President Trump is worried that wearing a mask in public could jeopardize his chances of reelection.
He was never seen with one. On Tuesday, he visited the Honeywell factory in Arizona, which manufactures N95 masks, but didn’t wear one, despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations. According to some sources, he repeatedly “suggested they were impractical, pointless and beneath the dignity of the leader of the free world.” He is worried that a picture of himself wearing a mask could be used in attack ads against him.
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This behavior drew a lot of criticism. “At the very least, it confuses people,” said Dr. K. “Vish” Viswanath, a professor of health communication at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “At the very worst, it might even cause them to question if these rules apply to them or if the message is really that critical.”
This is not the first time Trump failed to adhere to CDC’s guidance on coronavirus prevention. He also refuses to stop shaking hands, as he believes that a politician has to shake hands with people.