Trump says he’s ‘felt no vulnerability’ during White House coronavirus outbreak – but ordered everyone to wear masks
PRESIDENT Donald Trump said that he required everyone in the White House to wear a face mask.
The president made the comment during his coronavirus briefing on Monday in the Rose Gardens.
When asked by a reporter if he required that everyone who enters the White House wears a face mask, Trump replied “I required it.”
The president said that executives, staffers and representatives have been wearing masks.
During the press conference, Trump was one of the only people in the Rose Garden without a mouth covering.
Last week, the coronavirus began to break out in the White House as two aides tested positive for the disease.
However, the outbreak is apparently far worse than the public is being told and Trump is “spooked” by the spread, it was reported on Sunday.
With reports a high ranking official may have contracted the virus, a memo has been sent ordering officials to wear a mask or face covering inside the building, and only visit the West Wing if they “absolutely need to.”
According to the Washington Post, the memo said staff should only remove their mask when at their own desk.
Members of the president’s COVID-19 task force, including Dr Anthony Fauci, are currently quarantining after coming into contact with an infected White House aide.
CDC director Dr Robert Redfield and FDA Commissioner Dr Stephen Hahn are also in quarantine.
An isolated Trump is said to be “spooked” that the virus has made it to the White House after Mike Pence‘s press secretary Katie Miller was diagnosed, reports The Guardian.
On Thursday, Trump told advisers that he believes wearing a mask would “send the wrong message,” one administration and two campaign officials told the Associated Press.
The president said that wearing a mask would make it seem like he is preoccupied with health instead of focused on reopening the nation’s economy — which his aides believe is the key to his reelection chances in November, according to the report.
However, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested the president refuses to wear PPE because he dislikes the way it looks.
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“The President, it’s a vanity thing, I guess, with him,” Pelosi said during an interview with MSNBC.
“I don’t know why he would be vain, but anyways, it’s a vanity thing.
“You would think as the President of the United States you would have the confidence to honor the guidance that you are giving others in the country.”