U.S. President Donald Trump toured a Honeywell factory in Phoenix, Arizona, which makes N95 face masks for healthcare workers, however, instead of wearing a mask, he only wore goggles.
This was Trump’s first major trip out of the White House in almost two months, as the coronavirus has suspended both non-essential travel and mass gatherings like campaign rallies.
Signs around the factory stated that wearing masks are required, according to reporters present for Trump’s tour.
Honeywell officials told the U.S. President’s aides that they weren’t required to wear masks, according to a White House official, CNN later reported.
In April, Trump said during a coronavirus press briefing that he would not wear a face mask, despite Centres for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recommendations for the public to wear some sort of cloth mask or face-covering.
According to Bloomberg, the U.S. president has been hesitant to wear a face mask since the start of the coronavirus outbreak as he repeatedly “suggested they were impractical, pointless, and beneath the dignity of the leader of the free world.”
Bloomberg added that Trump’s refusal to wear a face mask has spark a confusion.
“At the very least, it confuses people,” K. “Vish” Viswanath, a professor of health communication at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, told Bloomberg.
“At the very worst, it might even cause them to question if these rules apply to them or if the message is really that critical.” Viswanath added.
