Trump says he'll wear a mask to Walter Reed Hospital

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Trump says he'll wear a mask to Walter Reed Hospital
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump exit the Marine One helicopter behind a U.S. Secret Service agent wearing a protective face mask because of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, as they return from travel to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, May 27, 2020.Leah Millis/Reuters
  • "If I'm with soldiers — I don't want to spread anything," President Trump told Fox News' Sean Hannity on Thursday. "A lot of it is you spreading, not them spreading."
  • The president is set to visit Walter Reed Hospital on Friday.
  • Public health experts and some Republicans have urged Trump to wear a mask in public in order to lead by example.
  • But he mocked his Democratic rival Joe Biden for doing that. "I think it makes him feel good," he said.
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President Donald Trump mocked his Democratic rival for wearing a mask at a recent campaign event but said that he himself would wear one himself "in the right setting," such as Walter Reed Hospital, which he is visiting on Friday.

"If I'm with soldiers — I don't want to spread anything," Trump told Fox News' Sean Hannity on Thursday. "A lot of it is you spreading, not them spreading."

"I have no problem with masks," he added. "It's up to you."

The comments came after the president made fun of former Vice President Joe Biden for donning a facial covering during a recent campaign event. "I think it makes him feel good," he said.

Public health experts have stressed the need for facial coverings in public settings, lamenting the fact that a step that could save thousands of lives has become a partisan matter.

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"Wearing a mask should be a health issue, not a political issue," Dr. Marissa Levine, a professor at the University of South Florida, told Business Insider this week. States that mandated face coverings early on — not leaving it to individual choice – have enjoyed superior health outcomes, she noted.

Some Fox News personalities have even encouraged Trump to follow Biden's lead and put on a face covering at public events.

"I think that if the president wore one, it would just set a good example," Steve Doocy, a host of Fox & Friends, said recently.

Have a news tip? Email this reporter: cdavis@insider.com

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