President Donald Trump conceded Tuesday that more Americans will die in reopening the US economy but underlined his insistence on a dwindling coronavirus threat by refusing to wear a mask, even as he toured a mask-making factory.
"Will some people be affected badly? Yes," he admitted earlier at the factory."But we have to get our country open." Trump had teased as he left Washington that after months of resistance he might finally cover his face. "I think wearing a face mask as I greet presidents, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens, I don't know," he said in April, apparently suggesting a mask would be unpresidential."Somehow, I don't see it for myself."Trump's Arizona mask moment came after his vice president, Mike Pence, caused an uproar a week ago when he was photographed mask-less during a visit to the famous Mayo Clinic hospital in Rochester, Minnesota, which requires visitors to cover up.