political strategists and advisors such as Brad Parscale, Boris Epshteyn, Jason Miller, Erin Perrine, Jenna Ellis also lauded the President.
Post a picture of @realDonaldTrump rocking his badass mask from today. Leftist twits will immediately toss aside their soy milk and free range salmon and start attacking on Twitter! https://t.co/I7hnHiClWG
— Jason Miller (@JasonMillerinDC) July 12, 2020
President @realDonaldTrump is showing what true leadership looks like.
The American people support him and his leadership ??https://t.co/qarWEuWq0E
— Erin Perrine (@ErinMPerrine) April 9, 2020
However, Democrats hit out at the president for donning the mask only for a photo-op.
Does the Trump campaign see the president's visit to Walter Reed solely as a photo op to highlight the one time he decided to wear a face mask in public? https://t.co/GIYxD3mG9Q
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) July 12, 2020
“Rather than taking responsibility and leading, he wasted four months that Americans have been making sacrifices by stoking divisions and actively discouraging people from taking a very basic step to protect each other,” said Democrats spokesperson Andrew Bates to Reuters.
Trump’s refusal to advocate masks in the past has contradicted top health officials in the country who recommend their use to prevent spread of the infection.
He has also controversially urged states to reopen even as cases continue to surge in the country.
Amid his re-election campaign, Trump’s critics have also claimed that he has politicised the use of masks and the country’s worst health crisis. Earlier, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said Trump was the worst leader to lead America through this crisis.
As of Saturday, US saw a record 66,528 cases in 24 hours, taking total infections in the worst-hit country to over 30 lakh with 1,34,729 deaths.
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