Trump visits Ford plant in politically crucial Michigan, leaves mask off for cameras

By Jeff Mason and Ben Klayman

 

U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to speak during a visit at the Ford Rawsonville Components Plant, which is making ventilators and medical supplies, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Ypsilanti, Michigan, U.S., May 21, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis

 

YPSILANTI, Mich. (Reuters) - President Donald Trump traveled on Thursday to the crucial U.S. election battleground state of Michigan to visit a Ford Motor Co <F.N> plant amid tensions with its Democratic governor during the coronavirus pandemic, opting not to wear a protective face mask for the cameras.

 

Trump toured the Ford plant, which has been recast to produce ventilators and personal protective equipment, and held a roundtable discussion with African-American leaders concerning vulnerable populations hit by the virus.

 

Trump, who has said he is taking a drug not proven effective for the coronavirus after two White House staffers tested positive in recent weeks, did not wear a mask during any of his public events at the plant in the city of Ypsilanti even though Ford on Tuesday reiterated its policy that all visitors must wear them.

 

Trump has consistently disregarded guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urging people to wear masks in close company to try to curb the spread of the virus.

 

U.S President Donald Trump on Thursday toured a Ford plant in Michigan, opting not to wear a protective face mask for the cameras even though Ford had recently reiterated its policy that all visitors must wear them.

 

Surrounded by Ford executives wearing masks, Trump told reporters he had put one on 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, Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford said, "It's up to him."

 

"Honestly I think I look better in a mask," Trump added jokingly.

 

The company later said in a statement that the chairman had "encouraged" Trump to wear a mask when he arrived, adding that the President had obliged during a private viewing of three two-seater Ford GT sports cars but then removed the face covering for the rest of the visit.

 

Trump, a Republican seeking re-election on Nov. 3, has urged states to loosen coronavirus-related restrictions so the battered U.S. economy can recover even as public health experts warn that premature relaxation of restrictions could lead to a second wave of infections.

 

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, seen as a potential vice presidential running mate for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, is facing a backlash from some critics against her stay-at-home orders in a state hit hard by the last recession. Trump has encouraged anti-lockdown protests against Whitmer held in Michigan's capital.

 

Whitmer, whose state has been hit by devastating floods, on Thursday moved to further reopen Michigan's economy through a series of executive orders.

 

Trump on Wednesday threatened to withhold federal funding from Michigan over its plan for expanded mail-in voting, saying without offering evidence that the practice could lead to voter fraud - though he later appeared to back off the threat.

 

At the plant, Trump repeated his assertion. "Voting by mail is wrought with fraud and abuse." Democrats have accused Republicans of pursuing voter suppression policies aimed at voters who tend to back Democrats.

 

Trump on Thursday pledged federal support to help with the "very bad" dam breaks in Michigan. Rising floodwaters have displaced thousands of residents near the city of Midland.

 

Whitmer spoke with Trump on Wednesday.

 

"I made the case that, you know, we all have to be on the same page here. We've got to stop demonizing one another and really focus on the fact that the common enemy is the virus. And now it's a natural disaster," Whitmer told CBS News, describing her conversation with Trump.

 

Whitmer added, "Threatening to take money away from a state that is hurting as bad as we are right now is just scary, and I think something that is unacceptable."

 

During the roundtable discussion, Trump said he expected the CDC to put out guidance on reopening places of worship as soon as Thursday. Trump, whose conservative political base includes evangelical Christian voters, spoke on the need to reopen churches, which like other parts of society have been affected by social distancing policies during the pandemic.

 

Trump won in Michigan in the 2016 election, the first Republican to do since 1988.

 

(Additional reporting by David Shepardson, Susan Heavey and Doina Chiacu; Writing Jeff Mason and Alexandra Alper; Editing by Editing by Will Dunham and Grant McCool)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-05-22

 

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Michigan is run by a whole gaggle of "Karens" and its probably the funniest thing I have ever seen. The District Attorney to the state threatened to ban trump from the state if he refused to wear a mask at the plant LOL. The fake outrage is just so retarded.

 

15 minutes ago, webfact said:

Trump has consistently disregarded guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urging people to wear masks in close company to try to curb the spread of the virus.

