Donald Trump defied requests from company executives and was called a “petulant child” by a state attorney general when he refused to wear a face mask during a visit to Michigan, a battleground state where he has repeatedly clashed with the Democratic governor, and on Thursday used a speech to urge American churches to reopen amid the pandemic.
Trump toured a plant belonging to the Ford car company, in Ypsilanti, Michigan, which has been recast to produce ventilators and personal protective equipment to use in the coronavirus crisis.
Surrounded by Ford executives who were wearing masks, Trump told reporters he had put one on earlier, out of the view of cameras.
“I had one on before. I wore one in the back area. I didn’t want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it,” Trump said.
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When asked if Trump was told it was acceptable not to wear a mask in the plant, the Ford executive chairman, Bill Ford, said, “It’s up to him.” The company had indicated before the visit that the president should wear a mask at the factory.
And the Michigan state attorney general, Dana Nessel, had written to the White House saying it was the law in Michigan that everyone should wear a mask in such a setting – an indoor venue with many people in attendance.
“The president is like a petulant child who refuses to follow the rules. This is not a joke,” she told CNN, adding that Trump’s behavior was “extremely disappointing” and that thousands of people in Michigan have died from coronavirus.
Source: Donald Trump goes without mask at Michigan Ford plant despite company request
