Donald Trump is standing by his decision not to wear a mask in public, and now the president appears to be mocking Joe Biden for choosing to wear one.
On Monday, Trump retweeted a post from Fox News host Brit Hume. The host’s tweet appeared to take a dig at Biden for wearing a black face covering while attending a Memorial Day service earlier in the day. Hume said that the picture — showing Biden wearing dark sunglasses with his face covering — explains why “Trump doesn’t like to wear a mask” when he is seen in public.
Trump has regularly avoided wearing a mask in public. His decision caused minor controversies during his recent visits to manufacturing facilities that produce medical equipment needed to confront the coronavirus. During an appearance last week at a Ford plant in Michigan — where Trump had been required to wear one — he took his mask off during the public portion of the tour, and later remarked that he didn’t the press to catch him wearing one, per Time .
“I didn’t want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it.”
Trump has repeatedly said that he would not wear a mask in public, contradicting the recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The organization has said that all Americans should wear a mask. The president has generated controversy during his public appearances and meetings by not wearing one, even after members of the White House staff — including some who worked in close proximity to the president — have tested positive for coronavirus. Trump said he is tested frequently, and all results that have come back so far have been negative.
This might help explain why Trump doesn’t like to wear a mask in public. Biden today. pic.twitter.com/9l1gw1ljBE
— Brit Hume (@brithume) May 25, 2020
Both Hume and Trump have received criticism for the tweet. Critics have described it as a pointless dig at Biden’s appearance while Americans are wearing masks in order to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Others found it classless to take aim at Biden for his appearance, as Memorial Day is very personal for the former vice president. The presumptive Democratic nominee’s oldest son, Beau, was a U.S. Army veteran. In 2015, Beau died of brain cancer at the age of 46.
In his appearance on Monday, Biden laid a wreath at the Delaware Memorial Bridge Veteran’s Memorial Park. The former vice president later spoke to CNN , saying that all Americans should be honoring the sacrifices of service members who lost their lives.
“Never forget the sacrifices that these men and women made. Never, ever, forget.”