It’s been more than four months since the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S. and President Donald Trump is finally advocating that Americans wear face masks.
Trump’s handlers praised him profusely after he donned a face mask on July 11 while touring Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. On Monday, the president tweeted a photo of himself wearing a face mask.
The accompanying tweet was an odd mix of sensible medical advice (wear a mask) and xenophobic dog whistle (referring to the coronavirus as “the Invisible Chinese Virus”).
Oh, and he referred to himself as “your favorite President”:
“We are United in our effort to defeat the Invisible China Virus, and many people say that it is Patriotic to wear a face mask when you can’t socially distance. There is nobody more Patriotic than me, your favorite President!”
We are United in our effort to defeat the Invisible China Virus, and many people say that it is Patriotic to wear a face mask when you can’t socially distance. There is nobody more Patriotic than me, your favorite President! pic.twitter.com/iQOd1whktN
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 20, 2020
Not surprisingly, many Twitter users couldn’t mask their contempt for the president’s statement, which came months after it might have been helpful.
After months of mocking mask use and watching Covid cases climb, Trump finds a racist way to change his tune.
This guy can never admit he was wrong. Did the same thing when he fessed up to his lie about Obama’s birth certificate in 2016 and tried to blame Hillary Clinton for it. https://t.co/5ArNBffV8H
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) July 20, 2020
Backtracks on his own anti-mask stubbornness far too late and manages to dog whistle at the same time. This man has blood on his tiny hands and his lack of compassion is nightmarish. We can’t wait to see the back of you. https://t.co/fw3HdWCNVL
— Christopher Johnson (twitch.tv/OfficialCDJ) (@OfficialCDJ) July 20, 2020
It took you three months. And how many cases have there been since then? How many deaths? Take the word patriot out of your mouth. https://t.co/ZJoSwzn2wX
— Aaron Vallely (@Vallmeister) July 20, 2020
Jan: “It’s 1 person coming in from China.”
Feb: “it miraculously goes away.”
Mar: “I don’t take responsibility at all.”
Apr: Inject disinfectant
May:“This is going to go away without a vaccine.”
June: “it’s dying out”
July: Still no maskYou’re 145,000 dead Americans too late. https://t.co/vLQF4hFuh1
— Chip Franklin (@chipfranklin) July 20, 2020
Put aside the ridiculous politics and hypocrisy of this, and just focus for a moment on the words. “Many people say”. “Your favorite President”. Which other adult do you know who speaks like this? How are Trump voters okay with blindly following (worshipping?) this man-child?? https://t.co/Dvmp5L3dmp
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) July 20, 2020
