Donald Trump Ignores Mandatory Mask Policy During Miami Visit

Over the past several months during the coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump has expressed some interesting opinions concerning the topic of wearing a mask while out in public. On Friday, Trump traveled to South Florida to attend several events in the area, per PEOPLE. However, he did so without wearing a mask, even though those in the area are required to do so thanks to a local mandate.

Trump visited Miami-Dade County on Friday to visit the U.S. Southern Command, attend a Venezuela roundtable and to attend a fundraiser. Shortly after he touched down in Air Force One, the president was spotted leaving the aircraft without wearing a mask. He was scheduled to go to a church straight from the plane. It should be noted that both religious institutions and facilities that are under federal jurisdiction are exempt from the mask rule. This means that Trump did not have to wear a mask at either the church or airport even though it has been locally mandated that citizens in Miami-Dade Country have to wear a mask while out in public.

Before the president’s visit, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez shared that he believes that Trump should wear a mask if he were to visit Miami-Dade County. “I believe the president like every other leader should follow what the rules are of the locality,” he told reporters, per local10.com. Gimenez continued, “And so depending on the locality, if he comes to Miami-Dade I would expect that he would be wearing a mask, because that’s our rules down here. So, as the leader of Miami-Dade I’ll be wearing a mask. You’ll see me wearing the mask all the time. You have always seen me wear the mask when it’s appropriate. That’s what we should be doing … every citizen should be playing their part.”

Even though he has frequently appeared in public without a mask on amidst this pandemic, the president claimed that he did believe that people should wear them at this time. During an interview with Fox Business, Trump claimed that he was “all for masks.” However, he said that he did not believe that a national mandate for wearing masks was necessary. He continued, “I don’t know if you need mandatory. You have many places in the country where people stay very long distance. But I’m all for masks, I think masks are good.”