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A mask factory in Phoenix, Arizona, blasted Guns N’ Roses’ “Live and Let Die” during President Donald Trump's visit Tuesday. The irony was apparently lost on him — as was the need to wear a mask.
Before boarding Air Force One for the Honeywell factory, which received a multimillion dollar grant from the federal government to mass produce N95 respirators, Trump had said that he’d wear a mask if he needed to. “I’ll know when I get there,” he told reporters.
Once at the factory, the president passed a sign on the wall that said masks were required for everyone. (All the workers were complying.) In early April, the CDC also announced that everyone should wear a mask when in public.
Still, Trump appeared to think he didn’t need to wear one, and the White House said the factory told the president as much.
The president did, however, don a pair of protective goggles.
“Moments ago we saw the brand-new production lines where you’re making high quality n95 respirators, they are made to perfection,” Trump said, during this visit. “There’s no bad masks, like various countries have been sending. Bad masks from other places. Nothing like that at Honeywell.”
About 2,000 people are currently dying every day from the coronavirus in the U.S. Federal data, obtained by the New York Times, indicates that the country could be facing 3,000 deaths a day by June 1, with 200,000 new cases daily.
Even as the death toll from the coronavirus continues to climb, Trump has urged governors to move to reopen their states and begin to lift lockdown orders. He originally wanted the country back to full functionality by Easter, although that deadline has long passed.
“Our country is now in the next stage of the battle: A very safe, phased and gradual reopening,” Trump said Tuesday at the factory.
Trump’s visit to the factory — which also featured tunes like “Eye of the Tiger” and “Born in the USA” — was his first trip since February to the battleground state, where polls show the president trailing former Vice President Joe Biden. The president has been largely cooped in Washington during the pandemic: He hadn’t traveled on Air Force One since the end of March.
“Will some people be affected? Yes. Will some people be affected badly? Yes. But we have to get our country open and we have to get it open soon,” Trump told ABC News on Tuesday, acknowledging, in order for the country to live prosperously he was willing to let some people die.
Although the president didn’t pick up on the necessity of masks from a facility mass-producing them for frontline healthcare workers, he didn’t leave empty handed: The factory presented him with a mask, mounted on a plaque, to commemorate his visit.
Cover: President Donald Trump participates in a tour of a Honeywell International plant that manufactures personal protective equipment, Tuesday, May 5, 2020, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
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