President Donald Trump admitted Sunday that Melania would wear a face mask even as he remained reluctant about donning one after the CDC recommended all Americans do so.
The first lady has tweeted the advisory from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention even as the president has said the recommendation is ‘voluntary.’
‘She feels that way,’ President Trump said in response to a question from DailyMail.com.
‘I would wear one. I just generally – would you like me to it wear one right now?,’ he asked. ‘That would be a little awkward I guess, but again, I would wear one if I thought it was important. She likes the idea of wearing it, she does. A lot of people do. Again it’s a recommendation and I understand that recommendation and I’m okay with it.’
Melania Trump has been an active presence on social media, offering advice and ways to cope with the pandemic and the social distancing guidelines it has brought upon Americans, causing a general upheaval of lives.
‘I ask that everyone take social distancing & wearing a mask/face covering seriously. #COVID19 is a virus that can spread to anyone,’ she tweeted on Sunday.
She’s also filmed two public service announcements about combatting the virus.
President Donald Trump admitted Sunday that Melania would wear a face mask even as he remained reluctant to do so
Melania Trump has tweeted the CDC advice about wearing face masks; the first lady has been active on social media during the pandemic, offering tips
President Trump was also asked if his coronavirus task force should wear face masks during the briefings to set an example to the rest of the nation.
‘Well, it was voluntary,’ Trump said. ‘Certainly if they’d want to, I would encourage it. I would have absolutely no problem with that, if they wanted.’
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, said he didn’t wear one at the briefings because face masks stop infected people from transmitted the coronavirus and he has tested negative for it.
‘Why am I not wearing a face masks now? Okay, there are couple reasons. One of them is that part of, in fact the major reason to wear a face mask is to protect you from infecting you. I have my test yesterday. It was negative, Thursday,’ he said.
President Trump praised his words.
‘Very good answer,’ he said.
The CDC on Friday recommended that Americans wear non-medical cloth masks – but Trump emphasized it wasn’t a mandate.
‘So it’s voluntary, you don’t have to be doing it,’ the president said from the briefing room podium. ‘This is voluntary, I don’t think I’m going to be doing it.’
Minutes later, Melania Trump tweeted that Americans should take mask-wearing seriously.
‘As the weekend approaches I ask that everyone take social distancing & wearing a mask/face covering seriously,’ she tweeted from her FLOTUS account. ‘#COVID19 is a virus that can spread to anyone – we can stop this together.’
But the president suggested it might make him look foolish as he communicated with world leaders.
‘I’m feeling good,’ Trump said when asked why he wouldn’t sport face-wear. ‘Somehow sitting in the Oval Office, sitting behind that beautiful Resolute Desk, the great Resolute Desk, I think wearing a face mask as I greet presidents, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens, I don’t know, I just don’t see it for myself,’ Trump said.
For days, top experts, including members of Trump’s coronavirus taskforce said they were debating whether or not to put out a mask recommendation.
President Trump said the CDC would put out a recommendation that Americans wear masks – but said it was voluntary and he would not be doing it
The president urged Americans not to wear medical-grade masks and instead could make masks from fabric at home
Minutes after Trump said he would not personally be wearing a mask, first lady Melania Trump sent out a tweet saying that Americans should take the CDC recommendations seriously
One concern is that Americans not working in the medical field would scoop up masks needed to protect doctors, nurses, first responders and others on the front lines.
For days, Trump suggested that Americans could simply wear scarves to get by.
But on Friday he said the CDC was putting out the new recommendation for masks.
‘From recent studies we know that transmissions from individuals without symptoms is playing a more significant role in the spread of the virus than previously understood, so you don’t seem to have symptoms and it still gets transferred,’ the president explained.
‘In light of these studies the CDC is advising the sue of non-medical cloth face covering as an additional voluntary public health measure,’ he said.
The president suggested cloth or fabric masks that could be ordered online or made at home.
They should also be able to be washed.
‘I want to emphasize that the CDC is not recommending the use of medical grade or surgical grade masks and we want that to be used for our great medical people that are working so hard and doing some job,’ the president said.
Trump also said that mask-wearing did not replace the social distancing guidelines the government already put out, including standing six feet apart and ‘practicing hand hygiene’ as the president put it.
‘Again, we’re all going to come back together here,’ he assured the American people.
But then reiterated he wouldn’t be caught wearing a mask.
‘I’m choosing not to do it,’ the president said.