Trump goes without mask at Michigan Ford plant
despite company request
State attorney general called president a ‘petulant
child’ for refusing to wear a mask at the plant
Joanna
Walters in New York
@Joannawalters13
Fri 22 May
2020 00.36 BSTLast modified on Fri 22 May 2020 01.45 BST
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.
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 prior to 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.
The US
death toll on Thursday surpassed 94,000 and there are more than 1.5m confirmed
cases of Covid-19 in the nation.
Trump said
he tested negative for Covid-19 on Thursday morning, but within the last week
two senior White House aides have tested positive, and the president has been
taking the drug hydroxychloroquine as a prophylactic.
This
despite it being not proven for treating the coronavirus and garnering stern
warnings from federal regulators and the World Health Organization that it
should not be taken for coronavirus outside clinical trials.
Earlier in
the visit to the state, Trump held a roundtable discussion with
African-American leaders concerning vulnerable populations disproportionately
hit by the virus.
Trump has
consistently disregarded guidance from the top federal public health experts,
both urging people to wear masks in close company and urging states not to rush
to reopen while the coronavirus is not under control in the US.
But the
president continued his pressure for states to reopen for business nonetheless
and on Thursday, at the discussion with African-American leaders, urged the
swift reopening of churches for in-person religious services.
He appeared
to put pressure on the leading federal agency the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) when he told the roundtable: “We are opening our churches
again. I think the CDC is going to put something out very soon, spoke to them
today. I think they are going to put something out very soon. We got to open
our churches.”
But he
later acknowledged that if he held political rallies again soon they would be
outdoors.
Governor
Gretchen Whitmer, who has clashed in recent weeks with Trump over statewide
social restrictions to limit coronavirus, and moves towards mail-in voting
during the pandemic, prevailed Thursday in a high-stakes challenge from
Republican lawmakers over her stay-at-home orders.
She was
sued by the Republican controlled state legislature who disputed the extent of
her authority to declare emergencies in Michigan, such as the coronavirus
crisis, and mandate the reach and duration of restrictions as a result. The
legislature will now appeal, although Whitmer is now moving to gradual
reopening.
Early
Wednesday parts of central Michigan were hit by devastating flooding after two
dams burst, after many years of warnings, following record rains.
And Trump
on Wednesday threatened to withhold federal funding from Michigan over its plan
for expanded mail-in voting, spuriously claiming that the practice could lead
to voter fraud – though he later appeared to back off the threat.
Trump won
Michigan in the 2016 election, the first Republican to do since 1988.
Reuters and
the Associated Press contributed reporting.
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