 

Id say that Trump being constantly tested for the virus, everyone around him being tested for virus, and the social distancing being done for the virus is doing alot more to control the spread of the virus than him wearing a mask while talking to cameras. 

 

Fake, manufactured outrage. 

 

Perpetual outrage..

This is the only person I know who does not want the the media to see him wear a mask; which would have shown that he cares for the people around him! Arai wa?

1 hour ago, Mama Noodle said:

Michigan is run by a whole gaggle of "Karens" and its probably the funniest thing I have ever seen. The District Attorney to the state threatened to ban trump from the state if he refused to wear a mask at the plant LOL. The fake outrage is just so retarded.

 

 

Id say that Trump being constantly tested for the virus, everyone around him being tested for virus, and the social distancing being done for the virus is doing alot more to control the spread of the virus than him wearing a mask while talking to cameras. 

 

Fake, manufactured outrage. 

 

According to the chairman he hardly wore one during the visit, it was not only for the cameras. Just be honest, he thinks he doesn't have to wear one. And yes, it seems unlikely he is infected, but he really should set a proper example.

"Leading" by bad example. 

2 minutes ago, stevenl said:

According to the chairman he hardly wore one during the visit, it was not only for the cameras.

 

Thats not what the Chairman said. 

 

3 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Just be honest, he thinks he doesn't have to wear one. And yes, it seems unlikely he is infected, but he really should set a proper example.

 

OK, let common sense prevail here for once. Dude is tested every day at the very least, isolated, and no doubt anywhere he goes is sterilized to the max - so a mask is not necessary especially if everyone else is wearing one. This whole mask thing has become one big, retarded virtue signal by the left and the lefty media and its really quite stupid. 

Great to see support for American workers. 

"Superman" ........in his own mind, he'll never catch anything,

If I was a virus I would not want to go anywhere near him.

regards Worgeordie

Childish behavior. When will we get a US President who dignifies the office?

what a <deleted> idiot

46 minutes ago, Mama Noodle said:

 

Thats not what the Chairman said. 

 

 

OK, let common sense prevail here for once. Dude is tested every day at the very least, isolated, and no doubt anywhere he goes is sterilized to the max - so a mask is not necessary especially if everyone else is wearing one. This whole mask thing has become one big, retarded virtue signal by the left and the lefty media and its really quite stupid. 

"The company later said in a statement that the chairman had "encouraged" Trump to wear a mask when he arrived, adding that the President had obliged during a private viewing of three two-seater Ford GT sports cars but then removed the face covering for the rest of the visit."

So that is very much what chairman and company said.

 

You're ignoring my point, why are you quating me if you're not addressing the point made (rhetorical). He should set the example.

Edited May 22, 20206 yr by stevenl

Though he is sans mask, no doubt he had just downed a tall glass of bleach, had his injection of disinfectant, and has a UV light stuck up that place where guys like hannity reside, so his Cult of the Dumbed is probably safe, with or without his mask. Funny a guy who is morbidly obese and wears roadkill on his orange noggin thinks he 'doesn't look good' in a mask. It's not the mask, donny.

 

His goobers think CV-19 is either a Democratic Hoax caused by 5G networks or Bill Gates, as that is what their personal Limited Hangout False Flag Deep State Mole, "Q", has let them know in a code reminiscent of Nostradamus' quatrains. Q and 45 are keeping them 'woke'. (Aside, a Q clearance is hardly some super super top secret clearance, but rather just one issued by the Dept of Energy to clear people needing access to nuclear matters. Get a Q clearance and one generally gets to visit Oakridge and Los Alamos. The con artist who goes by Q randomly picked that letter, not knowing there was a clearance under that letter. It's hardly even close to TS/SCI.)

 

45 occasionally needs such Taxpayer-funded dog and pony shows, as even Fox is turning against him and his -11 poll numbers do not bode well for staying out of jail come 12:01PM on 20 January 2021, when decency, sanity and international respect return to the US.

