Washington: Just 72 hours before testing positive, US President Donald Trump had mocked his Democratic rival, Joe Biden for wearing a mask.
“I don’t wear mask like him. Every time you see he has got a mask. You could be speaking 200 feet away from me and he shows up with the biggest mask I have ever seen,” said Trump about Biden during a Presidential debate on September 29.
FOLKS—the wise guy mocking Joe Biden at Tuesday’s debate for wearing a mask… TESTS POSITIVE FOR #COVID19.
Karma is real. Believe it. pic.twitter.com/nlxDbbmmo1
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) October 2, 2020
Trump was known to not wear a mask in public places. During a visit to a Ford Motor plant in Michigan in May, he refused to wear a mask to which Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said that Trump is a “petulant child” and was sending the “worst possible message”.
“I still like playing it down because I don’t want to create a panic,” the President had later softened his stand on masks.
Most of his recent airport rallies and campaigns were reportedly without masks.
Trump has jibbed at Biden in Cleveland. “Every time you see him, he’s got a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away from them, and he shows up with the biggest mask I’ve ever seen,” Trump said.
When questioned by moderator Chris Wallace, he explained that he wears a mask “when needed” and stated that even Dr Anthony S Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, had initially advised, “masks are not good” and “changed his mind” later.
The COVID-19 pandemic has infected nearly 7.3 million people and killed more than 2 lakh in the US.
Trump has been accused of leading supporters to go mask-free. “If the president had done his job from the beginning, all the people would still be alive,” Biden said at the event broadcast by CNN.
“The idea that you’re going to not tell people what you’ve been told, that this virus is incredibly contagious, seven times more contagious than the flu … He knew it and did nothing is close to criminal,” Biden said.
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