President Donald Trump and his aides on Tuesday failed to wear face masks during a tour of a Honeywell factory in Arizona that makes masks, drawing scorn on Twitter.
Trump instead opted to wear protective eyeglasses:
Honeywell employees, meanwhile, were pictured wearing masks and socially distancing by sitting apart while waiting for Trump to speak:
CNN’s Jim Acosta noted a sign in the facility stated that face masks were required to be worn in the area that Trump visited:
Trump earlier told reporters that he would wear a mask during the tour if it was required.
Inevitably, Trump and his aides were mocked and scorned on social media.
The music that was played over the plant’s sound system during the president’s visit also raised eyebrows.
On its website, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends “wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain” to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
First lady Melania Trump has also repeatedly urged people to wear masks in public.
The president himself, however, has previously said he can’t see himself wearing a mask.
Vice President Mike Pence last week bucked Mayo Clinic rules when he decided not to wear a mask during a visit to its campus in Minnesota.
He admitted his mistake on Sunday. “I didn’t think it was necessary, but I should have worn a mask,” Pence said during a Fox News virtual town hall.
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