July 20, 2020
The Hill – President Trump on Monday tweeted for the first time a photograph of himself wearing a mask and described the practice as a patriotic act amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“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,” Trump tweeted Monday afternoon, referring to the coronavirus, which the president regularly points out originated in Wuhan, China.
“There is nobody more Patriotic than me, your favorite President!” he added.
The tweet represented perhaps Trump’s most explicit endorsement of the use of masks yet and marks a shift for the president from earlier during the pandemic.
Trump for months resisted wearing a mask in public before donning one during a trip to Walter Reed less than two weeks ago.
The picture tweeted by the president on Monday was taken during that trip and shows Trump wearing a mask decorated with a presidential seal.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in April recommended Americans wear a face covering in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
But the debate over wearing a mask and whether governments should mandate that Americans do so has been marred by partisanship.
That’s begun to change in recent weeks, however.
While some Republicans have continued to refuse to wear masks, others have appeared in public wearing face coverings and urge others to do the same, including first lady Melania Trump and Vice President Pence … Read more.