During a segment on MSNBC, host Mika Brzezinski took the opportunity to muse on live TV as to why Donald Trump continues to refuse to wear a face mask or covering in public, per the recommendations of the WHO and CDC — and the MSNBC anchor seems to think it has a whole lot to do with Trump’s vanity.
As the president was recently gearing up to visit a Ford plant in Michigan, Trump never really committed to wearing a face mask during his time in the facility, despite the fact that the company had made it clear that face coverings are a requirement that the president is not exempt from. And to say the least, the Morning Joe host was quite perplexed.
“I just — what — what is the deal with not wearing a mask?” Brzezinski wondered. “I mean, it is so basic and, I mean — is it an issue with makeup or his appearance? I’m — I’m just confused because it is such a clear guideline to protect others, and also for the president, it would be a chance to really be an example of safe practices.”
Jonathan Lemire, a correspondent for the Associated Press, chimed in with his own theory about political reasons being behind Trump’s refusal to follow the simple rule.
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“Mika, my colleagues and I reported a couple weeks ago, we were first on this, that the president was telling people that he didn’t want to wear a mask in public because he was afraid he would send the wrong image,” Lemire stated. “His focus is the economy, it’s not the health crisis here. He is trying to desperately turn the page on the 90,000-plus death total, the questions about testing, the questions about a vaccine.”
“He’s trying to urge states to move forward, to push governors to fully reopen,” the AP reporter added. “It’s happening slowly, but he believes the economy has to turn around for him to have any chance this November. He thinks wearing a mask would perhaps distract from that. He thinks it shows a sign of weakness, he doesn’t like how he would look in a mask. He’s afraid of a negative campaign ad. He doesn’t want to be there, he doesn’t want the image of him in a mask appearing on television or in a Biden advertisement.”
As we’ve already determined throughout the hydroxychloroquine fiasco, Donald Trump doesn’t give a damn about serving as a positive, safe, healthy role model for Americans.
“He’s never, to be clear, really embraced the idea of a presidency as a role model,” Lemire continued. “He’s never, in terms of trying to set an example for the nation’s children, let’s say, some of his predecessors have really taken that as part of the job responsibility. This president is far more consumed about the day-to-day media battles than trying to set an example for the country, even on something that his own health experts recommend doing wearing a mask.”
It seems pretty clear that the president of this nation cares much more about his outward, physical appearance than he does literal human life.
That’s where we’re at in this country, folks.
You can watch the MSNBC clip here:
Featured image via Wikimedia Commons/Gage Skidmore “, under Creative Commons license 2.0″
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