 

It's always funny realizing that 45 is contemptuous of his own base, as his criteria for personal value is whether or not someone is famous or wealthy. Absent either of those, one is a 'loser'. "I love the poorly educated" was one of his mantras, though in point of fact he meant he loves their vote, not them. Still, his cult is easily fooled and willfully ignorant, befuddled by existence itself and prone to drinking from the Snake Oil trough. Admittedly not all of his base sits well to the left of the mean on the IQ Bell Curve, as some are, like 45 himself, psychopaths.

51 minutes ago, checkered flag said:

Great to see support for American workers. 

Thoughts and prayers are enough.

58 minutes ago, Mama Noodle said:

 

Thats not what the Chairman said. 

 

 

OK, let common sense prevail here for once. Dude is tested every day at the very least, isolated, and no doubt anywhere he goes is sterilized to the max - so a mask is not necessary especially if everyone else is wearing one. This whole mask thing has become one big, retarded virtue signal by the left and the lefty media and its really quite stupid. 

But WHEN will his I Q be tested

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Trump, whose conservative political base includes evangelical Christian voters, spoke on the need to reopen churches,

Why is there a need to open churches?

Oh wait, November’s coming up isn’t it...

Edited May 22, 20206 yr by Bluespunk

Petulant child, president, or both? 

 

 

3 hours ago, webfact said:

"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.

all for the show, image, good look and lots of make up but not much else, what an image he's giving to the young generations

He did his best but as usual his best isn't very good.

 

'Image the president didn't want the press to see'

 

 

4 hours ago, Grumpy one said:

But WHEN will his I Q be tested

And this guy's got the nuclear codes.

 

Trump:

“I tested very positively in another sense,” Trump said on the South Lawn before departing for Michigan to visit a Ford plant that is assembling ventilators. “So this morning, yeah, I tested positively toward negative, right? So no, I tested perfectly this morning. Meaning, meaning I tested negative. But that’s a way of saying it, positively toward the negative."

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-coronavirus-test-i-tested-positively-toward-the-negative-181413918.html

What he did without the mask is illegal in michigan.

 

Lucky he is immune from prosecution, but lucky there is an election coming.

1 minute ago, Phoenix Rising said:

And this guy's got the nuclear codes.

 

Trump:

“I tested very positively in another sense,” Trump said on the South Lawn before departing for Michigan to visit a Ford plant that is assembling ventilators. “So this morning, yeah, I tested positively toward negative, right? So no, I tested perfectly this morning. Meaning, meaning I tested negative. But that’s a way of saying it, positively toward the negative."

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-coronavirus-test-i-tested-positively-toward-the-negative-181413918.html

Its usual in US not to go after past admins for retribution. I hope he does. Barr already said trumps complaints about the obama admin is nothing. But it sure opens the gate for trump to be sweating big macs soon.

 

 

He wont wear one.It'd spoil his make up

 

"Honestly I think I look better in a mask," Trump added jokingly.

Well, there you go. US deaths greater than combined dead in Korean and Vietnam wars, and he worries about how he looks.

BTW he has no sense of humor

I can't believe the quotes are from "yahoo" . Don't they break the fake story on the Steel scam.

3 minutes ago, checkered flag said:

I can't believe the quotes are from "yahoo" . Don't they break the fake story on the Steel scam.

Just watch the video, you can also enjoy his hand signals.

 

What fake story on what steel scam BTW, and did Yahoo break that?

Edited May 22, 20206 yr by stevenl

A reporter got this "behind the scenes" photo of his visit. This is real, NOT Photoshopped, a screenshot of the actual newscast:

 

 

Edited May 22, 20206 yr by J Town
Removed excess verbiage

1 minute ago, J Town said:

A reporter got this "behind the scenes" photo of his visit. This is real, NOT Photoshopped (at least not by me), a screenshot of the actual newscast:

Hope they tapped his mouth tight. 

A post using content from an unapproved YouTube source has been removed.

 

A troll post has been removed. 

 

An off topic post has been removed. 

Edited May 22, 20206 yr by metisdead

30 minutes ago, J Town said:

A reporter got this "behind the scenes" photo of his visit. This is real, NOT Photoshopped, a screenshot of the actual newscast:

 

 

What was he afraid of? Looking like Darth Vader?

Edited May 22, 20206 yr by Jingthing