Trump says wearing mask ‘patriotic’ in tweet showing his face covered

China Plus Published: 2020-07-21 09:58:34

US President Donald Trump, who for months refused to encourage mask wearing as a way to combat the coronavirus, on Monday tweeted a picture of himself with his face covered and touted his patriotism.

“Many people say that it is Patriotic to wear a face mask when you can’t socially distance,” Trump wrote.

“There is nobody more Patriotic than me, your favorite President!”

In this file photo taken on July 11, 2020 US President Donald Trump wears a mask as he visits Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. US President Donald Trump, who for months refused to encourage mask wearing as a way to combat the coronavirus, on July 20, 2020 tweeted a picture of himself with his face covered and touted his patriotism. [File photo: AFP]

The accompanying picture, in black and white, showed Trump wearing a dark mask with the presidential seal.

The stylish photo and exhortation for Americans to unite around masks was a far cry from Trump’s longtime mocking of masks as symbols of weakness during a pandemic that he has repeatedly suggested is overblown.

However, his tweet stopped well short of endorsing calls from some for a nationwide mandate to wear masks in public.

The nation’s top medical authorities — backed by several leading Republican figures — say that mask wearing is crucial to halting the disease.

Amid a fierce resurgence of the virus in southern and western states — including some that are Republican strongholds — Trump has come under new pressure to change his tune.

He only wore a mask in public for the first time on July 11.

By contrast, his Democratic challenger in the November presidential election, Joe Biden, has worn a mask in public for months.

(Story includes material sourced from AFP.)