President Donald Trump made a rare public appearance donning a mask on Saturday.
The president wore the mask while visiting wounded service members and COVID-19 health care providers at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. As he left the White House, Trump told reporters: “When you’re in a hospital, especially … I think it’s expected to wear a mask,” according to the Associated Press.
People on Twitter took the opportunity to poke fun of comments the president made earlier this month when he said he thought he looked like The Lone Ranger while wearing a mask. Some joked that he wasn’t wearing it properly, then, considering The Lone Ranger wears it over his eyes, not his mouth and nose.
“I sort of liked the way it looked,” Trump said. “It was a dark black mask, and I thought it looked OK. It looked like the Lone Ranger.”
For the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began, President Trump has been seen by the White House press corps wearing a mask. Today, he's sporting the face covering while visiting wounded troops at Walter Reed Medical Center. pic.twitter.com/shJXuzYhis
— Jason Hoffman (@JasonHoffman93) July 11, 2020
The idea of wearing a mask in public places, which some states require and the CDC strongly recommends, has become a politically polarizing debate in the U.S. despite experts saying it significantly reduces the risk of spreading the virus.
Trump has been regularly criticized for forgoing a mask in public and has been seen in close proximity to others without a mask on multiple occasions. At press conferences about the pandemic and its effects and during a tour of a factory repurposed to produce ventilators for people infected by the virus, the president was spotted with no facial covering. Ahead of the May factory tour, the Michigan attorney general even wrote an open letter imploring him to wear a mask out of “legal responsibility.”
The president said he did wear a mask during part of that visit to the Michigan plant, but for the most part has declined to wear one during news conferences, coronavirus task force updates, rallies and other public events.
This picture should be in the dictionary next to the word failure pic.twitter.com/UXZ7JmGqVH
— Sarah Cooper (@sarahcpr) July 11, 2020
#BREAKING: President Trump visits Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He is wearing a mask. pic.twitter.com/uZOzM4Lpvs
— The Hill (@thehill) July 11, 2020
I happen to think Trump looks super hot, rich, smart, and virile in his mask. Guy definitely has a giant wang.
(Perhaps if we give some positive reenforcement, he’ll keep wearing it, set a positive example, and save some lives.)
How awesome does he look to you?#MaskedTrump pic.twitter.com/qPFUBwumdB
— Jon Hurwitz (@jonhurwitz) July 11, 2020